Browsing Tag

Classical Jazz

Jisu Jung took her journey of self-discovery in the neo-classic jazz release, Who Am I

After honing her talents in some of the most prestigious music institutions including Dresden College of Music, Berklee College of Music in Boston, and the Manhattan School of Music, the pianist and composer, Jisu Jung’s technical skills transcended into an ability to forge evocative connections with her innovative compositions.

Her latest classical jazz piece, Who Am I, welcomes you into her expressive world, where cello strings visualise the darkness we all need to negate on the path of self-discovery and the piano keys embellish the score with flourishing syncopation to mimic the freedom of personal growth.

As the momentum builds towards the mid-way point in the instrumental release, euphoric zeal starts to underpin the orchestration, marking a radical shift from the ornate air in the prelude to the virtuosic control of chaotic time signatures. Even though the energy doesn’t sustain towards the outro, the innate liberation in the progression lingers before the abrupt silence allows you to take a breath that isn’t influenced by the momentum within the classical Tour De Force.

Who Am I was officially released on September 22; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Spice Cabinet serve a finesse-fuelled feast through their latest single “Bittersweet”

With a cinematic Jazz ensemble quiescently quivering beneath a poetically enticing spoken-word monologue, The Spice Cabinet’s latest release, “Bittersweet”, is captivating from the intro.  

From there on out, the Neo-Classic soundscape demonstrates its efficaciousness in arresting your rhythmic pulses with the subtle yet striking fluctuations in zeal and style, leaving you eager, but assured, you’re in masterfully safe aural hands.

With the nuance exhibited in Bittersweet, it comes as no surprise that Beijing’s 11-piece award-winning Jazz fusion collective have amassed plenty of acclaim. Frontman, arranger, pianist and trombonist Terry Hsieh is able to bring modernism to a genre consistently perceived as archaic. Perhaps more pertinently, he is able to make a plaything of your psyche through his ingenuity.

Bittersweet is available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast