Jazz Articles about Francesca Han

About Francesca Han

Album Review

Camus thought the interesting part of the myth was the walk back down. The climb is all effort. It is on the descent, with the rock at the bottom and the hill still to do again, that Sisyphus sees his situation whole, and Camus calls this the hour of consciousness. Francesca Han has named an album for that figure. Several of its seven original compositions place their principal dynamic expansion well before the ending, leaving considerable space for withdrawal and ...

Radio & Podcasts

Francesca Han, Ralph Alessi, Greg Spero, Camille Bertault & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
May 2, 2023

Experiments from Chicago and elsewhere, technical mastery offset by sense of humor, jazz as sonic storytelling, and jazz standards' transfigurations are some of the main sources of inspiration for this episode.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Greg Spero “Ruslan" The Chicago Experiment: Revisited (Ropeadope) 0:16 Host Talks 8:47 Greg Spero “Rose Petal" The Chicago Experiment (Ropeadope) 9:56 Host Talks 13:49 John Zorn “Eventide" Perchance to Dream (Tzadik) 15:58 ...

Touchstone Album Picks

Francesca Han: Exuding Honesty

by Ian Patterson
February 23, 2023

Pianist and composer Francesca Han's duo album with Ralph Alessi, Exude (Hanji, 2022), is a timely reminder of the Korean's talent as an interpreter, an improvisor and as a creative force. It is a beautiful, conversational album, open to multiple influences. Classically trained, Han discovered jazz while studying in her native Seoul. It was a life-changing turning point that would lead her to New York, where she immersed herself in jazz studies both formal and informal. A number ...

Album Review

Francesca Han & Ralph Alessi: Exude

by Ian Patterson
January 3, 2023

The first duo recording from pianist Francesca Han and trumpeter Ralph Alessi has been a while coming, the pair first having met in New York in 2011. Shortly thereafter, Han left the Big Apple—closing the book on an eight-year sojourn--though not before recording the highly impressive Illusion (NatSat Music, 2012), which featured Alessi, Drew Gress, Corcoran Holt and Justin Brown. A decade on, Han and Alessi reunite on Exude. This joint effort is aptly named as neither holds back, though ...

Multiple Reviews

Francesca Han: Dream Episodes, Blue Suns, Icarus

by Ian Patterson
June 30, 2015

A new Francesca Han recording is something to get excited about. The pianist's spirited trio/quartet outing Illusion (Audioguy Records, 2012) and the bewitching solo effort Ascetic (Audioguy Records, 2012)—one of the finest solo piano jazz albums of recent years—were outstanding examples of her skills as a composer, bandleader and improviser. Now, in a relatively short space of time, three more releases of quite distinct individual character have seen the light of day, confirming, as if there was ever any doubt, ...

Album Review

Francesca Han: Ascetic

Read "Ascetic" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
February 12, 2013

Coming just a few months after the striking Illusion (Audioguy, 2012)--a vibrant trio recording featuring guest trumpeter Ralph Alessi--pianist Francesca Han's first recorded foray into the world of solo piano reveals a musician in a rich vein of form indeed. Stemming from the Illusion sessions, eight of the ten tracks are the fruit of an impromptu two-hour improvisation, and it's perhaps not surprising that there's a pronounced flow and unrelenting energy about these performances. There's great variation in mood throughout, ...

Interview

Francesca Han: Right Music, Right Time

by Ian Patterson
February 11, 2013

Korea has never been more fashionable, leading the way in technological advances and dictating hair styles, television viewing, eye shape and pop music trends across Asia and beyond. The mindboggling response to singer PSY's song “Gangnam Style," with over a billion hits on You Tube, epitomizes the phenomena of the so-called “Korean Wave." Fewer people, inevitably, are aware of the depth of Korean jazz talent, amply demonstrated on the essential compilation Into the Light--Korean Music III--Traditional Music and Korean Jazz ...