Arising from the synergy of composition and improvisation, through the kaleidoscopic sound world of the electric violin, guitar and drum set, Critical Response challenges the disillusionment and divisiveness that encircle this moment in history. They have performed in venues throughout New York City, including Roulette in Brooklyn. Their first CD, Book of Stories, received international praise. This past summer Critical Response recorded their second CD, Uprising, which will be released in 2027.
REVIEWS OF BOOK OF STORIES
Tom Hull, Best Jazz CDs of 2023. Read Full Review
Troy Collins, Top Ten Jazz CDs of 2023. Read post
Two members of Hwang’s first band, the Commitment quartet, are remembered in Friends Forever, a mournful but plaintive ballad on which violin wah-wahs the long-breathed theme with the ever-tasteful guitar of Anders Nilsson and the ever-resourceful drumming of Michael T.A.Thompson linking arms. - NIgel Jarrett, Jazz Journal. Read Full Review
Best Jazz on Bandcamp, July, 2023: Book of Stories is arresting, captivating, and, at times, massively thrilling. Jason Kao Hwang’s trio with electric guitarist Anders Nilsson and drummer Michael T.A. Thompson dives into an adventurous fusion session where the musical influences never sit still... - Dave Sumner, Bandcamp Read Full Review
With the leader and guitarist emoting open-heartedly, the closing ballad “Friends Forever” honours the memory of two members of Hwang's first band, the collective quartet Commitment, but Book of Stories is no exercise in nostalgia. Without denying the influence of earlier times, the members of Critical Response are fully engaged in what's happening now and primed for whatever's on the horizon. - Ron Schepper, textura.org Read Full Review
Jason Kao Hwang confines himself to the electric violin on Book of Stories by his Critical response trio, completed by Anders Nilsson (electric guitar) and michael t.A. thompson (drums), which might suggest an orientation toward jazz fusion. but the only fusion here is of diverse stylistic influences into an expansive personal vision. the familiar attributes of any date by Hwang stand present and true: finely crafted compositions, expressive bowing and an orchestral palette, even though there are only three participants. - John Sharpe, NYC Jazz Record. Read Full Review
Mixing fragility with function, the three create an alternate program where melodicism doesn’t hold back mettle. Ken Waxman, jazzword.com Read Full Review
Violinist Jason Kao Hwang goes into power trio formation here alongside guitarist Anders Nilsson and drummer Michael T.A. Thompson. The resulting music is intense but also makes good use of tempo and volume dynamics. "The Power of Many in the Soul of One" has periods of quiet rumblings amidst aggressive guitar and violin slashing that invariably suggests the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz Read Full Review
Together with Nilsson and Thompson, Critical Response, Hwang makes music for arguably troubled times, even as he tells stories that are both personal and universal… It is worth listening to multiple times. One listen provides little opportunity for appreciating the full genius of Hwang and Critical Response. - Dodie Miller-Gould, lemonwire.com. Read Full Review
This is music to pique your imagination and tantalize your listening experience with unexpected moments of brilliance and bluster. I found myself completely entertained. - Dee Dee McNeil, musicalmemoirs.wordpress.com Read Full Review
Jason Kao Hwang is a violinist and composer with one ear in the present and the other bent toward (or perhaps already in) the future, his compositions moving in interesting and unexpected directions. There is often a strong narrative sense to his material, and so the title of his new album, Book Of Stories, seems apt. And most of the tracks on this release are of such length necessary to tell compelling and full stories. Critical Response is the trio of Jason Kao Hwang on electric violin, Anders Nilsson on electric guitar, and Michael T.A. Thompson on drums, all skilled at improvisation. - Michael Doherty, michealsmusiclog.blogspot.com. Read Full Review
(Google Translation from Hungarian) With astonishing improvisations, sound effects, rhythmic elements, and all completely free, but preordained musical devices, the Trio leads the audience into a state that is otherwise extremely difficult to convey on a recording medium...The electric violin presses into our souls like nothing else, with deep emotions. We can't even take our eyes off this special, impressionistic-sounding instrument.The album brings the mystery drama of our human existence! - Hegedüs Zsuzsanna, jazzma..com. Read Full Review
…amazing solos from all three members of the trio. What I really dig about this is how well Jason Hwang & Anders Nilsson play together, their sound is somewhat similar, it's like they are coming from the same soulful fabric that connects all of us sensitive folks. - Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery Newsletter Read Full Review
Of all four albums by American violinist Jason Kao Hwan that I have listened to over the past four years, perhaps the newest one, Book of Stories, has come to my heart the most... Book of Stories as a whole feels less radical than Jason's previous work, and I think that's been good for the music. Kao Hwang is a great violinist and creative composer. It remains to be wondered why the priests of the Association of Jazz Journalists, when determining the nominees and laureates of their annual awards, do not notice this. - Leonard Auskern, jazzquad.com Read Full Review
This captivating and wholly authentic album continues onward with the playful at times, cautious at others, and yet entertainingly gripping throughout a silent ghost, before we are brought forth my own personal favorite, the stuttered, clinically-sculpted Dragon Carved into Bone, the recording coming to a close on the flagging, yet quietly spirited Friends Forever. - Ann Carlini, anncarlini.com. Read Full review
Hwang has emerged as one of the most relevant figures in both Brooklyn's more adventurous scene and New York's Lower East Side… “Book of Stories” reveals a remarkable collaborative effort between Jason Kao Hwang, Anders Nilsson and Michael T. A. Thompson, which starts from a ballast of memories to envision possibilities for the future. - António Branco, jazz.pt. Read Full Review
The music is flavored with funk and reggae hints and spices here and there, but the compositions, all by Hwang, are anyway adventurous enough to be interesting for all fans of improvised music, even non idiomatic, because the most recognizable parts are in a way ‘abstracted’ and conducted into climaxes or moments of rest that are fully dynamics and that can bring the listener a lot of fun, being a mix of the ‘mental’ approach of spontaneous improvised music and the more enjoyable characteristics of popular music without being ‘populistic’. - Gian Paolo Galasi, completecommunion.blogspot.com Read Full Review
The closing track, “Friends Forever,” is the shortest, a lovely and gentle blues ballad written in tribute to departed musical comrades. - Phil Freeman, stereogum.com Read Full Review
(Google translate from German) Certainly, in the history of jazz and rock there have always been bands and soloists who have given the violin a new purpose beyond classical music or folk music. Think of Didier Lockwood or Jean-Luc Ponty, but also of Stéphane Grapelli or The Flock. But the violin is and remains exotic in jazz as far as the instrumentation is concerned. All the more you should prick up your ears for the fusion trio around Jason Kao Hwang. - Ferdinanc Dupuis-Panther, Jazz Halo Read Full Review
While Hwang will always be vibing musically with incredible new ensemble configuration, the perfect pairing of his trippy, insightful music and Currie’s mind-blowing descriptions will always be an exciting constant. Jonathan Widron, The JW Vibe Read Full Review
Jason Kao Hwang Critical Response: Book of Stories (2023, True Sound): Violinist, b. 1957 in Illinois, parents immigrated from Hunan after WWII, has spent considerable time mastering classical Chinese music but he's mostly recorded cutting-edge jazz, making him the heir apparent after the deaths of Leroy Jenkins and Billy Bang. Trio here with guitarist Anders Nilsson, who blends in beautifully, and drummer Michael T.A. Thompson.( A-). - Tom Hull, tomhull.com
Next up was the Critical Response Trio with violinist Jason Kao Hwang, guitarist Anders Nilsson, and drummer Michael TA Thompson, accompanied by an eleven piece dance troupe. It was fantastic. The trio, whom I had heard once before exactly one year ago at an intimate concert in Beacon, NY, were spot on again. - Paul Acquaro and Martin Schray, The Free Jazz Collective Read full review
BIOGRAPHIES
The music of Jason Kao Hwang (composer/violin/viola) explores the vibrations and language of his history. His compositions are often narrative landscapes through which sonic beings embark upon extemporaneous, transformational journeys. Raised during the “melting pot” era of assimilation, Mr. Hwang did not learn Chinese from his immigrant parents, only English. When his parents spoke in Chinese to each other, he would listen intently to glean meaning from the inflection, pitch, rhythm, and timbre of their phrases. Mr. Hwang imagines this musical experience of the Chinese language as the foundation of his creative instincts. His most recent releases Critical Response, Book of Stories, Uncharted Faith, his duets with the late J.A. Deane, The Human Rites Trio, and Conjure, his duos with the late Karl Berger, have received critical acclaim. In 2019, 2018, 2013 and 2012 the El Intruso Jazz Critics Poll voted him #1 for Violin. The 2012 Downbeat Critics’ Poll voted Mr. Hwang as “Rising Star for Violin.” As violinist, he has worked with Henry Threadgill, Karl Berger, Anthony Braxton, William Parker, Butch Morris, Oliver Lake, Reggie Workman, Pauline Oliveros, Billy Bang, Leroy Jenkins, Patrick Brennan, Tomeka Reid and many others. As composer, Mr. Hwang has received support from Chamber Music America, US Artists International, the NEA, Rockefeller Foundation and others. He is a recipient of a 2023 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship.
Anders Nilsson is a New York-based guitarist, composer, improviser. He plays electric guitars, 11-string alto guitar and baĝlama. His output spans a wide musical spectrum ranging from solo shows (“Night Guitar”), Anders Nilsson Group (a rhythm-heavy band in NYC), "Outer Space Caravan" with violist Staphanie Griffin, saxophonist Michael Attias and bassist Ken Filiano, Anders Nilsson’s AORTA. He is also a band member in several groups playing jazz or improvised music. After receiving a BA from Malmö Academy of Music and having worked as a musician in Sweden for a few years he moved to New York in 2000 and got his MA from CCNY. He has performed and/or recorded or toured internationally with many artists associated with the blues/jazz/experimental paradigms such as Kalabalik (with Raoul Björkenheim and Gerald Cleaver), Paquito D’Rivera, William Parker, Elliot Sharp, Fay Victor, art-metal band Angelblood, and Persian vocalist Mohsen Namjoo. Always welcoming of interdisciplinary interaction, he has collaborated with Butoh artist Akira Kasai, theatre director Doris Mirescu and video artist Arrien Zinghini. Nilsson’s work as a composer includes music for short films, dance performances, string quartet, theatre plays, as well as a constantly growing book of a hundred compositions including brief to epic works for solo guitar, jazz, to large experimental ensemble works. Many of these works have been released on several acclaimed albums.
Soundrhythium Michael T.A. Thompson (drums) is an anomaly. He has played, toured and/or recorded with such a wide variety of musical artists, including Charles Gayle, Joe McPhee, Oliver Lake, Kidd Jordan, Alex Foster, Roy Campbell Jr., Dennis Gonzales, Matthew Shipp, Uri Caine, Henry Grimes, John Patitucci, Marc Ribot, William Parker, The Shadow, Becket, reggae artist Owen Gray, as well as artists from classical to rap and beyond. He has played on sound tracks for TV shows and Radio commercials etc.. T.A.'s palate encompasses an abundance of sound colors. He hears everything and plays with it in a way that's ever inventive and perceptively responsive. Thompson plays as he breathes. You'll always find him in the moment, inspired as well as inspiring.
Downloadable files below.
