PAN Project

Taking their name from the Korean music-storytelling tradition pansori – meaning ‘to gather’ or ‘come together’ – PAN Project is a collective that draws on the intercultural art forms of Korea, China, and Japan, and fuses them with contemporary Western composition and group improvisation. The ensemble’s ease of synthesis between the ancient and modern is apparent from the opening track ‘Kangwon’. A semi-improvised arrangement of the popular Korean folk song ‘Arirang’, the piece is driven by Woonjung Sim on janggu (barrel drum), playing an asymmetrical five-beat rhythm rooted in shaman ritual music. ‘Yi Gu Ren’, a duet between Jeff Roberts on guqin (zither) and Ned Rothenburg on shakuhachi (bamboo flute) is a tranquil meditation on a theme dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The centrepiece of the album is Sugungga (Song of the Sea Palace), a five-part suite conveying the humorous tale of a dragon king greedy for immortality, and the farcical adventures of a rabbit and a turtle. At once playful and exploratory, Sugungga is the perfect encapsulation of PAN Project’s dynamic combination of ancient storytelling and modern improvisation, with pansori performer Sae-Yeon Jeong’s entertaining delivery taking centre stage. ‘Si Xiang Gi’ – a repurposing of a Taiwanese folk tune – continues the album in a delightfully introspective manner, with ensemble co-founder Gamin Kang’s glistening saenghwang (mouth organ) serving as the ideal bed for Ying-Chieh Wang’s soaring erhu. Rothenburg’s microtonal composition ‘The Bell Rings Deep Blue’ serves as a spectral close to a joyfully unique recording, which marries the traditional and avant-garde with sensitivity and panache.