{"id":7957,"date":"2024-03-01T08:59:06","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T14:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=7957"},"modified":"2024-03-01T08:59:09","modified_gmt":"2024-03-01T14:59:09","slug":"breath-david-leon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/breath-david-leon\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving by Breath: A Conversation with David Leon on ‘Bird’s Eye’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arguably, the essence of jazz lies in its use of improvisation. The ability of an artist to create in the moment based on the artist\u2019s then-existing perspective – rather than merely trying to put their own spin on the choices of another or their past self – often causes the artist to reveal more about themselves at that moment in time. Consciously or subconsciously, elements of their life story and background rise to the fore through their craft. This aspect of the music, in turn, creates an art form that can serve as a cultural melting pot. Jazz itself originates from a marriage of African rhythms and Western harmony and instrumentation. Later incarnations have incorporated sonic cues from around the globe, whether Yusef Lateef\u2019s Eastern explorations or Amir El Saffar\u2019s use of Iraqi maqam. David Leon\u2019s Bird\u2019s Eye <\/em>(Pyroclastic, 2024) follows this lineage by fusing the language of American jazz, Korean traditional music, and Cuban folkloric music. But even as the trio honors the tradition of incorporating different cultural influences, they produce an album that sounds unlike anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, jazz and Cuban music have intertwined often, with everything from Dizzy Gillespie collaborating with Chano Pozo to Chucho Vald\u00e9s\u2019 Irakere. Adapting ideas from traditional Korean music into jazz is rarer but not without precedent, with Larry Och\u2019s Kihnuoa serving as one example. But it does not seem anyone before Leon\u2019s trio, with gayageum player DoYeon Kim and percussionist Lesley Mok, has simultaneously incorporated elements from both Korean and Cuban culture into jazz. By keeping their music open to both, Bird\u2019s Eye<\/em> does not lean too heavily towards one stylistic pull over others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening track, \u201cAy-ya\u201d, as with much of the album, leaves a lot of space and air. Mok\u2019s propulsive rhythms and the piece\u2019s use of counterpoint evoke Cuban musical tradition. The band is precise and flows smoothly together, but the approach to time is not as apparent as that used in most Western music, relying more on gestures and moving by breath as in Korean music. Kim\u2019s gayageum – an instrument that has played a central role in Korean traditional music since at least the sixth century – sounds a little more subdued in this piece. An unperceptive listener may even think she is playing harp, guitar, and bass on the track. But closer listening reveals note bends and scoops that could only come from an instrument from somewhere other than the West. Across it all, Leon\u2019s loose melodic lines on the soprano often sound reminiscent of Dave Liebman, further underscoring the music\u2019s ties to the jazz tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where a little more laidback on \u201cAy-Ya\u201d, Kim\u2019s gayageum comes to the fore on \u201cA Night for Counting Stars.\u201d Her strong playing seems to stretch and pull both notes and time. She also delivers an incredibly haunting rendition of poet Yun Dong-ju (\uc724\ub3d9\uc8fc), for which the song was named. Leon\u2019s flute repeats a line that sounds almost as if coming from a series of finely tuned drums. It is an idea Mok mirrors, even while continuing to entrancingly guide the group without overtly revealing their course to the listener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But trying to segregate out the sonic origins of any particular element of the album misses the cohesiveness of the whole project. On Bird\u2019s Eye<\/em>, the trio soars across a flight path all its own. There is a Korean proverb, \u201cGa-neun mali gowa-ya oneun gop-da (\uac00\ub294 \ub9d0\uc774 \uace0\uc640\uc57c\uc624\ub294 \ub9d0\uc774 \uacf1\ub2e4.)\u201d. Roughly translated it means, \u201cIf the outgoing words are beautiful, then the incoming words will be beautiful too.\u201d It is a fitting representation of the album as the gorgeousness of the recorded result reveals the equal beauty of its origins, wherever they lie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We sat down with Leon – recently named\u00a02024 Music Composition Fellow\u00a0by the CINTAS Foundation – to discuss the album, his Roulette commission, and what it means to follow a musical tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PostGenre: How did this trio come together?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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David Leon: Oh, man. Well, I believe Lesley and DoYeon went to school together in Boston years ago. Or Lesley was at Berklee, and DoYeon was at the New England Conservatory. In any event, they knew each other and played together a little bit before. DoYeon then went to New York. That is where I first heard her perform. She was with Nick Dunston\u2019s band. It was a one-off thing that he did with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think after hearing that show, I thought, “man, I need to play with DoYeon.” At that time, I was already playing a lot with Lesley. So, I put a session together, and we really clicked since the first time. But that first time together was about a month before COVID hit the United States. Because of the pandemic, we didn’t play again for a year and a half or so. But we got back together and recorded once the pandemic ended. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: When writing music for the group, are you writing parts for DoYeon\u2019s gayageum? It seems like it would be difficult for someone trained in Western concepts and methods of composition to approach composing for the instrument unless they also play it or heavily studied it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DL: That\u2019s a great question. Through the process of us working together, I started writing more and more for her. I thought of writing for the gayageum as if I were playing a piano with only two fingers. I figured I don’t know as much about the instrument as DoYeon does, so I was better off writing something close to what I like and then letting her fill out the rest of the part.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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