Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Yuhan Su: A Room of One's Own

11

Yuhan Su: A Room of One's Own

By

View read count
Yuhan Su: A Room of One's Own
Vibraphonist/composer Yuhan Su says she wrote most of the songs on her second album in tiny piano practice rooms where she spent a great deal of time teaching. That's one part of the meaning of the album title. A Room of One's Own also refers to the Virginia Woolf essay of the same name, which explores the reasons why few women had written fiction, as well as any author's need for personal liberty to create art. A potentially heavy topic, but one Su and her band have no difficulty handling—and the sound they make is anything but ponderous.

"Amulet" opens the album, an engaging 12/8 tune with a gentle swing. "Valedicere I" adds atmospheric guitar sounds from Kenji Herbert to the texture, as well as featuring a solo from bassist Petros Klampanis. "No. 13 Waltz" is lullaby-like, with Su contributing gentle vocalise on the theme: the drums sit this one out. "I Do Not Always Understand What You Say. What Is, Is By Its Nature On Display I" again makes effective use of vocalise, this time with Su and Herbert joining Matt Holman's trumpet on the concluding theme. The addition of vocals on these tracks was inspired: just the right touch for this music.

Su plays the electronic malletKAT (a MIDI percussion mallet controller) on "Painter's Mind," a duet with drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell. The string and synthesizer guitar sounds she produces are a dramatic contrast to the rest of the program. There's real energy here, and not just of the electrical kind. It's certainly an approach worthy of further exploration. "Freezing Point" features an especially effective guitar solo, and "Anti-Hunger Song" provides an atmospheric closer.

Su makes a strong impression as composer and mallet player—it's not surprising that her Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to finance the album's completion was successful. None of her band members are household names, which just shows how deep the New York City jazz bench is. Jazz vibraphone fans should not miss this.

Track Listing

Amulet; Valedīcere I; Valedīcere II; Valedīcere III; No 13 Waltz; All Kinds of Dreams; I Do Not Always Understand What You Say. What Is, Is By It's Nature On Display I; I Do Not Always Understand What You Say. What Is, Is By It's Nature On Display II; Painter's Mind; Freezing Point; Anti-Hunger Song.

Personnel

Yuhan Su
vibraphone

Yuhan Su: vibraphone, malletKAT (Track 9), vocals (Tracks 5, 7); Matt Holman: trumpet, flugelhorn; Kenji Herbert: guitar, vocals (Track 7); Petros Klampanis: acoustic bass; Nathan Ellman-Bell: drums.

Album information

Title: A Room of One's Own | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Inner Circle Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Yuhan Su Concerts


Support All About 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 make 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.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves 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.

Near

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

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

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.