Black String

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic X - East - WestCD / digital Majid Bekkas guembri & vocals Nguyên Lê e-guitar NES Nesrine vocals & cello Matthieu Saglio cello & vocals David Gadea percussion Black String Yoon Jeong Heo e-guitarGeomungo Jean Oh e-guitar Aram Lee / daegeum & yanggeum Min Wang Hwang ajaeng & janggu ‘East meets West’ was the central theme in the life of Nesuhi Ertegün (1917-1989). He grew up as the son of the Turkish Ambassador in Washington, and Nesuhi himself was to become an ambassador too: one of the most important producers and advocates that jazz has ever had. On the 30th anniversary of his death, Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic curator Siggi Loch dedicated an evening to commemorating this friend and mentor who had been like a father to him. For Nesuhi, jazz had no borders; this concert was a posthumous validation of the farsightedness of that vision. On the cultural world map, East-West today is synonymous with the tense relationship between Europe and Asia, between Occident and Orient. From the Renaissance to the present day, there have been repeated waves of enthusiasm for Eastern culture in the West. And for the hundred years or so that jazz has existed, it too has always tended to absorb elements from other cultures into its stylistic vocabulary. Conversely, artists from Eastern cultures have embraced jazz, fused it with their own traditions, revealing new and fascinating expressive possibilities. Black String, the South Korean quartet led by geomungo player Yoon Jeong Heo, takes a 1500-year old Korean musical tradition and brings it into the modern era and into jazz in way which is totally compelling artistically. NES Trio with charismatic singer/cellist Nesrine Belmokh has a distinctive sound drawn from the musical melting pot of the Mediterranean region. A special guest is the Moroccan oud and guembri player Majid Bekkas, who has often brought the Gnawa blues of his homeland into projects ranging from “folklore imaginaire” to avantgarde jazz. And providing the perfect East-West link is French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê, whose go-between role combin-ing the worlds of jazz, rock and Asian folk music has been pio-neering. Together they celebrate a meeting of East and West. Nesui Ertegün would have been overjoyed. Credits: Recorded live in concert by Klaus Scheuermann at the Berlin Philharmonie (KMS), November 20, 2019 Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Curated and produced by Siggi Loch Cover art by Philip Taaffe, Isfahan (2009), by courtesy of Jablonka Galerie Cologne

Black String - KarmaCD / Vinyl / digital Yoon Jeong Heo geomungo Jean Oh guitar, electronics, beat mixing (on 2) Aram Lee daegeum, yanggeum, tungso, danso & taepyeongso Min Wang Hwang voice, janggu, percussion & taepyeongso Special Guest: Nguyên Lê guitar (on 3 & 4) The band Black String has added several new dimensions to the genre ‘world music’. The South Korean quartet led by ge-omungo (traditional Korean zither) player Yoon Jeong Heo takes stylistic building blocks from traditional Asian music, jazz, blues and rock, and from electronica too, and juggles them expertly. It’s a powerful mix, bursting with all kinds of timbre possibilities, a context in which improvisation and traditional forms truly merge. The new album "Karma" represents a modern, global kind of music. Whereas it knows no borders, it definitely has strong and deep roots. Black String's debut album "Mask Dance" had a great reception from both audiences and critics. The New York Music Daily wrote of "towering, hypnotic, psychedelic Korean post-rock majesty", and Jazzwise magazine in the UK described the album as "an engaging exploration of what can be achieved by bringing ancient and modern into creative fusion." The German magazine Jazzthetik spoke of "something of a defining moment for world music". In their home country Black String received the Korean Music Award for "Best Jazz and Crossover Performance," and Songlines, the leading world music magazine, gave "Mask Dance" its “Asia and South Pacific Award” for the best release of 2018. It was logical for Black String to embark on a world tour, so they have spent the past two years performing at prestigious halls and top festivals. The interplay of the four band members – Yoon Jeong Heo on the geomungo, an instrument that can be played in so many ways, Jean Oh on the guitar, Aram Lee on the daegeum and yanggeum flutes, and with Janggu percussionist and singer Min Wang Hwang – has now deepened much further through this, something which can be heard demonstrably and convincingly on their second album. People who enjoyed "Mask Dance" will love "Karma" too. The way in which the typical melody lines of classical Asian music and the sound of traditional instruments are fused with current styles and methods is even more artistic and multi-layered, and the result is music which is completely new and individual. The opening track "Sureña" draws the listener in completely: the groove is blues-based and it underlays the ethereal theme, which in turn is taken over by the different instruments in improvised solos as in jazz. There is also sparse use of electronic sounds. Even more astonishing is the effect when Min Wang Hwang dramatically intones the traditional Korean shamanic singing on "Exhale-Puri", and then rises to a shout – accompanied by the band playing swelling rock rhythms. "Blue Shade", the final piece of the album sounds like it might be some kind of Far Eastern ProgRock. In any event, the rhythmic and dynamic force is irre-sistible, as Black String’s unique mixture of the old and the new rolls towards the listener. Nguyen Lê, the doyen of musical cultural transfer – in his case between Vietnamese folk music with jazz and rock – appears as a guest on two tracks. But there are other moods to "Karma" as well: this band can enter a mysteri-ous and meditative zone, as it does in the title track. Karma is an Asian spiritual concept whereby every action inevitably has both physical and spiritual consequences. It is the perfect title for this album, since no listener could possibly be indifferent faced with what Black String do. Their music, which combines the complex and the extremely catchy, triggers mental as well as physical reactions. This is a world in which epochs and styles intertwine. From every point of view this album is a com-pletely captivating listen.Credits: Recorded at Brickwall Sound, Seoul, Korea, on January 25 & April 26, 2019 Recorded, mixed and mastered by Hyomin Kang Produced by Yoon Jeong Heo Executive Producer: Myung Kuk “Victor” Kye Cover art by Peter Krauskopf (2019)

Black String - Mask DanceCD / digital Yoon Jeong Heo geomungo Jean Oh guitar, electronics Aram Lee daegeum, yanggeum, danso Min Wang Hwang voice, janggu, percussion A hard stick made from the kind of narrow bamboo that grows by the Korean sea-shore is used to pluck low-pitched strings made of twisted silk. The deep, beguiling tones that emerge from these completely natural materials could have been heard at any time since the seventh century, because Korean music has a continuous tradition far longer than Western music. The stick is called a suldae, the stringed instrument is a geomungo or six-string longboard fretted zither. It is the voice at the very heart of that tradition, with a role comparable to that of the piano in the West. Yoon Jeong Heo, the bandleader, instigator and passionate driving force behind Black String, is a specialist on the geomungo. She studied with a leading master of the instrument, and when she talks about her musical heritage, there is no doubting her total commitment to it: “I want people to hear this music. It is powerful. It is beautiful and it is valuable,” she says. And Korean singer Youn Sun Nah is full of praise for her: “Heo shines even brighter because she carries the weight of tradition.” Heo doesn’t just carry the tradition. She is on a mission to extend it, to bring it to life by connecting it with other music. “I want to know other cultures and music and collaborate with other musicians. When I play with great musicians that is when I grow, that is when I learn,” she says. That desire to communicate a centuries- old power and beauty to audiences is also important. Heo’s father was a theatre director, and the thrill of performance is what motivates Heo: “My best place is the stage, I am definitely happiest there, that is my identity.” An opportunity to broaden out what she does came in 2011 when she was asked to assemble a project for a collaboration with UK jazz players such as Tim Garland and Gwilym Simcock. She invited two musicians, each with something very different to offer, to travel with her. The first, Aram Lee plays the traditional Korean bamboo flutes, the Daegeum and the smaller higher-pitched Danso, and also the Yanggeum a hammered dulcimer with metal strings. The second, Jean Oh, brings another dimension to the band. He is a jazz guitarist whose studies in Paris and later New York brought him into contact with musicians such as John Scofield, Uri Caine and Steve Coleman. UK writer Philip Gowman, a specialist in Korean music, reviewed one of the early concerts in London, describing it as “a triumphant fusion of improvisatory styles, played in a warm, enveloping acoustic. It was a shame that the event was not being recorded, as I would have subscribed for the CD there and then.” After the band had returned to Korea, Heo knew she wanted to bring a stronger rhythmic backbone to the group. The trio tried working with different percussionists, and were pleased to find Min Wang Hwang. He plays the janggu, the traditional hourglass-shaped drum, and also sings. The group with this stable personnel now works as a quartet worldwide. “Before we recorded, we had already toured with it and played it a lot live,” says Heo. What Black String have achieved remarkably on this album is to extend the tonal palette of the traditional instruments, the range of colours and timbres is quite mesmerising. In “Flowing Floating” - inspired by Esbjörn Svensson Trio‘s version of “The Face Of Love“ - Heo creates a drone sound by using the combination of bow and loop pedal. In “Mask Dance", Lee experiments with unvoiced breath on the daegeum, producing a sound which is both contemporary and visceral. Jean Oh brings a whole range of guitar-sourced sounds and pure electronic sounds, notably atmospheric popping sounds like falling raindrops at the start and the conclusion of “Growth Ring.” Heo uses the bow again towards the end of “Strangeness Moon” to create unforgettable other-worldly harmonics on the borders of spiritual silence. Improvisation has been present in Korean music for centuries, in the ensemble-based “sinawi” which accompanied shamanistic rituals, and the “sanjo” - literally meaning scattered melodies – for soloist and drum. Heo says that the closest the band reaches in this direction is in “Mask Dance” “We play together, we make contrasts, we share and follow pitches, and there is a minor thing going on which is very close to Korean traditional forms and scales.” Pulling this kaleidoscope of sounds and influences together is the remarkable bandleader herself. Heo has clear instincts as to how she wants to lead a band: “I believe strongly that is is important to talk. When we meet in the band to rehearse, first we talk. And then we practice. To make a really good sound we have to share each others' minds.” That may well be the secret behind the fact that you never hear a crowded or muddy texture, everything has freshness and clarity. Korean music is a remarkable sound-world. In the words of American composer Alan Hovhaness “It is one of the most expressive music types in the world, majestic and free. The naturalness and mysteriousness of its melodies are unmatched by any other music in the world.” What Black String have done is to create an astonishing coalescence of the old and the new. Theirs is a captivating sound world where power and beauty are both present in every moment. Credits: Recorded at Brickwall Sound, Seoul, Korea, June 30, 2016 Mixed on July 5 & 7 and mastered on July 9, 2016 Engineer: Hyomin Kang Produced by Yoon Jeong Heo Executive Producer: Myung Kuk “Victor” Kye (HUB MUSIC Inc.)