Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jason Kao Hwang / Edge: Stories Before Within

245

Jason Kao Hwang / Edge: Stories Before Within

By

Sign in to view read count
Jason Kao Hwang / Edge: Stories Before Within
Stories Before Within is the second album from violinist Jason Kao Hwang's three-year-old ensemble, Edge. Their self-titled debut for Asian Improv Records was one of 2006's sleeper hits, a record brimming with stirring melodies, unorthodox arrangements and stunning group interplay. No less imaginative, their follow-up blends Eastern and Western traditions with even greater conviction.

Joined again by cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum, bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Andrew Drury, Hwang and company venture even further into Asiatic sonorities, exploring a wide array of stylistic variations over the course of these five long-form pieces.

Inspired by a Ukrainian street festival, "Cloud Call" opens the album with swirling counterpoint and dynamic shifts in tempo and pitch. Hwang's keening violin sings with a folksy tone as Bynum's elusive cornet escalates from fragmented, expressive cries to raspy flurries. Filiano's bowed bass resonates with sinewy verve, while Drury sketches between the lines with scintillating percussion.

"From East Sixth Street" invokes historical jazz traditions culled from the Lower East Side neighborhood that has been home to generations of improvisers, including Hwang. A swaggering pulse and funky, angular line knits the present to the past with expressive brio. Bynum's splintery brass fragments introduce robust glissandos and piercing harmonics from Hwang and Filiano, as they ascend the orchestral palpitations of Drury's multi-hued drum kit.

"Walking Pictures" deconstructs a strutting blues vamp, channeling primal soul into ethereal vespers. Ghostly ruminations yield zealous testimonials and pliant swing as the quartet alternates between austere introspection and kaleidoscopic drama.

A majestic fanfare sets the stage for the stately "Third Sight," as Hwang and Bynum careen over a propulsive vamp embroiled in vivacious discourse. Abruptly switching gears, Drury and Filiano submit their own lyrical soliloquies before the exuberant reprise.

Closing the album on a bittersweet note, "Embers" unfolds with languid, neo-classical restraint as each member contributes heartfelt variations on a plangent melody.

Another brilliant collection of forward-thinking compositions from Hwang, Stories Before Within offers a rich blend of jazz and chamber music that seamlessly merges Eastern and Western traditions into a singular, global hybrid.

Track Listing

Cloud Call; From East Sixth Street; Walking Pictures; Third Sight; Embers.

Personnel

Taylor Ho Bynum: cornet; Andrew Drury: drum set; Ken Filiano: string bass; Jason Kao Hwang: composer, violin, viola (track 3).

Album information

Title: Stories Before Within | Year Released: 2008 | Record Label: Innova Recordings

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Love Is Passing Thru
Roberto Magris
Candid
Sunny Five
Inside Colours Live
Julie Sassoon

Popular

Eagle's Point
Chris Potter
Light Streams
John Donegan - The Irish Sextet

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.