Jason Kao Hwang - Human Rites Trio

July 28, 2020

Label: True Sound Recordings, 2020

Personnel - Jason Kao Hwang: violin, viola; Ken Filiano: bass; Andrew Drury: drums.

Human Rites Trio is probably my favorite project from violinist Jason Kao Hwang, who, in the recent couple of years has collaborated with pianist Karl Berger and saxophonist Ivo Perelman.

The ingenious rhythm section of this trio, with Ken Filiano on bass and Andrew Drury on drums, also guarantees the firm foundation of Hwang’s octet Burning Bridge and quintet Sing House. The six tracks on the record, which was completed during the Covid-19 pandemic and dedicated to both the victims of this disease and healthcare workers risking their lives out there, sound fresh, following an adaptable model that integrates as many prearranged moves as absorbing improvised moments.

Directional shifts are a constant, and the first two tracks on the record, “Words Asleep Spoken Awake”, parts I and II, are excellent examples. Part I kicks off with the violin in spritely counterpoint with the bowed bass. The percussion becomes well immersed in the conversation, establishing a three-way dialogue. Consecutive terse punctuation on the fiddle serves as both harmonic plank and percussive accompaniment during Filiano’s discourse, and then there’s a collective spiral of sizzling and squeaking violin sounds, bass rambles, and busy drumming, before Filano fixates on an open groove over which Hwang improvises.

Part II pushes the initial hard-swinging gush into a nine-minute improvisatory journey where a furious violin is set against a sturdy rhythmic net. Prior to the unison-filled conclusion, the group embraces darker atmospheres stuffed with deep arco bass slashes, enigmatic sounds emanated from Drury’s floor tom, and plaintive violin cries.

The trio sometimes sounds like an elastic orchestra but the eclectic approach takes them to other worlds than just jazz improv. Take the examples of “Conscious Concave Concrete” and “Battle For the Indelible Truth”, where Hwang explores traditional Asian music. On the former piece he plucks the viola with expressive meaning, painting a clear, bright landscape that includes hushed solo moments and an in-the-pocket good-time bounce totally anchored in the blues. The latter piece, in turn, exhibits an intense rock-flavored tone with call-and-response patterns that are reminiscent of activist chants.

Less upbeat, “2AM” shapes up as a reflection expressed with chamber-esque mournful tones. Yet, it’s not devoid of groove. The recording ends with “Defiance”, where modern classical goes hand in hand with Oriental music, and a triumphant march leads to an explosive drum solo and untroubled abstract interplay.

With 15 years of mutual collaboration and musical understanding, Hwang, Filiano and Drury have developed a natural, fascinating language that is fully expressed on Human Rites Trio.

Favorite Tracks:
02 - Words Asleep Spoken Awake Pt. II ► 05 - Battle For the Indelible Truth ► 06 - Defiance

Jason Kao Hwang / Karl Berger - Conjure

November 25, 2019

Label: True Sound Recordings, 2019

Personnel - Jason Kao Hwang: violin, viola; Karl Berger: piano, vibraphone.

Chinese American violinist Jason Kao Hwang teams up with Munich-born pianist Karl Berger for an avant-jazz duo session whose refined tones make it a totally absorbable experience. These cultivated explorers had played together before and none of them are strange to the duo configuration - the pianist had recorded in this format with Dave Holland, Lee Konitz, Ed Blackwell, and Ivo Perelman, while the violinist did the same with Dominic Duval and Ayman Fanous. Conjure was recorded at the pianist’s home studio in Woodstock and features eight improvised pieces that show their constantly openness to the moment.

The opener, “Prophecy”, confirms that their voices make sense together. Berger launches the journey with a low-toned piano pedal, angular musings, and some caustic chordal movements. For its part, Hwang’s melodic narrative is as dramatic as it should be, and we can almost sense the tears suggested by his violin cries. The atmosphere here is enigmatic with an inclination for wistfulness.

“Silhouettes” comes wrapped in a dreamlike aura associated with a reiterated path diligently followed by the vibraphone. Hwang is free to wander, whistling and shrieking on the violin as he seeks to provide not just notable sounds but also emotional meaning in the combination of sounds.

I point out the final cut, “Arise”, as one of the most interesting pieces on the album. It unfolds patiently, developing ominous vibes that oppose rough violin creaks and scratches to occasional sustained pedal tones, sharp tone clusters, and sometimes investigative arpeggiated textures on the piano. While the atmosphere is kept stable here, “Beyond Reach”, featuring Berger on both piano and vibraphone, relies on a more mutable panorama where pace, texture, and groove adjust in unpredictable ways.

Hwang plays the viola on three pieces: “Vanishing Roots”, in which he draws intricate phrases and patterns by plucking the strings of the instrument; “Faith”, whose introspectively dark bowed sounds play a great deal on the controlled yet occasionally febrile vein adopted; and the exotic ritual “Water Finds Water”, which, clocking in at 13 minutes, is the longest tune of the set. The vibraphone work could have been inspired either by African or Asian music.

Berger and Hwang think alike, and Conjure is a reflection of their spontaneous creativity.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Prophecy ► 05 - Faith ► 08 - Arise

Jason Kao Hwang's Burning Bridge - Blood

November 13, 2018

Label: True Sound Recordings, 2018

Personnel - Jason Kao Hwang: violin; Taylor Ho Bynum: cornet, flugelhorn; Steve Swell: trombone; Joseph Daley: tuba; Sun Li: pipa; Wang Guowei: erhu; Ken Filiano: bass; Andrew Drury: drums.

Violinist Jason Kao Hwang has been a continuous presence in the New York’s Lower East Side avant-garde scene. His last recording, Sing House, deserved the respect of the media, featuring a quintet whose members, with exception of pianist Chris Forbes, are also part of his newest work, Blood, a composite of creative jazz, free improvisation, and Chinese traditional music. Thus, in addition to trombonist Steve Swell, bassist Ken Filiano, and drummer Andrew Drury - the eight-piece Burning Bridge ensemble includes tuba player Joseph Daley, cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, pipa player Sun Li, and erhu artist Wang Guowei.

Hwang meditated upon the emotional traumas of war, taking into consideration the tormenting experiences of fellow musicians Billy Bang and Butch Morris in Vietnam as well as his own mother’s in WWII. The album consists in a continuous track that was divided into five pieces and titled for convenience.

“Breath Within The Bomb” kicks off with warlike percussion, which mixed with the severe, serrated sounds of Filiano’s bowed bass and Swell’s deep notes, augments the claustrophobic sensations of being trapped in a devastating reality. As it moves forward, the tune acquires a passive Asian-flavored taste, only to become moderately cacophonous in a passage where Drury’s drum activity exhibits a ferocious, kinetic energy. Tranquility returns at the end with an Eastern-infused dialogue between violin and erhu.

Divided into two parts of approximately seven minutes each, “Surge” is initially designed through orchestral slides and rhythmic accents before granting fine improvisations by Hwang, Bynum, and Guowei over a Sun Ra-inspired rhythm. Daley’s deep tuba sounds populates the second part with an extemporaneous urge.

If, to this point, haunting pictures were created through chiaroscuro sonic treatments, then “Evolution” eases things up by rooting a groovy jazz bass in American soil. The blues-based structure becomes an excellent vehicle for Bynum’s explorative yet melodically charged solo, Sun Li’s dissertation, as well as for Hwang’s bluesy stretches with fair responses from the band. The concluding “Declarations” encompasses Filiano’s outstanding arco rumination and Daley’s extended tuba stretch, among other things.

By constantly alternating the density of the orchestrations, Hwang suggests different scenarios that correspond to transformative states of mind. The thrills of spontaneity come from individual statements but also from interspersed interlocutions with two or three musicians. After all, this is music of exploration and reflection.

Favorite Tracks:
01 - Breath Within The Bomb ► 02 – Surge Pt. 1 ► 04 - Evolution

Jason Kao Hwang - Sing House

June 22, 2017

Label/Year: Eonymous Records, 2017

Lineup – Jason Kao Hwang: violin and viola; Steve Swell: trombone; Chris Forbes: piano; Ken Filiano: bass; Andrew Drury: drums.

American violinist, violist, and composer from Chinese descent, Jason Kao Hwang, has followed his own path in the avant-jazz scene with a few interesting albums of his own authorship and many memorable collaborations along the way with Lawrence "Butch" Morris, Dominic Duval, Anthony Braxton, William Parker, and more recently with trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum.

On his new work, Sing House, he establishes immersive sonic architectures with the help of a brand new quintet whose musicians have been accompanying him throughout the years, whether in personal projects like EDGE and Burning Bridge or other formations that some of them might put together. They are Steve Swell on trombone, Chris Forbes on piano, Ken Filiano on bass, and Andrew Drury on drums.

The band conjures a variety of moods throughout the 49 minutes of an equilibrated album whose each of the four original compositions lasts between 11 and 14 minutes.

“No Such Thing”, the opening piece, surges with a romping start, exposing the collective prowess through ever-shifting rhythms and natural sound manipulations. The introductory chapter fades out evenly, giving an opportunity to Drury, alone, to exhibit a few chattering drum scrambles. The improvisations are placed over the textural compactness formed by piano, bass, and drums. Still, the improvised discourses of Swell and Hwang occur within different settings. The former blows while having a denser funk-rock foundation under his feet; the latter bowed with a more volatile if audacious broken swing as a framework. Forbes’ bluesy pianism and rhythmic whirlwinds bring Horace Tapscott’s demeanors into the scene, impelling Drury to fire back with potent palpitations. Before finishing with calm poise, there is still time for Filiano’s complex bass plucking with bends, and Hwang’s violin whines and woes.

Everyone must agree that dream walking is an instance of perils and an exposure to risk. It’s exactly this sense of uncertainty and even obscurity that Hwang describes in “Dream Walk”, where a mix of creaky and deep-toned sounds crush in and respond to one another with diligent counterpoint. A sudden wake up may bring another wild adventure and the quintet also covers that part with a half festive, half desperate sense of urgency, which translates into another set of extemporaneous outpours.

“When What Could”, obeying to six note beats per bar, embraces malleable contortions as it flutters from spacious chamber music to catchy rock inflections, which are transformed and adapted again into a more freeing and abstract concept for the final section.

The closing tune, “Inscribe”, nurtures beautiful orchestrations with different paces and resolute rhythms. Also overlapping ostinatos, triumphant solos, and enthusiastic parallel motions and unisons are also part of the trade.

Never gratuitous, this is wise avant music on the cutting edge, thriving with an unmitigated magnetism, rhythmic resourcefulness, and shimmering lyricism.

Favorite Tracks:
01 – No Such Thing ► 03 – When What Could ► 04 – Inscribe