Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Pureum Jin: The Real Blue

12

Pureum Jin: The Real Blue

By

View read count
Pureum Jin: The Real Blue
Although alto saxophonist Pureum Jin would no doubt shrug her shoulders and ask "what's the big deal," the fact remains that she is a South Korean woman playing American jazz and doing so in a way that affirms conclusively that the country's inbred art form is not only universal but gender-neutral. On her debut album, the rather recent graduate of the Manhattan School of Music sounds as assured and comfortable in the idiom as almost any native-born player—male or female—you'd care to name.

A part of that certitude must clearly be ascribed to her mentors who include reed masters Donny McCaslin and Steve Wilson. The rest, however, comes from Jin herself, as all the mentoring in the world won't help unless a student has the aptitude and talent to take that guidance and run with it. Jin, still in her twenties, has already developed an impressive voice that can only grow stronger and more eloquent with each passing year. Besides McCaslin and Wilson, Jin has obviously listened closely to other alto superstars including the late Phil Woods, to whom she pays tribute on one of her eight original compositions on The Real Blue.

As Jin's frame of mind is most definitely post-bop, she sought out sidemen whose preferences are the same, and found them in pianist Jeremy Manasia, bassist Luke Sellick and drummer Willie Jones III. Together they form an ardent and cohesive quartet whose talents are always in service to the music. As for that, it ranges from cool ("The Song of Silence," featuring vocalist Sabeth Perez, and "When Blue Gets Blue," the burnished finale on which Jin and Manasia duet) to hot (everything else by Jin plus a pair of standards: Cole Porter's earnest "Night and Day" and Kurt Weill's emphatic "Speak Low"). While the name of the opening number, "Trembling Forward," may suggest that Jin was nervous as she began her first recording as a leader, there's no sign of that in her bright and adventurous solo.

Jin is similarly unflappable throughout, displaying her splendid technique on the burners ("Seminole Trail," the two standards) and her warmer side on "Fireflies" and "Remembering Mr. Woods." Manasia and the others keep pace, with Manasia comping ably and soloing adroitly on several numbers while Sellick and Jones more than hold their own. An impressive debut by a talented young player whose singular aptitude for jazz architecture and format transcends any and all boundaries.

Track Listing

Trembling Forward; Ah-Oh-Owa; The Song of Silence; Night and Day; Remembering Mr. Woods; Fireflies; Night Shift Blues; Seminole Trail; Speak Low; When Blue Gets Blue.

Personnel

Pureum Jin
saxophone, alto

Pureum Jin: alto saxophone; Jeremy Manasia: piano; Luke Sellick: bass; Willie Jones III: drums; Sabeth Perez: vocals .

Album information

Title: The Real Blue | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Cellar Live

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




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.

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.