Otomo Yoshihide, Park JE Chun, Mi Yeon

Otomo Yoshide (turntables, guitar) is active on a worldwide scale in such fields as free improvisation, composition, and film music. On a trip to Seoul in May of 2002, Otomo made a studio recording with Seoul musicians Park Je Chun (percussion) and Mi Yeon (piano). Known as a brilliant student of Kang Tae Hwan, the pioneer of the Korean improvised music scene, Park was formerly a member of Kang's band. Mi Yeon, an artist firmly grounded in contemporary classical music, has collaborated with Park for a number of years. Some of the five works on this CD are partially overdubbed with separately recorded improvisations by Gunter Muller (electronics, selected drums), Sachiko M (sine waves), and Yumiko Tanaka (futozao shamisen). This is Otomo's first trio project with percussion and piano, as well as one of his rare collaborations with Korean musicians. The tension-filled performances are superb. This uniquely fascinating recording should not be missed.