Communion

There's a dynamic and healthy scene in South Korea right now, in which young musicians are using traditional instruments to create new music that resonates internationally. One thinks of groups like Jambinai, Geomungo Factory, Black String and the duo Su:m.

Park Jiha was one half of Su:m, with gayageum (zither) player Seo Jungmin. As with Su:m, Park bravely plays some of the less friendly Korean instruments, such as the piercing piri (oboe), the saenghwang (bamboo mouth organ) and yanggeum(hammer dulcimer), in a quartet of musicians with bass clarinet/tenor sax, vibraphone and percussion. The overriding flavour is minimalist but often there is simply not enough going on. The piri-led title-track relies far too much on repeated ostinati. ‘Sounds Heard from the Moon’ is a nine-minute piece on the principle of Chopin's ‘Raindrop Prelude’, using a fixed yanggeum note with the music shifting around it. It outstays its welcome with an exaggerated climax; ‘All Souls Day’ is rather too similar. In between, we get welcome saenghwang lyricism on ‘The Longing of the Yawning Divide’, but it is rendered over-sugary with vibraphone. I need converting to take part in this particular Communion.