Starting with Blood in 2018, I’ve had the unique privilege of immersing in a total of four previous albums by renowned (and by now, pretty legendary) avant-garde jazz violinist/composer Jason Kao Hwang, whose recordings during that time featured one duo setting (Uncharted Faith with electronic music innovator J.A. Deane) and several trios.
As a veteran journalist, I was indebted each time by the absolutely essential liner notes by Scott Currie, who “gets” Hwang’s fascinating but offbeat visionary artistry, which, like many works in Hwang’s chosen genre, are challenging listens. While many of those works had cacophonous elements that might put off a casual listener, the eloquent and soulful, wildly “plucky” Soliloqiues offers a much different, dare we say even deeper side of Hwang’s amazing artistry.
Meant as a compliment, the “pluck” comes from the fact that on this unique solo venture, Hwang creates pizzicato (rather than bowed) improvisations to convey some fascinating and complex family history and explore and come to terms with childhood memories – all illuminated by Currie’s liner notes, of course.
As you listen from the opening tremolos of “At the Beginning” through explorations like “Hungry Shadows” and “Remembering Our Conversation” all the way through the hypnotic “Before God,” Hwang’s very beautiful personal narrative comes to life via Currie’s essay, which artfully connects the pieces here to such milestones as the challenges of growing up an English speaker in a Chinese-American household and Hwang’s early days in New York playing music for dance workshops. Free from those wider ensemble settings, Hwang presents one of his most honest, heartfelt and intimate works yet.
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