In 2003 Synnara Music asked me to compose music for project blending traditional Korean Pansori performances with American jazz. Pansori is a narrative opera form consisting of a single singer with a single drummer, and they had recorded a collection of performances by the top emerging Pansori singers that they wanted to showcase in this new project. they also wanted to include/integrate a classic recording of Jeong Jeong-ryeol, a master from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After working with them on budget and style and studying the music pretty deeply, I decided to push more toward Gil Evans than Charlie Parker, using many of the classic jazz instruments and harmonies but with textures and rhythms veering toward the orchestral and experimental. Here’s the result – the record was released in a beautiful package, and I guess it was available in Korea, but as far as I know it was never released worldwide, nor marketed at all. Here it is in its entirety.
Credits: Jeong Jeong-ryeol, Im Hyyeon-bin, Jeong Eun-hye, Jang Mun-heui, Nam Sang-il (vocals), Han Seong-jun, Song Jae-yeong (drum), Chris Monroe (drum set and marimba), Evan Buehler (vibraphone), Craig Flory (saxophone), Josh Stewart (trumpet), Christina Shinkle (piano), Doug Miller (bass)
Instrumental music/accompaniment composed and produced by Ian Rashkin, recorded by Joe Reineke at Orbit Audio, Seattle. Produced by Synnara Music Co., Ltd.
