L to R: Ken Filiano-string bass, Andrew Drury-drum set, Jason Kao Hwang-composer/violin/viola, Chris Forbes-piano, Steve Swell-trombone; Photo by Reubin Radding

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The music is a house, with the score’s quintessential melodies, rhythms, harmonies, and textures o ering rooms in which musicians extem- poraneously sing. In this dramatic architecture, the unique voice of each musician is empowered to individually interpret and also, transcend interpretation to become an originating spirit that is inextricably uni ed to the composition’s destiny. This is how music grows greater than the imagination of one to become a meta-language of memories, dreams, and hope. Though this is the first CD of Sing House, my new quintet, we have worked together in various constellations for over ten years. Andrew and Ken were in my past quartet EDGE, and current octet Burning Bridge, project VOICE and string orchestra, Spontaneous River. Steve is also a member of Burning Bridge. Chris and I have performed as a duo and with Steve’s bands. My thanks to all of them and patrick brennan, for their friendship, creativity, and artistry.  – Jason Kao Hwang

 

Excerpt from Liner Notes 

For Hwang, Western habits of theme & reiteration, etc. have grown so familiar & obvious that to call on them would feel intellectually cute.?He’s come instead to designate less & less while shaping a compositional matrix. Melodic sketches, sometimes built from unusual interval combinations, might get reworked by ear, over & over, until an irreducible identity arrives. Critical call & response, ever alert to his collaborators’   

propensities, to their individual sounds & to their combination, helps discover what might come before—or after—each of these constellations.   

The geological irregularity of Hwang’s construction is entirely deliberate. His procedures incorporate strategies kin with assemblage & with subtractive sculpture—the subtractive an especially decisive agent in the music’s aura of transverbal mystery. Pruning intensi es the phenom- enological presence of what one hears, while the echoes & shadows of what’s been removed never fully disclose themselves. What bends & transforms around all of this is the “group mind” plasticity speci c to this particular gathering of musical actors.   

For Jason Kao Hwang, music stages that active imagination within which “we imagine who we are.” He’s chosen throughout his musical work to engage & make relationship with his total sound history, & in that, (to paraphrase James Baldwin’s conception) accept & achieve his own temporal identity. It’s hard to nd anything more valuable to admire in an artist (or in a person) than an accomplished willingness to do just that.  – patrick brennan, composer & saxophonist  

The New York Times Playlist, Giovanni Russoncello, 4/28/17. Click the photo to link to the NYT. Scroll down to the article's ending.

Sing House, One of the Best CDs of 2017, Downbeat Magazine

REVIEWS

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...It’s this kind of daring that makes a Hwang album so thrilling—that sense of sharp intelligence and creative courage. The Best Jazz on Bandcamp, May 2017   Read Full Review

Due to the variety of moods, the brilliance of the musicians and the mixture of composition and improvisation, Sing House is a success.  The music is never predictable and the journey passes through many unexpected areas.  - Scott Yanow, Downbeat ****  Read Full Review

Violinist/violist Jason Kao Hwang’s new quintet comes out swinging on Sing House, a freebop anthology reflecting his tenures with Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill and other modern thinkers.  The band features a frontline with trombone master Steve Swell and a rhythm section of Ken Filiano (bass), Chris Forbes (piano) and Andrew Drury (drums).  - Robert Bush, The New York City Jazz Record  Read Full Review

Hwang's music provides just the right balance between structure and freedom, as illustrated vividly on these four well-crafted tracks...Hwang's leaps and flights are especially impressive, showcasing his superb dexterity while the band surges powerfully behind him...Much of the music turns on the rhythmic foundation provided by Filiano and Drury. They possess the finely-honed instincts of having played together for years, and the complexity of Hwang's compositions requires those instincts to be fully utilized...But to be sure, all five musicians work as an integrated unit, and that ultimately is the reason why the album succeeds. - Troy Dostert, All About Jazz, June 11, 2017  Read Full Review

 

You can tell that all five members of this quintet have been working hard on bridging the ago between free and written sections since each flurry of activity or solo seamlessly flows into the next section... Jason Kao Hwang remains one of the most distinctive, creative and fascinating string players of all. His wonderful playing and well-crafted compositions are at the center of this great disc so grab this gem ASAP!  - Bruce Gallanter, Downtown Music Gallery Newsletter, August 17, 2017 Read Full Review