Home » Jazz Articles » Play This! » Yuhan Su: Naked Swimmer

Yuhan Su: Naked Swimmer

By John Chacona
December 2, 2023
View read count

For Liberated Gesture, her fourth release, Taiwan-born, New York vibraphonist Yuhan Su assembled a band of saxophonist Caroline Davis, pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist Marty Kenney and drummer Dan Weiss, all of whom play at their usual exalted level. That's fast company, but Su holds her own, moving smoothly in and out of taut ensemble passages and soloing with the clarity and subtle color of tinted quartz. Still, she makes her most impressive contribution on Liberated Gesture with her pen, not her mallets. All the compositions are Su's and at 72 minutes, the recording provides a generous opportunity for her to show her compositional range, from the jittery, M-Base-y "Character" to the haunted watchfulness of "Didion." Her skill in keeping opposites in equipoise shines on "Naked Swimmer," an aqueous ballad where unease lurks a few strokes behind the exhilaration of a solitary midnight swim.

Contribute to Play This! Recommend a favorite song, album, or performance and we'll share it with your fellow All About Jazz readers. Submit it here.

About Yuhan Su

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Introducing Vocalist Tyreek McDole
< Previous

The Return
Next >

Become a Sustaining Member

Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.

Help Build the Future of All About Jazz

Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.

Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.

Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.