Just as much neo-classical in scope as it is experimental instrumental, the music is quite daring and jolting in its approach, almost compelling the listener to pay attention. Although he was born in the U.S., in Illinois, Hwang's music sounds influenced by Chinese music on a subliminal level.. On Myths of Origin Jason Kao Hwang sounds greatly inspired by the great American avant-garde composers of the past while pushing boundaries for 21st century composers that identify as Asian American. Robert Silverstein, Roots Music Report. 5 stars. Read Full Interview and Review
A true achievement in balancing writing and improvising for strings, Jason Kao Hwang’s Myths of Origin is a nine-part mini suite which blends variations of string playing with the pulse of forward moving percussion Inclusive and understated turns toward funk and swing are also part of the performance, which by the climax slides from incorporating skyscraping shimmering strings to a tutti suppleness… With Myths of Origin Hwang confirms that his sound sophistication encompasses large as well as small group creativity.
Myths of Origin in Jerome Wilsons 2025 Top New Recordings in Cadence Magazine. Read here
Myths of Origin in Jerome Wilson's Favorites Jazz Jazz Albums of 2025, All About Jazz
This piece transcends all kinds of genres, throwing folk, classical, rock, funk, and jazz elements into its stew. It moves like an unwieldy but soaring sonic edifice as the musicians pull together with an impressive unity of purpose. This is a powerful work, some of the heaviest music Jason Kao Hwang has created to date. - Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz Read Full Review
Composed moments and improvised passages are interwoven, producing music that feels both spontaneous and inevitable. The stated aim of the work is to counter Orientalist myths, but what it attains is even broader. Hwang and his ensemble create and discover sounds that evoke elemental, cosmological origins…Myths of Origin is ambitious and challenging. Blurring the lines between creation and performance, it is, at the same time, new and ancient. - JR Simon, The New York City Jazz Record. Read Full Review
(google translation from Hungarian) Incredibly impressive, dramatic compositions are heard…Because Hwang uses a system of specially designed body gestures that are connected to the score. The result is a spontaneous musical flow, in which behind the feeling of infinite freedom there is an incredibly great order and director…a symphony of beauty that transcends everything.
In addition to the consistently adventurous solos and the interplay between the musicians, it is the dense and spirited ensembles that are most memorable…This is potentially forbidding music that grows in interest with each listen. Myths Of Origin is well-worth exploring by listeners with open ears who love the sound of strings. – Scott Yannow. Read Full Review
Jason Hwang blends a wide range of jazz styles that embrace his Asian heritage, using gongs and musical orchestration, heavily influenced by European classical music, interlocked with the need to explore his feelings and the freedom that is found in jazz....Hwang’s compositions allow the musicians to infuse their own individuality into his spontaneous musical movements. The result is this “Myths of Origin” project, that takes symphonic sounds and composition to another level. Dee Dee McNeil, makingascene.org. Read Full Review
Now released as “Myths of Origin,” this sprawling composition confirms is a testament to Hwang’s legacy as one of contemporary music’s most fearless boundary-crossers. He creates chaos through his music, not for the sake of dissonance, but to build order out of it at the end… This performance succeeds because it is both a bold artistic statement and an emotionally gripping journey. - SKOPE. Read Full Review
A central aspect of his approach is the way he explores the wide range of sonic possibilities offered by the combination of elements from the stylistically less confined jazz, free improvisation, contemporary classical music, and ancient Chinese culture. Multiply and Rise" is energetic and vibrant, with swirling strings and a luminous funk groove that invites you to shake your body and soul… "Ancestors of Light" appears enveloped in an almost cinematic aura… - António Branco, jazz.pt. Read full review
Myths of Origin is more than just experimental music; it is an artistic statement challenging the Orientalist narratives still embedded in mainstream society. Through a musical language free from ethnic and genre boundaries, Hwang invites us to rethink human relationships, identity, and the collective imagination. “To be transformed by possibilities rooted in truth is to transcend all Myths of Origin,” he writes…Myths of Origin is a work that combines aesthetic boldness, collective spirit, and resistance to stereotypes. It is an invitation to listen—and to be—beyond the limitations imposed by history. - Indonesian Jazz News, WartaJazz.com. Read full review
And as the strings come in, there is an eerie sense of mystery, and the sound begins to build, the action taking place all around us. Frightening, beautiful, and perhaps inevitable, the dramatic music holds us spellbound…And then it grows from there, leading into "Ancestors Of Light," a more mysterious landscape, with beauty pushing up through the surface. And then we are in more familiar territory with "Anthem Of Knowing," a jazz club at the beginning of existence, where we can relax, ease into reality, as things take form around us and those forms rise up in dance. "Never Forgotten" moves slowly, stretching its great limbs across space and taking it all in, the beauty, the sadness, the vast emptiness. - Michael Doherty, michaelsmusic.blogspot. Read Full Review
On an album that defies orientalist fantasies by inhabiting multiple worlds of sound, and which was recorded live at the 2022 Vision Festival in Roulette, Brooklyn, NY, along next is the organically sculpted Landmarks Vanish which is in turn backed by the beautifully exercised Where Fools Fear, the impassioned Ancestors of Light, rounding out on the spirited affair Anthem of Knowing, closing on the musical colossus Never Forgotten. - Ann Carlini, annecarlini.com. Read Full Review
Jason Kao Hwang: Myths of Origin (2022 [2025], True Sound): Violinst, born in US but also has a solid grounding in Chinese classical music, subtitle here is "for improvising String Orchestra and Drum Set," I'm counting: 10 [more] violins, 5 violas, 4 cellos, 3 guitars, 1 bassist (Ken Filiano), and one drummer (Andrew Drury). Live set from Vision Fest, every bit as glorious as you'd expect. A- [cd] [07-07] - Tom Hull. Read full review
This piece transcends all kinds of genres, throwing folk, classical, rock, funk, and jazz elements into its stew. It moves like an unwieldy but soaring sonic edifice as the musicians pull together with an impressive unity of purpose. This is a powerful work, some of the heaviest music Jason Kao Hwang has created to date. - Jerome Wilson, All About Jazz. Read Full Review
Jason Kao Hwang stepped onto the Roulette stage at the 2022 Vision Festival to lead a hand-picked improvising string orchestra in performing his powerful statement defying social expectations of orientalism. Now released as “Myths of Origin,” this sprawling composition confirms is a testament to Hwang’s legacy as one of contemporary music’s most fearless boundary-crossers…This performance succeeds because it is both a bold artistic statement and an emotionally gripping journey. - Skope Magazine. Read Full Review
Inspired by jazz, funk and various traditions of world music, this richly orchestrated, sometimes hard rocking affair transcends all those limiting cultural stereotypes and promotes harmony through a lot of fascinating twists, turns and cacophonous explosions of sound. - Jonathan Widran, jwvibe.com Read Full Review
Composer, conductor Jason Kao Hwang leads an improvisational string orchestra for his latest album, a reflection of the current moods in America. They open with the suspense of “The Collapse of Gravity” followed by “Spin Fast and Burn”. Those two tracks sounded like the destruction of our democracy! However, Hwang’s intent on Myths of Origin is to describe the hysterics and insanity of what’s going on regarding Asian immigrants. It’s crazy in both cases. The band is spontaneous but well-coordinated. “Dust Gathers Around Sleep”, “Landmarks Vanish” and “Never Forgotten” are among the best selections. - D. Oscar Broomes, O's Place Jazz Magazine