Korean Cultural Center New York x Seoul Donhwamun Traditional Theater (11)
Korean Music NOW
[Online Concert #11: JAMBINAI]
Photo by Siyoung Song
JAMBINAI
“Traditional Korean tones and rhythms are a big part of what makes Jambinai sound so refreshing to listeners new to those sounds, but it’s their energy and inventiveness that make them one of the most exciting rising bands in the realm of avant rock.”
- Beverly Bryan, Noisey
Jambinai sound less like a band than a force of nature, fusing the full dramatic range of post-rock dynamics to Korean folk roots to create an exhilarating, vivid and unique range of sounds. Their instrumental music is coloured by Bomi Kim’s fiddle-like haegeum, Ilwoo Lee’s guitar and piri (a Korean flute made of bamboo) and Eun Yong Sim’s geomungo, a Korean zither.
The founding members met studying traditional music at Korea’s National University of Arts, and found they were united by a desire to present such music in a new way, “to communicate with the ordinary person who doesn’t listen to Korean traditional music,” says Ilwoo Lee, the band’s principal writer. This makeover, eschews previous Korean modernists, who Lee says have used western classical music or jazz, for a molten fusion of metal, rock and experimental sound. Jambinai’s sound is influenced by bands such as Black Sabbath and Metallica, but with definite deep roots in the Korean traditional.
With hundreds of shows under their belt, Jambinai has been reaching audiences all over the world at performances and international festivals including SXSW (US), Glastonbury (UK), Primavera (Spain), WOMAD, and more. In 2018, they closed the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
▲ Program
Sawtooth
Time Of Extinction
Sun. Tears. Red
In The Woods
ONDA
Connection
▲ Artist
Geomungo : Shim, Eun Yong
Guitar·Piri·Taepyeongso·Saenghwang·Vocal : Lee, Il Woo
Haegeum·Sing : Kim, Bo Mi
Bass : Yu, Beong Gu
Drum : Choi, Jae Hyeok