On Second Life, violinist Jason Kao Hwang and his Human Rites Trio with bassist Ken Filiano and drummer-percussionist Andrew Drury perform four extended pieces filled with inspired improvising and inventive arrangements. The interplay between the musicians in the colorful structures results in dynamic music.
MUSICIANS:
Jason Kao Hwang – composer / violin, Andrew Drury – drum set, gongs, aluminum pots, stainless steel bowls, Tibetan prayer bowl, bells, seed pods, oyster & mussel shells, wood block, cowbell, bronze gear, sink faucet escutcheon, Ken Filiano – string bass
Violinist Jason Kao Hwang, bassist Ken Filiano, and drummer-percussionist Andrew Drury all have strong reputations as fearless improvisers who are not shy to stretch themselves. They have performed together in a variety of settings over the past two decades but it is as a separate unit that they particularly shine. They were heard in prime form on their previous release, Human Rites Trio (True Sound Recordings TS03).
For their second CD, the trio performs four extended compositions by Jason Kao Hwang. For this colorful and continually intriguing program, in addition to the violin and bass (with Filiano sometimes playing bowed solos), Drury not only is heard on drums but on a wide assortment of percussion which includes gongs, aluminum pots, stainless steel bowls, a Tibetan prayer bowl, various bells and shells, and a sink faucet escutcheon.
The music that the Human Rites Trio performs has arranged sections that sound improvised, and telepathic improvisations that sometimes sound composed. The familiarity of the three artists with each other is obvious in their close and spontaneous communications, and the way that they often seem to think as one. For those musicians, scholars, and listeners who wish to read and investigate the music for each composition, they are available at http://jasonkaohwang.com/scores.
Each of the four originals (“Galaxies Twist Under Before It,” “What to Keep, What to Let Go,” “Second Life,” and “Ricochet”) are episodic, unpredictable, and ultimately logical, exploring several moods and tempos in each piece. Sometimes the music swings in its own way with catchy rhythms making the music fairly accessible, as on parts of “Galaxies Twist Under Before It” where Drury hints at Ed Blackwell. At other times, Hwang’s expressive lead is relatively somber (the beginning and conclusion of “What to Keep, What to Let Go”) or the group improvises together with intensity (“Ricochet’). The music on Second Life comprises stimulating and thought-provoking dreamscapes with the three virtuosos bringing out the best in each other.
Jason Kao Hwang grew up in Waukegan and Highland Park, just north of Chicago. He studied classical violin and became very interested in jazz and improvised music while earning a degree at NYU. The violinist has worked and recorded with such adventurous musicians as William Parker, Billy Bang, Bill Horvitz, Jerome Cooper, Butch Morris, David Murray, Reggie Workman, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton, the Dominic Duval String Ensemble, Taylor Ho Bynum, Karl Berger, Steve Swell, Ivo Perelman, Oliver Lake, and Wadada Leo Smith among many others. Among his numerous projects have been composing a chamber opera (The Floating Box: A Story In Chinatown), Myths Of Origin for improvising string orchestra and drum set, and recording more than a dozen of his own albums including the recent Soliloquies, Unaccompanied Pizzicato Violin Improvisations.
Ken Filiano performs with artists in multiple genres including jazz, improvised music, tango and classical music, leads several groups, and has been featured in more than 150 recordings ranging from unaccompanied solos to large orchestras. Andrew Drury, who co-founded and runs the non-profit organization Continuum Culture & Arts for which he gives master classes all over the world, has also worked and recorded with a long list of avant-garde and adventurous artists.
Second Life features the three masterful musicians of the Human Rites Trio inspiring and challenging each other in surprising and memorable fashion.
