"Sound ◎f Bamboo Meets Jazz" Chung Eun Han NY Concert
Monday, August 5, 2013 at 9PM
SOMETHIN' Jazz Club New-York
(212 E. 52nd St., 3Fl., NYC)
Cover Fee $12
About the Artist: Chung Eun Han
About 1,500 years ago, the most often played instrument during the Shilla Dynasty were three string and three wind instruments. The three stringed instruments were gayageum, geomungo, and bipa, a guitar-like instrument played in upright position, and the three wind instruments were daegeum, junggeum and sogeum, all made out of bamboo stalks but of different sizes, with daegeum being the largest, followed by junggeum and sogeum. These six instruments have long been the signature musical instruments of the Korean people, but junggeum went out of fashion in the Joseon period and the bipa tradition was wiped out during the Japanese occupation. Sogeum was about to experience the same fate as junggeum – once, it was even replaced by dangjeok, a thin bamboo wind instrument which originated in China. However, it was resurrected in the 1950s, a little bit altered in appearance from the original sogeum, but its high clear sound still very delightful to hear. In recent years some new musical creations have featured sogeum as a solo instrument.
We spotlight sogeum player Han Chung-eun, who is expanding the musical scope of this traditional instrument. Han Chung-eun is an up-and-coming young musician who’s also a member of the KBS(Korean Broadcasting System) Traditional Music Orchestra.
He is the young Da Vinci of Korea, for he has friends in literary circles, pop music, art, jazz, and film, and incorporates the knowledge and experiences gained through his personal network in his music. As a result, his music has a depth and breadth unusual for a Korean traditional musician. His musical aspiration was born during his teen years, when he heard daegeum on the radio, and was captivated by the sound. He went on to major in daegeum at the Gukak National High School, where he used his people skills to expand his circle of friends and learn about many different disciplines. His friends included some pop musicians, leading him to play his daegeum with pianists and jazz musicians. The combination of east and west won him acclaim from the audience and that’s when he became interested in fusion music. Since then he had played in Seulgidoong, a long-standing group of young traditional musicians, and fusion rock band Eurasia’s Morning. He also played the main title piece of the award-winning film director Kim Ki-duk’s debut film “Crocodile,” and took part in the original soundtracks of films such as “War of the Arrows,” “Beyond the Years,” and “Portrait of a Beauty.” He has partnered up with such world-renowned artists as Bobby McFerrin, Inger Marie, Kunihiko Ryo, and the Swedish a cappella group, the Real Group. (KBS World Radio)
For more information on the artist, Chung Eun Han, please visit his website at http://koreanflute.com/. For any inquiry about the concert, please contact Lareine Han at 347-821-7006 / lareine.han@gmail.com.