Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra/ Things Will Pass (Aug. 2024)
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/things-will-pass-hyeseon-hong-jazz-orchestra-self-produced
By Jack Bowers
October 29, 2024
MM Jazz
“This is one of the best records I’ve heard in a very long time. The music is wonderful, and the sound is sublime”
Frank Doris
(COOPER MAGAZINE) https://www.psaudio.com/blogs/copper/the-hyeseon-hong-jazz-orchestra-releases-a-stunning-album-em-things-will-pass-em
(JW VIBE) https://www.jwvibe.com/single-post/hyeseon-hong-things-will-pass
(MAKING A SCENE) https://www.makingascene.org/hyeseon-hong-jazz-orchestra...
(Musicalmemoirs's Blog) https://musicalmemoirs.wordpress.com
(Leonid Auskern) https://jazzquad.ru/index.pl?act=PRODUCT&id=6756
GOOGLE TRANSLATE
The music on the album is very diverse and interesting, which can be considered an undoubted success of the new stage in the work of Hye Seon Hong.
(Exclusive Magazine) https://annecarlini.com/ex_cd.php?id=5599
(jazzma.hu.) https://www.jazzma.hu/lemezpolc/kulfoldi-eloadok/hong-hyeseon/things-will-pass/kritika/hong-hyeseon-things-will-pass/
Hong's music is nourished both by the traditional big band sound and classical music, and in some places Korean musical influences also appear.
We are talking about modern jazz, which is characterized by octave pulsation and the modal world. Hong uses instruments and sections very professionally. The music is very concentrated, but organic, with very beautiful curves and comprehensible dramaturgy. He plays with the themes very nicely, he is present as a guiding thread throughout the pieces in different variations and musical fabrics.
"Thing Will Pass" is a very solid, well-crafted piece of music, with professional playing and suggestive solos. For me, the orchestration seems stronger than the compositions themselves, but it is definitely a very valuable contemporary jazz musical view of who's musical visions and influences mature into their own music, which is definitely one of the bravest musical paths.
(Contemporary Fusion Reviews) https://contemporaryfusionreviews.com/unique-blend-of-classical-modern-jazz-and-korean-traditional-music-hyeseon-hong-jazz-orchestra-things-will-pass/
This is the best album I’ve heard by the Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra. From the very first tune to the last one called, “We Will Meet Again” you will be thoroughly entertained.
(SKOPE) https://skopemag.com/2024/07/16/hyeseon-hong-jazz-orchestra-present-things-will-pass
### HYESEON HONG JAZZ ORCHESTRA / EE-YA-GI
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#### REVIEWS
**May 19, 2017**
**All About Jazz by Jack Bowers**
[Read the review](https://www.allaboutjazz.com/ee-ya-gi-stories-hyeseon-hong-mama-records-review-by-jackbowers.php)
---
**June 12, 2017**
**Midwest Record by Chris Spector**
“Mixing a lot of things deftly without feeling like anything is borrowed, this is someone who can say she leads a jazz orchestra proudly. Solid stuff throughout.”
[Read the review](http://www.midwestrecord.com/MWR1238.html)
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**June 14, 2017**
**Improvijazzation Nation by Dick Metcalf**
“From the standpoint of Korean music integrated seamlessly with great jazz, my personal favorite of the seven tunes offered up is the light and airy opener, “Harvest Dance“… one of the strongest full-blown orchestral jazz pieces I’ve heard (yet) in 2017. I give HyeSeon and her playmates a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for this superb album…”
[Read the review](http://rotcodzzaj.com/improvijazzation-nation-166/issue-166-reviews/)
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**June 22, 2017**
**Amazon by Grady Harp**
“The best from East and West in a combination wholly unique – beautiful, musical, superb ensemble work”
[Read the review](https://www.amazon.com/review/R3K4XKWTTEMRMZ/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv)
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**June 24, 2017**
**The Art Music Lounge by Lynn Rene Bayley**
“…a fine album… Recommended for Hong’s nice tune construction, the ensemble playing and the outstanding solos!”
[Read the review](https://artmusiclounge.wordpress.com/2017/06/24/hyeseon-hongs-ee-ya-gi-a-strange-butfascinating-cd/)
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**June 27, 2017**
**Jazz Trail by Felipe Freitas**
“Exhibiting an insatiable appetite for jazz-fusion, Ms. Hong proves to be a talented orchestrator and musical thinker who is not afraid to risk while crossing genre boundaries.”
[Read the review](http://jazztrail.net/blog/2017/6/26/hyeseon-hong-jazz-orchestra-ee-ya-gi-album-review)
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**June 27, 2017**
**The Aquarian Weekly / Rant ‘N’ Roll by Mike Greenblatt**
“It’s a delightful debut, filled with swing, classical flourishes, post-bop and, most enticingly of all, traditional Korean folk melodies.”
**Excerpt:**
“Ee-Ya-Gi (Mama Records) by the Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra is a flower in early spring yearning to bloom. Hong is from Seoul, South Korea, but has been living and working in New York City for the last 15 years, gathering up the musicians who inhabit her 18-piece orchestra. It’s a delightful debut, filled with swing, classical flourishes, post-bop and, most enticingly of all, traditional Korean folk melodies, especially the instantly-likeable 7:14 opener “Harvest Dance.” Outstanding solos from two guests—saxophonist Rich Perry and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen—add drama, as does a native Korean “Chang” vocal by Subin Park on “Boat Song,” which approximates the rolling waves of the ocean. Hong even uses a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale as the basis of “Disappearing Into Foam” about a weeping mermaid wherein a gorgeous piano cadenza by Broc Hempel is helped by a sweeping orchestral arrangement by Hong who wrote all seven elongated compositions.”
[PDF available]
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**June 27, 2017**
**Jazz Music Archives by John Sanders**
“…an infinitely interesting orchestral extravaganza.”
**Excerpt:**
“Modern big band enthusiasts take note, “EE-YA-GI” is complex and challenging, but also fun and buoyant too… Let’s hope there will be many more albums from Hyeseon Hong in the near future.”
[Read the review](http://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/review/ee-ya-gi/264939)
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**June 30, 2017**
**UK Vibe by Mike Gates**
“She successfully mixes elements of classical music, modern big band jazz and traditional Korean music to create a compelling and rich tapestry of sound.”
**Excerpt:**
“Engagingly expansive and original… An enticingly colourful and energetic debut.”
[Read the review](http://ukvibe.org/album_reviews/hyeseon-hong-jazz-orchestra/)
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**July 5, 2017**
**Musikansich by Wolfgang Giese**
“Outstanding production… within the genre of big band music, yet the combination of Western and Asian tradition is successful.”
[Read the review](https://www.musikansich.de/review.php?id=18277)
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**July 6, 2017**
**Musical Memoirs by Dee Dee McNeil**
“The artist previews her composition skills, as well as her arrangements of self-expression and beauty during this Hyeseon Hong production… It weaves various cultures and styles together into a cohesive world musical exploration.”
[Read the review](https://musicalmemoirs.wordpress.com/)
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**July 11, 2017**
**JazzMostly by Bruce Crowther**
“The 17-piece ensemble directed by Hyeseon plays with bite and assurance, the melodic strains – lyrical, plaintive, lively – are underpinned by rhythms from Asia and the Americas… This should have wide appeal among fans of today’s jazz.”
[Read the review](http://jazzmostly.com/tag/jazz-singer)
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**July 20, 2017**
**Veritas Vampirus by Mark S. Tucker**
“Big band music and fresh as hell… Interlocking and ceaselessly shifting attentions to the levels of her work provide non-stop listener fascination, sometimes intriguing and challenging, other times just pure blissful immersion in the concord of a 17-piece jazz orchestra doing what they do best.”
**Excerpt:**
“Hyeseon Hong (Hay-son Hong) was born for the aesthetic life. By the time she reached the age of 9, she was acknowledged as possessing perfect pitch (which goes one hell of long way in accounting for how untouchably clean her basic charts are…though I certainly wouldn’t leave out Aaron Nevezie’s flawless engineering in that respect either, not by a country mile), played in her church’s music services, and was giving piano lessons to others. At 12, she took a sharp left and studied art until age 18. Another left and she returned to the love that has endured right up to this moment: music and composition. I’m going to do something I don’t usually do, which is to announce right off the bat my favorite track: “Harvest Dance”, the first cut of this big band smorgasbord. Basing in a trad Korean agrarian chant to implore the heavens for a good harvest for both the farmer’s and the village’s prosperity and health, the tempo slowly increases, as participating instruments chime in until Ron Wilkens breaks into a truly mindblowing trombone solo sending chills up the spine. I haven’t heard that free and quirky a manner of thinking and exposition since the great old 70s progfusion era. Then Ingrid Jensen follows in a responsive trumpet solo and…well, I confess I couldn’t continue to the second cut until I’d repeated “Harvest Moon” three times. I ain’t jokin’ one little bit. Jensen is marvelous, but Wilkens is absolutely stunning. Hong, however, is not devoting her attentions solely to her country of origin’s rich history of music but to other cultures as well: Latin American, Danish, American, etc. One cut, “Trash Digging Queen”, in fact concerns itself with the tale of Nica The Dog, a canine who behaves herself impeccably around her master, but as soon as that authority figure departs for a while, she flies straight at the trash and spreads it all over the house because “every facet of a creature’s nature must find an outlet”. The song starts off in martial cadence but slowly waxes more exuberant, especially when the soloists start having their way. This really is big band music and fresh as hell, though I guess I should say it ranges the ages and modalities freely, shackled only by the imageries of the storylines, which Hong shades in every possible way and directs as intimately as a witty maestro should. Her band is well chosen, zoned in on the composer’s aesthetics. Their interlocking and ceaselessly shifting attentions to the levels of her work provide non-stop listener fascination, sometimes intriguing and challenging, other times just pure blissful immersion in the concord of a 17-piece jazz orchestra doing what they do best.“
[Read the review](https://www.veritasvampirus.com)
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**July 30, 2017**
**Bad Alchemy by Rigobert Dittmann**
[Read the review](http://www.badalchemy.de/)
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**Jersey Jazz by Joe Lang**
“A program of pieces that are riveting and executed to perfection by her talented roster of New York City players. Hong is a welcome new voice in the world of contemporary big bands, one with freshness and originality who honors the foundations of
jazz while expanding its horizons.”
**Excerpt:**
“A program of pieces that are riveting and executed to perfection by her talented roster of New York City players. “Harvest Dance” opens the album with a haunting theme that soon gives way to an up-tempo celebration of the harvest season. Trombonist Ron Wilkins delivers a stunning solo, as does trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. “Friends or Foe” has some fun with the idea of “monsters,” utilizing spooky sounds and playful melodies. “Trash Digging Queen” is a humorous tribute to Nica the dog, with lively solos from alto saxophonist Ben Kono and baritone saxophonist Andrew Gutauskas. “Boat Song” features a beautiful Korean folk melody, with a lovely vocal by Subin Park. “Para Mi Amigo Distante” is a poignant ballad, highlighted by the lyrical flugelhorn of Jason Wiseman. “Love Song” is another romantic ballad, featuring the tenor saxophone of Rich Perry. The album closes with “Disappearing Into Foam,” inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story of the Little Mermaid. Pianist Broc Hempel shines here, along with the entire orchestra. Hong is a welcome new voice in the world of contemporary big bands, one with freshness and originality who honors the foundations of jazz while expanding its horizons.”
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**August 4, 2017**
**WTJU Jazz by Dave Rogers**
“Hong has taken the idea of a large jazz orchestra and has integrated Korean themes and song forms in the compositions. The music is also notable for the terrific interplay between the orchestra and featured soloists. A few of the terrific soloists are trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, trombonist Ron Wilkins, alto sax player Ben Kono, and tenor sax player Rich Perry. The disc opens with “Harvest Dance” featuring Ron Wilkins (tb), Jason Wiseman (flugelhorn) and features some beautiful wordless vocalizing from Subin Park. Rich Perry (ts) stands out on “Friends Or Foe” and the bass clarinet and bassoon add an unexpected flavor. Subin Park returns to sing “Boat Song” in Korean with a lovely jazz solo from Yoon Choi (b) who played bass throughout. The Latin influenced “Para Mi Amigo Distante” opens with Jason Wiseman’s flugelhorn and eventually features wonderful solos from Broc Hempel (p) and Pete McCann (g). The beautiful “Love Song” shines with lovely piano from Hempel and a fine solo from Rich Perry. This disc is quite different from many big band recordings in that it incorporates so many different styles, instruments, and themes.”
[Read the review](https://www.wtju.net/ten-new-blasts-jazz-wtju/)
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**August 15, 2017**
**Riemenschneider’s Music Blog**
“Fans of large ensembles in contemporary jazz will be interested.”
[Read the review](https://riemenschneider-music.blogspot.com/2017/08/recorded-jazz-in-2017-miscellany-1.html)
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**September 15, 2017**
**Jazzweekly by George Harris**
“Traditional folk songs as well as original material mix together on this joyful session by Hyeseon Hong and her jazz orchestra. The album opens with some gorgeous piano and horn on “Harvest Dance” before the driving jazz beat gets things swinging…”
[Read the review](https://www.jazzweekly.com/2017/09/hyeseon-hong-jazz-orchestra-ee-ya-gi/)
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**January 3, 2018**
**Free Jazz Collective by Fotis Nikolakopoulos**
“A fertile and alive amalgamation of jazz and Korean traditional music.”
[Read the review](https://www.freejazzblog.org/2018/01/angelica-sanchez-float-simon.html)
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Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra / EE-YA-GI 리뷰 번역
2017년 5월 19일
All About Jazz - Jack Bowers 원문 링크
2017년 6월 12일
Midwest Record - Chris Spector “많은 요소를 능숙하게 혼합하면서도 아무것도 빌려온 느낌이 들지 않습니다. 이 앨범을 통해 그녀가 재즈 오케스트라를 자랑스럽게 이끌고 있다는 것을 보여줍니다. 전반적으로 훌륭한 작품입니다.” 원문 링크
2017년 6월 14일
Improvijazzation Nation - Dick Metcalf “한국 음악이 훌륭한 재즈와 원활하게 통합된 관점에서, 제가 가장 좋아하는 곡은 가벼운 오프너 'Harvest Dance'입니다. 2017년 들어 들은 가장 강력한 전체 오케스트라 재즈 곡 중 하나입니다. 이 뛰어난 앨범에 대해 홍혜선과 그녀의 연주자들에게 매우 강력히 추천합니다.” 원문 링크
2017년 6월 22일
Amazon - Grady Harp “동서양의 최고의 조합이 완전히 독특한 방식으로 어우러졌습니다 – 아름답고, 음악적이며, 훌륭한 앙상블 연주입니다.” 원문 링크
2017년 6월 24일
The Art Music Lounge - Lynn Rene Bayley “...훌륭한 앨범... 홍의 뛰어난 곡 구성, 앙상블 연주 및 탁월한 솔로 연주를 추천합니다!” 원문 링크
2017년 6월 27일
Jazz Trail - Felipe Freitas “재즈 퓨전에 대한 끝없는 열정을 보여주며, 홍씨는 장르 경계를 넘나드는 두려움 없는 재능 있는 편곡자이자 음악적 사상가임을 증명합니다.” 원문 링크
2017년 6월 27일
The Aquarian Weekly / Rant ‘N’ Roll - Mike Greenblatt “Swing, 클래식적 요소, 포스트 밥, 그리고 무엇보다도 매혹적인 전통 한국 민속 멜로디로 가득 찬 매력적인 데뷔 앨범입니다.” [원문 링크](PDF 이용 가능)
2017년 6월 27일
Jazz Music Archives - John Sanders “...무한히 흥미로운 오케스트라 대작.” “현대 빅 밴드 애호가들은 주목하세요, ‘EE-YA-GI’는 복잡하고 도전적이지만 재미있고 활기차기도 합니다. 홍혜선의 많은 앨범들이 앞으로도 나왔으면 좋겠습니다.” 원문 링크
2017년 7월 5일
Musikansich - Wolfgang Giese “...빅 밴드 음악 장르 내에서 뛰어난 제작... 서양과 아시아 전통의 조합이 성공적입니다.” 원문 링크
홍혜선은 서울 출신의 작곡가이자 지휘자로, 지난 15년 동안 미국과 아시아에서 활동해 왔습니다. ‘EE-YA-GI (Stories)’를 통해 18인조 재즈 오케스트라를 선보이며, 테너 색소폰의 Rich Perry와 트럼펫의 Ingrid Jensen이 특별 게스트로 참여했습니다. Jensen은 트랙 1, 6, 7에서 연주하고, Perry는 트랙 4, 6에서 연주했습니다.
한국과 재즈, 빅 밴드? 아시아의 음악 공간에서는 일본의 유명 작곡가이자 지휘자인 Toshiko Akiyoshi를 자주 떠올리게 됩니다. 그녀는 아시아와 미국 재즈 전통을 성공적으로 결합한 많은 앨범을 발표했습니다.
이제 한국과 재즈가 연결되었습니다. 'Harvest Dance'에서 그 연결이 설득력 있게 제시됩니다. 이 곡은 한국의 농업과 관련된 전통 음악에서 영감을 받았습니다. ‘Friends or Lovers’는 다른 방향으로, 70년대 퓨전의 영역을 향해 있습니다. Matt Vashlishan은 전자 바람 악기인 EWI로 솔로를 연주하고, 기타리스트는 강력한 솔로로 스윙에 약간의 록을 입힙니다. ‘Para Mi Amigo Distante’는 라틴 아메리카의 친한 친구들에게 헌정된 곡으로, EJ Park의 자유로운 보컬로 가볍고 공중에 떠다니는 느낌을 주며 섬세하게 지원됩니다.
매우 한국적인 ‘Boat Song’은 짧은 보컬 인트로로 우아하게 진행되며, 약간 신비롭고 아름다운 편곡으로 명상적인 분위기를 자아냅니다. 이 뛰어난 제작은 첫사랑과 관련된 기억을 감정적으로 구현한 ‘Love Song’으로 마무리됩니다. 짧게 말해, 서양과 아시아 전통의 결합이 성공적으로 이루어진 빅 밴드 음악 장르 내에서 특별한 위치를 차지하는 음악이 탄생했습니다.