Ms.Oh and the Future

 

Photo: Shervin Lainez

Before the pandemic, bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh was a very busy person, not just working on her own projects but also performing and/or recording with Pat Metheny, drummer Johnathan Blake, Vijay Iyer as well as with her husband, pianist Fabian Almazan (plus a number of other recording sessions).  Then, the world closed down in March of 2020 and the gigging stopped.  Ms. Oh and Mr. Almazan moved to Perth, Australia, (where the bassist was raised and retains citizenship) to have their first child. The time spent with their baby gave Ms. Oh the time to think her role as a musician in a splintered world, what was important to her, and how could her music has a positive effect on the dialogue swirling around divisive issues such as health-care, climate change, war, and other issues. The music can also be heard as a meditation on time, how we use ours and how time is ever-moving as it moves us.

Upon their return to the United States, put together a quintet that features her husband, drummer Obed Calvaire, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, and vocalist Sara Serpa.  They entered Brooklyn Recording on June 13 2022 with 10 new original works.  "The Glass Hours" is powered by the powerful melodies, exciting rhythms, and the spirited interactions of the quintet.  Opening with "Circles", the theme is addressed by the wordless vocal, tenor sax, and the potent bass while the pianist and drummer push the music forward. Pay close attention to the rhythm section––Calvaire plays with great presence throughout but especially under the soloists. The handsome bass solo that opens "Chimera" gives way to a thunderous piano solo supported by the drums and bass––that falls into a sense of stasis as the voice, sax, bass, and piano play circular figures while Calvaire dances through his solo.

Photo: Shervin Lainez

"Jus Ad Bellum" is a rubato ballad that addresses man's need to go to war. Ms. Serpa's passionate vocal is underpinned by the war-like drums and scurrying piano lines. The tenor sticks close to the vocal until the forceful bass solo.  The layered voices (including Ms. Oh's) during the drum spot remind this listener of the work of Steve Reich. Watch the video below of "The Imperative", see how the band listen and respond to each other, and note the fluidity in Ms. Oh's bass lines––she is so melodic as well as percussive.  Everyone contributes, each with their own cogent statement as well as their work in the ensemble. 

This material can be thorny, the sound thick at times but the music never falls apart. Notice how the excellent mix (Dave Darlington) ensures that the listener is in the midst of the band, that no one instrument is lost in the crisp sound, Not only is Ms. Oh the foundation of the music but she's the main driver (that frees up Calvaire to respond to the soloists and be part of the melody).  Mr. Almazan benefits from this as well with how he plays underneath the ensemble and how he approaches his own solos (he's certainly one of the most fluid of musicians).  And Ms. Serpa? Because the majority of the time she's singing, there are no words, just syllables. On a piece such as "Phosphorus", she teams with Turner to not only present the melody but also weave their lines in and around each other.  On this track, Ms. Oh's switches to electric bass, dancing along with her husband on the energetic piano solo. 

"The Glass Hours" closes with "Hatchling" (which one imagines is dedicated to her son)––Ms. Oh is on electric bass again so it's the sax, voice, and piano that present the melody then break it into melodic fragments.  The piece moves into a long rubato section before the piano and voice build off the bounce of the bass and drums to playfully strut and dance to the close!  

Linda May Han Oh has become one of the most sought-after bassists in the world. With good reason; how she articulates her notes and her melodic development within a song can be dizzying at times, yet she never overplays or, better, never "showboats".  This album, her sixth, is worth diving into deeply1

For more information, go to https://lindamayhanoh.com/.  To hear more and purchase the album, go to  https://lindamayhanoh.bandcamp.com/album/the-glass-hours. 

Here's the opening track, "Circles":

Watch the group in the studio perform "The Imperative":