Mina Cho

Bio:

M I N A C H O

Biography

While jazz’s reach has never been more global, it’s still something of a surprise to discover a wellspring of soul from Seoul. With the release of Mina Cho’s aptly titled debut album Originality, the Boston-based South Korean pianist/composer delivers a bold, gospel-infused program of original tunes reflecting her expansive pan-American perspective. Bucking expectations that she continue on a career path as a celebrated classical concert pianist, Cho decided to follow her passion, embarking on a far-flung spiritual quest that’s taken her from the Baptist church to the plains of Venezuela.

“With the title Originality, I wanted to say that my album reflects various cultural elements and my diverse experiences in music, which is shaped and colored by my own musical interpretation and vocabulary and personality,” Cho says. “One can hear rhythms and harmonic elements of Venezuelan and Brazilian music, gospel jazz, and swing, but somehow all of those influences are connected through my musical vision.”

While staking her claim as a startlingly singular new voice, Cho offers several loving tributes to the musicians responsible for mentoring her, like the playfully titled “A White Lion,” a roaring 5/4 romp dedicated to the great Venezuelan pianist/composer Leo Blanco. Set to a tricky Latin groove that undulates between 3/4 and 6/8, the album’s opening track “Corea” is a homophonic pun celebrating both her homeland and her love of Chick Corea’s boundless body of music.

Working within the conventions of choro, an Afro-Brazilian genre reminiscent of bluegrass, she wrote “Choro No. 2” inspired by the great Brazilian pianist/composer Cesar Camargo Mariano. But Cho is just as likely to bend and combine elements from different traditions. The title track “Originality” perfectly captures the wondrously idiosyncratic nature of her music. Based on a lithe, insinuating choro groove, the piece also bares unmistakable traces of Cho’s European classical training and love of Argentine tango.

Weaving together an international array of influences is a challenge for even the most seasoned improviser. One reason Cho succeeds so eloquently is that she discovered a dedicated core of highly sympathetic collaborators while attending Berklee College of Music. With her love of time signatures unusual in jazz, Cho is particularly grateful for her deep connection with drummer Mario Rodriguez, a gifted Venezuelan-born drummer who shares her reverence for Leo Blanco.

“I’ve played with other great drummers, but Mario brings so much love to my music,” Cho says. “Somebody can come to my session and play my music well, but it’s not easy to meet someone who plays so beautifully, and with so much understanding.”

The rest of the cast is equally impressive. At 22, lyrically charged saxophonist Andrew Halchak is an assured young player just starting to make his mark. He navigates Cho’s often intricate arrangements with total confidence, offering a steady flow of compelling ideas. And South Korean bassist Sam J.C. Lee provides buoyant, harmonically incisive support throughout.

For Cho, who was born in Seoul on August 20, 1981, the path to jazz started in church. With numerous awards and competition victories, she was on track for a brilliant career as a classical concert pianist when she got swept up in gospel music while studying at the prestigious Yonsei University. She sought out private instruction from a Berklee graduate, and in the course of studying gospel her teacher introduced her to jazz. Particularly drawn to Oscar Peterson, Cho developed a powerful two-handed approach and before long she was arranging standards for her own jazz combo, while also immersing herself in the contemporary gospel of Bebe Winans.

After several years of study and gigging, Cho earned a scholarship to Berklee, but her parents couldn’t afford the living expenses of Boston. Her church’s congregation took up a collection, which covered her rent the first semester. And once she enrolled at Berklee, Cho again found sustenance in church with a regular gig at the New Fellowship Christian Ministries, an African-American congregation in Dorchester.

“Right from the beginning I could share my experience, playing gospel music and jazz in a black church,” Cho says. “It was very different from my studies with my private teacher in Korea. I was the only Asian in that area. A little later, I also became an accompanist at the Park Street Church,” a major Boston institution founded in 1809. More recently, Cho plays the piano, keyboard, and classical organ at the Somerville Community Baptist Church and the Ebenezer Assembly of God.

If living in Boston has allowed Cho to put her gospel training into practice, studying at Berklee opened up new musical realms undreamt of in Korea. Studying with Leo Blanco introduced her to the verdant but little known world of Venezuelan styles like lando and merengue (not to be confused with the popular dance from the Dominican Republic). Immersing herself in Blanco’s music, she spent several years transcribing his compositions.

“I didn’t stop playing gospel,” Cho says. “I had an opportunity to develop my gospel chops more, but I was so into Blanco’s music. I loved his compositions, rather than Latin music in general. I really worked hard to get into Leo’s rhythmic conception, which is very advanced and hard, with odd meters.”

Cho also explored tango and Afro-Cuban forms, but Blanco opened up another limitless musical world when he introduced her to the compositions of Cesar Camargo Mariano. She had a chance to work with Mariano when he came to Berklee for a workshop, and Brazilian styles started infiltrating her consciousness. Berklee also gave her the opportunity to study the music of two women whose careers provide powerful inspiration and motivation, Brazilian pianist/singer Eliane Elias and pianist Rebecca Cline, a master of traditional Afro-Cuban forms. Since Cho graduated Summa Cum Laude from Berklee in 2009 with degree in Film Scoring and Jazz Composition she’s continued to straddle two worlds, performing jazz-infused gospel music in sacred settings and her gospel-steeped jazz at festivals and clubs around the world. She sees herself as an emissary to both worlds, and with the release of Originality, Cho has taken a major step in her self-appointed mission.

“Ten years ago I was really sure about what I wanted to do, but didn’t know how,” Cho says. “Somehow I believed I could make a musical bridge between secular and Christian music, and reach out to people out of church and attract them. I’m a very shy person, but musically I can deliver the message.”

With a sound that persuasively demonstrates music’s unique gift for breaking down barriers between people, Cho’s spiritually-charged message comes through loud and clear. •

Mina Cho: Originality (Blink Music) Street Date: September 2, 2010 www.minachomusic.com

Media Contact: Terri Hinte 510-234-8781 hudba@sbcglobal.net

Member Since:

Members:

1. Corea

2. Can I?

3. A White Lion

4. A Shy Angel, Cheynne

5. Originality

6. Maria

7. Choro No. 2

8. I Like a Turtle

9. Because You Are Looking at Me

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