https://youtu.be/90hQltLDSBs

Over the last few years a rising tide of new Korean artists have staked a place in the global music conversation. Groups like Jambinai, Black String and Park Jiha’s earlier duo 숨[suːm] have created exciting soundworlds that deftly combine the instrumentation and complex expression of Korean traditional music with an array of contemporary sounds such as post-rock, doom metal, downtempo jazz and classical minimalism.

While Park Jiha’s most recent musical endeavor, her debut solo album “Communion,” is another decisive step towards a more personal and forward-looking musical vocabulary, it also is deeply rooted in her traditional music education and background.

“I play a traditional Korean instrument called piri which is like an oboe. Piri is a double reed bamboo flute so it can be quite loud. Another traditional instrument I use is a saenghwang. A saenghwang is an instrument made of bamboo which has many pipes. It is similar to a mouth organ. It’s an instrument where the sound is made from inhaling and exhaling the air.”

“My main instrument is piri. But I choose saenghwang (mouth organ), yanggeum (hammered dulcimer), percussion or vocal according to the type of music I’m composing. Picking an instrument has to do with the voice in which I choose to talk. Just like human voice, every instrument has its own charm. Piri, which has the simplest structure – yet holds so many variations in playing – is for me the most attractive of all. The shape of the instrument is humble but it can express sensitive yet deep energy. I feel most like myself when I play piri.”

Though she has played piri since her youth, Park Jiha started her music career by founding the duo 숨[suːm] with Jungmin Seo in 2007 – after she had finished her musical studies. 숨[suːm]’s music, composed with an array of traditional instrume.......
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"Niczego bardziej oryginalnego niż muzyka koreańskiej kompozytorki i instrumentalistki Park Jiha już raczej w tych dniach nie znajdziecie. Communion należy do rzadkiej kategorii płyt innych niż wszystko, choć oczywiście momentami zbliża się do muzyki amerykańskich minimalistów, a kiedy indziej (choćby we wklejonym, granym na cymbałach yanggeum utworze Sounds Heard From The Moon) zbliża się do świata brzmień Jozefa Van Wissema. Podobnie mocny jest ładunek emocjonalny tej muzyki, podobnie oszczędna forma. Tyle że oczywiście w poszczególnych fragmentach będą się tu przewijać i inne ludowe instrumenty, takie jak bambusowy flet piri czy saenghwang, przedziwny rodzaj bambusowej Fletni Pana, a może bardziej wymyślne organki. Mamy tu zatem muzykę współczesną tworzoną na instrumentach pradawnych. Blisko pod tym względem do duetu Senyawa, choćby estetycznie było na drugim brzegu tęczy. Bywa sennie, ale ignorujecie na własną odpowiedzialność."
Bartek Chaciński, Polifonia/Polityka


Over the last few years a rising tide of new Korean artists have staked a place in the global music conversation. Groups like Jambinai, Black String and Park Jiha’s earlier duo 숨[suːm] have created exciting soundworlds that deftly combine the instrumentation and complex expression of Korean traditional music with an array of contemporary sounds such as post-rock, doom metal, downtempo jazz and classical minimalism.

While Park Jiha’s most recent musical endeavor, her debut solo album “Communion,” is another decisive step towards a more personal and forward-looking musical vocabulary, it also is deeply rooted in her traditional music education and background.

“I play a traditional Korean instrument called piri which is like an oboe. Piri is a double reed bamboo flute so it can be quite loud. Another traditional instrument I use is a saenghwang. A saenghwang is an instrument made of bamboo which has many.......
more