Jason Kao Hwang - composer/violin/viola Andrew Drury - drum set Ken Filiano - string bass
MY THANKS TO
THE EL INTRUSO 11TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CRITICS POLL
The enormity of emotions, the multiplicity of ecstasy and the almost ecstatic parts of individual instruments, make the album "Blood" an exciting and captivating experience of each of the recipients open to new experiences. Robert Ratajczak, longplayrecenzje.blox
All musicians of this ensemble are original and individual players… All music of this album is simply beautiful, luminous and passionate – it has driving, crazy, bright and innovative sound. Avant Scena Contemporary music blog
They’ve found a way to make “East meets West” work. This is a fascinating, rather chilling, but ultimately inspiring set of music, unlike anything most of us have heard. Jim Hynes, makingascene.org,
NOW AVAILABLE ON
BANDCAMP , CD Baby and the Downtown Music Gallery
Jason Kao Hwang - composer/violin
Taylor Ho Bynum - cornet/flugelhorn
Joseph Daley - tuba
Andrew Drury - drum set
Ken Filiano - string bass
Sun Li - pipa
Steve Swell - trombone
Wang Guowei - erhu
My thanks to Downbeat Magazine's 2018 International Critics poll for voting for me. I wish to share this recognition with all the musicians I have played with, especially in my bands. We make music together!
Grateful that Sing House was named one of the Best CDs of 2017 by Downbeat Magazine.
Now available at BandCamp!
I'm grateful to Giovanni Russonello for his 4/28 review of Sing House in the New York Tim
On Sing House from the Best Jazz on Bandcamp:
The breadth of influences that composer Jason Kao Hwang is able to call upon, and his willingness to leave wide open spaces within compositions for improvising, strikes the perfect balance between meticulous planning and breathless spontaneity. His newest, Sing House, falls in line with past experiments. “No Such Thing” provides ample, immediate evidence of that push-and-pull, with its turbulent bursts of avant-garde dissonance suddenly settling into joyful expressions of the blues. “Dream Walk” is a panoramic view of a host of musical forms, never fully adopting a single one, always sounding on the verge of phasing into another altogether. “When What Could” takes the opposite approach, allowing jazz forms to manifest with a charged immediacy, while leaving the transitions between each expression a bit fuzzy. It’s this kind of daring that makes a Hwang album so thrilling—that sense of sharp intelligence and creative courage. On his newest, the violinist-violist is joined by drummer Andrew Drury, bassist Ken Filiano, pianist Chris Forbes, and trombonist Steve Swell.
I was violinist and co/composer with music director Jeff Song, and percussionists Yukio Tsuji and Josh Zieman of White Snake at Baltimore's Centerstage. It was a great run of 30 performances.
I led a string ensemble for the Arts for Art Benefit this past fall. We honored Billy Bang and Leroy Jenkins, playing their music.
Host Trudy Leong of WZRD/Chicago has been playing VOICE regularly for the past 6 months. Big thanks to Trudy Leong and Kate Smith! VOICE is comprised of two sets, Lifelines and Words of Our Own. Lifelines features Deanna Relyea (voice) and Piotr Michalowski (sopranino sax/bass clarinet) with my EDGE quartet: Taylor Ho Bynum - cornet/flugelhorn), Andrew Drury (drum set), Ken Filiano (string bass) and myself (composer/violin). Words of Our Own features Tom Buckner (voice), Joe McPhee (tenor sax/pocket trumpet), William Parker (string bass), Sang Won Park (kayagum/ajeng) and myself (composer/viola). We perform the poetry of Lester Afflick, Patricia Spears Jones, Davida Singer, Fay Chiang, Steve Dalachinsky and Yuko Otomo.
Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion, a superb show produced by the NY Historical Society, had a great run in NYC this past spring. I was honored to have scored music for the concluding video exhibit. The show is now part of the permanent exhibit at the Chinese Historical Society in San Francisco.
My sound design students at NYU Film created some great work this past semester!
Listen to Kevin Whitehead's review of Burning Bridge on National Public Radio's Fresh Air. Listen
Jason Kao Hwang - composer/violin/viola Andrew Drury - drum set Ken Filiano - string bass