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Eugenia Choe
A Korean-American Jazz pianist and composer, Eugenia Choe is one of the most respected musicians of her generation. Having spent her early childhood in South Korea and her formative years in L.A., Atlanta, Chicago, and New York, Eugenia has been in the unique position of having an intimate connection with different cultures. This has helped her developed her unique style of composition and improvisation.
Before she moved to New York, Eugenia majored in mathematics and classical piano performance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and worked with William Heiles, a renowned pianist with special emphasis on Bach, Chopin, and Schumann. In New York, Eugenia graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the prestigious New School for Jazz, where she studied with legendary jazz musicians such as Reggie Workman, Sam Yahel, Chico Hamilton, and Charles Tolliver. She went on to earn a master's degree in jazz piano at SUNY Purchase, under the tutelage of Kevin Hays, David Hazeltine and John Abercrombie.
A promising young composer, Eugenia has already received accolades for her debut trio album, Magic Light. In addition to composing and leading her trio, Eugenia has been performing with many accomplished musicians in her field as an accompanist and sideman in jazz venues in New York and abroad. She is undoubtedly becoming a household name in the music scene.
Eugenia recently recorded her second trio album with bassist Danny Weller and drummer Alex Wyatt. Eugenia’s first album, Magic Light, has garnered rave reviews from some of the most respected jazz critics. The new album, Verdant Dream, is a new collection of instrumental compositions in pursuit of a sound that is both sensuous and depictive. The title track, and indeed the album as a whole, reflects an effort to bring a lush and vibrant energy to a grey and tumultuous world.
Since her successful debut album in 2016, Eugenia has been an artist with SteepleChase Records.
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Eugenia Choe: So We Speak
by Dan McClenaghan
New York-based pianist Eugenia Choe's first two trio albums on SteepleChase Records, 2016's Magic Light (review here) and 2018's Verdfant Green (review here), featured her trio with bassist Danny Weller and drummer Alex Wyatt. For her third album release, So We Speak, Choe goes with a trio once again, this time teaming with vibraphonist Yuhan Su and vocalist Song Yi Jeon. The result is less the traditional jazz trio mood of her debut and its follow up, and more of ...
Continue ReadingEugenia Choe: Verdant Dream
by Mark Sullivan
Pianist/composer Eugenia Choe is based in New York, but took a circuitous route to get there. Born in South Korea, she spent years in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago (where she majored in mathematics and classical piano performance at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). In New York, Eugenia graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the renowned New School for Jazz and earned a master's degree in jazz piano at SUNY Purchase. Her recorded debut Magic Light ...
Continue ReadingEugenia Choe: Verdant Dream
by Dan McClenaghan
New York-based pianist Eugenia Choe released one of the finest debuts of 2017 with Magic Light (SteepleChase Records). It was a trio outing of the highest order, featuring a distinctive and interactive trio interplay with bandmates Danny Weller (bass) and Alex Wyatt (drums). Choe proved herself a fine interpreter of tunes from Billy Strayhorn and alto saxophonist, Benny Carter, but it was her eight originals that--exploring, in part, the aspect of light--that stole the show. Now, as 2018 ...
Continue ReadingEugenia Choe: Magic Light
by James Nadal
One of the most interesting aspects of jazz immersion studies is how it influences and affects players from diverse backgrounds. Korean born and classically trained pianist Eugenia Choe was drawn to jazz by its opportunities for compositional development and improvisational challenges, bringing to Magic Light a lyrical understanding of technical structure, and an intellectual ability to swing. This being her recording debut, Choe came to the sessions with an abundance of original material, revealing her pianistic virtuosity and ...
Continue ReadingEugenia Choe: Magic Light
by Dan McClenaghan
It takes nerve to come from (seemingly) out of nowhere to present a piano trio disc. The history runs deep there: Bud Powell, Tommy Flanagan, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Brad Mehldau, Keith Jarrett--just a scratching of the surface of the bop and post bebop players in the game. Eugenia Choe, a new-to-the-scene New York-based pianist, enters the arena in a big way with her debut, Magic Light, and not--as might be expected--on a set heavy on the Standards. ...
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