Linda Oh has found a fruitful niche between instrumental and vocal jazz. Now she is on tour.
Linda May Han Oh, acoustic and electric bass; Sara Serpa, voice; Fabian Almazan, piano; Mark Whitfield Jr, drums; Loke Risberg, guitar; live at Fasching, Stockholm, April 19.
Bassist Linda May Han Oh writes very programmatic music. She gives every song a brief introduction which gives you an image of what the music is about. “Hatchling” is about her three-year old kid, and yes, the music sounds like a child curiously investigating the world. “Circles” is about endless consumerism as a means of chasing happiness which explains the hectic theme, built on repetition.
Linda Oh has played with established musicians such as saxophonist Joe Lovano, and guitarist Pat Metheny. In her current group she has chosen to collaborate with Portuguese singer Sara Serpa who sings some lyrics but also uses her voice as an instrument in ensemble passages and solos. Linda Oh also sings on some passages, and when the two of them sings together in chorus accompanied by the ensemble the effect is beautiful.
They mostly perform songs from the recent album The Glass Hours which featured singer Serpa and saxophonist Mark Turner. There is no saxophonist on this tour, but on this concert Swedish guitarist Loke Risberg sits in and plays some intricate ensemble and solo parts.
New material
Oh’s songs are very well-arranged, often with sections in different tempos and keys. She, pianist Fabian Almazan, and drummer Mark Whithfield Jr is a very tight-knit rhythm section which navigates with ease and elegance through the many tricky stop and goes in the music.
The use of voices as an integrated part of the ensemble, as well as the evolved ensemble playing can remind of certain fusion music, especially when Oh switches to electric bass on some songs and Almazan use some electronic effect on the piano which makes it sound like some strange synthesizer.
The concert has many highlights, as when Oh and Serpa perform one new original song as a duo, and you can feel everyone in the club listening intently to it. The band also perform some other new material, so hopefully this band will continue to work together.
Jazz Desk 