By Morgan Rouseau
Queens−based ensemble Jayu will showcase their unique blend of jazz and traditional Korean music at a free concert Oct. 25 at the Jamaica Center for the Arts and Learning.
Korean−American cellist Heun Choi Fairbanks came up with the idea to fuse jazz with Asian folk music because she wanted more cultural exposure for the Korean community in Queens.
“Our ensemble is a classical, typical setting, but we play jazz, so sometimes we arrange funk or hip hop,” Fairbanks said. As an artist, she has gained notoriety for playing jazz on the cello, which is an instrument unique to the genre.
“My current project with my band, Jayu, blends jazz with Korean traditional music, the latter aided by a guest performer on the janggu,” she added.
The guest performer who brings this Korean element to the ensemble is Yosun Yoo, who plays the janggu, a two−sided Korean drum. Other Jayu artists are pianist Francesca Jiyoun Han; violinist Mark Chung; drummer Joe Hertenstein, who is a recent addition; and Fairbanks’ husband, composer and musician Jeff Fairbanks, whom the ensemble commissioned to compose music for their upcoming performance.
Jayu began after Heun Choi Fairbanks, a Woodside resident, became involved with a Presbyterian church in the borough had a predominantly Korean congregation. The church is where she met guest performer Yoo, who plays the trumpet and traditional Korean instruments in the church orchestra.
“I realized that there were so many Koreans living there,” she said. “The music is not only for Koreans but for everybody in the community. We are giving them the opportunity to hear jazz but take an ancient look.” Many Koreans recognize the Janggu, and become excited to hear a touch of their own culture, she added.
The ensemble takes its name from a word common to Cantonese and Korean, “jayu,” which translates to “freedom.” Most of the materials are original compositions or arrangements by band members or commissioned specifically for the ensemble. The musicians in Jayu pull from their diverse musical and personal backgrounds to produce their sound, which includes a touch of funk, some blues, Western classical music and a hint of Malaysian classical music, all infused over a foundation of modern jazz.
After the upcoming concert, the ensemble plans to record their music and tour the United States and Korea.
Composer Jeff Fairbanks won the BMI Charlie Parker composer award in May of this year. He and Heun Choi met while attending college in South Florida, where they studied classical and jazz music together. Shortly after they married, they moved to Flushing and started a family with their new baby Teo, who is going on five months old. Two years ago they moved to Woodside, a community that she enjoys.
Heun Choi Fairbanks began playing the piano in South Korea at the age of 5, then moved on to the cello when she was 8 years old. In 2001 she came to the United States as an exchange student at the University of South Florida, where she studied jazz. Jayu is her latest collaboration with other artists, but in the past Fairbanks has formed several groups and performed at venues throughout New York City, including the Blue Note and Carnegie Hall.
Jayu’s performance on Jamaica Avenue will be the world premiere of the group’s new commissioned work by Jeff Fairbanks. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. and is made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Visit www.myspace.comâ„choifairbanks for a taste of their music, and for other upcoming shows.
If You Go:
Jayu
When: Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, 161−04 Jamaica Ave. Jamaica
