Mina Choi

Mina Choi is a Korean-born, Los Angeles-based jazz pianist, composer, and conductor whose music uniquely blends jazz, classical, and the rich traditions of her Korean heritage. With years of experience as both a performer and educator in California, Mina’s work reflects her personal journey, characterized by beautiful melodies, intricate rhythms, and colorful harmonies. Each composition tells a story, inviting listeners to experience a deep emotional connection to her music.

Mina has performed at renowned venues across the United States, including Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Jazz Grill, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, The Queen Mary, Catalina Jazz Club, and The Blue Whale Jazz Club. She has studied under prominent jazz figures such as George Cables and Bill Cunliffe, whose guidance has shaped her unique musical voice.

The Musical Universe According to Younee

by Lawrence Peryer
November 1, 2024

At a concert in Nuremberg, surrounded by vintage automobiles, someone in the audience shouted “Cuba!" when YOUNEE asked for a theme to improvise upon. Though she had never visited Havana, the South Korean pianist spun a groove from the classic cars around her, channeling an imagined scene of sunlit streets and chrome bumpers. Such moments of ...

Younee

PIONEER OF “FREE CLASSIC & JAZZ”

Younee, composer and singer-songwriter from South Korea, has long left her mark, not only due to her unique and virtuoso piano playing. By means of her awesome power of improvisation and that exceptional gift of being able to improvise and to compose freely on a classical foundation, she has defined her very own style: Free Classic & Jazz!

It is with Younee’s spontaneous and freely composed musical pieces in the course of her breathtaking live appearances that she succeeds to win over her audiences again and again. This is why her next album will feature live-recordings of her most exciting live compositions from concerts between 2017 and 2019. Her first two albums had taken the bestseller charts by storm, catapulting her to the No. 1 position. While her German debut album “Jugendstil” (2014) had still relied on Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and other “classics” as inspiration, Younee, on her next album “My Piano” (2016), by way of her incredible technique and 11 self-penned compositions, had virtually lit brilliant fireworks between furioso and pianissimo, taking the listener on a highly emotional journey into a new world of piano music. Down to the last note, everything happens intuitively, spontaneously, unexpectedly without ever slipping into the realm of “kitsch”, or hiding behind a virtuosity because of virtuosity’s sake. “That’s me” says Younee, who has made her current home in Bavaria. The manner in which Younee presents her music to a live audience does not only have its charm, each time it is as if she were reinventing her own music over again.

June Yun

Born: June 5, 1995

June Yun, is an up-and-coming vocalist • composer based in New York, Seoul and Berlin. Yun was born in South Korea and moved to the U.K. when she was five and spent her childhood in London. She was introduced to classical music by her father, an architect who loved music and influenced her to listen and appreciate music. After moving back to South Korea, she explored other genres in music such as pop, R&B and Soul. Yun went to a music college in Korea and developed skills in song-writing (mainly pop and R&B) and lyric writing. She also worked as a co-producer & administrative director for Avenue D&F Productions during this time.

At A Korean Jazz Picnic, No Need To Know The Music

by Arthur R George
October 4, 2019

That jazz appeals to younger audiences, is fun, and not so serious, is more than a mere notion, materializing in, of all places, South Korea. The Jarasum Jazz Festival created there by promoter In Jae Jin has become one of the largest in Asia by hosting a multi-day event which features camping, western and Korean performers, ...

Black String: Mask Dance

by Ian Patterson
May 3, 2017

The geomungo--the Korean six-stringed fretted zither--is one of the oldest string instruments in the world, the combination of paulownia and chestnut wood body and twisted silk strings dating to the fourth century. The geomungo is at the heart of Black String, an exciting quartet led by Yoon Jeong Heo, in whose hands this most traditional of ...

Young-Ae Jung: Because I Love You

by C. Michael Bailey
October 12, 2016

South Korean singer/composer Young-Ae Jung made her recording debut with her 2013 The Man I Love (Self Produced). On that recording, the singer revealed herself as a more-than-capable composer, whose motifs and archetypes are of the same mature variety. The singer proved the universality of jazz by her incorporation of both English and Korean lyrics in ...

Francesca Han: Dream Episodes, Blue Suns, Icarus

by Ian Patterson
June 30, 2015

A new Francesca Han recording is something to get excited about. The pianist's spirited trio/quartet outing Illusion (Audioguy Records, 2012) and the bewitching solo effort Ascetic (Audioguy Records, 2012)—one of the finest solo piano jazz albums of recent years—were outstanding examples of her skills as a composer, bandleader and improviser. Now, in a relatively short space ...

Sunny Kim and Ben Monder: The Shining Sea: Live at Olympus Hall

by Dave Wayne
June 30, 2015

People who know me know that I am not particularly interested in jazz vocals or straight-up renditions of jazz standards. One of my hobbies is playing the drums, and I am also not really motivated to listen to music without drums or some sort of percussion. So, I put off reviewing The Shining Sea: Live at ...

Club Jazzda: Seoul's Hidden Gem

by Hrayr Attarian
April 1, 2015

One of the hidden gems of the Seoul music scene in South Korea is the Club Jazzda. Located in the youthful Mapo neighborhood, the intimate basement venue has live music every night of the week showcasing young, up-and-coming local talent. Trumpeter Ye Jung Kim owns this intimate listening room, and sometimes joins the musicians ...