Choi / Cunliffe Jazz Orchestra at Campus Jax in Orange County

Choi Cunliffee Jazz Orchestra
Campus Jax
Orange County, CA
March 1,2026

Young Korean composer and arranger Mina Choi is on a roll. She has co-led big bands while collaborating with two of Los Angeles' most esteemed pianists and arrangers, Bill Cunliffe and Josh Nelson. She put out a stellar 2025 debut release, Stories, and has another on the way featuring George Cables.

We caught up with her teaming with Cunliffe at Campus Jax, a charming supper club underneath the flight path of Orange County's John Wayne Airport. No worries , the only rumbling we heard  came from the bubbling crescendoes of the band.

Perhaps to provide context for a group emerging on the scene, or to please the well heeled older crowd at a 6:30 PM show, the set was mainly comprised of standards and pop tunes like "Route 66" and Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For ?." Those tunes and some others featured stylish vocalist Jamie Van Der Slyuys. When they got to Herb Alpert's "Rise" the evening really kicked in as the band demonstrated precision swing and undulating dynamics. I heard whispers of Don Ellis here.

Choi and Cunliffe alternated between the podium and the piano, each conducting their own arrangements. The highlights of the evening were Cunliffe's original composition inspired by video games, "Vidiots," and Choi's take on Ahmad Jamal's "Swahililand." "Vidiots" started off majestically leading into an adagio bridge where the horns snaked over it, eventually climaxing in a cloud of dissonance. Choi masterfully interpreted "Swahililand" applying meticulous brushstrokes of tonal color. The arrangement ranged from Debussey romanticism to soulful syncopation.