This is not the first time that a Korean singer has graced these pages. Only this time she’s not calling France her home as was the case with Youn Sun Nah, instead Song Yi Jeon is a Swiss born singer with immense vocal talent. She is accompanied by the solo guitar of Vinicius Gomes who is NY based, and though the bio doesn’t mention must be a Brazilian by descent if not fully fledged Brazilian.
The album features vocal and guitar work combining and merging into a Baden Powell accented album that can best be described as sweet, lovely or just very lovely. The superbly recorded voice and accompanying guitar never sound sparse or need the extra body of additional backing instruments. Song Yi Jeon and Vinicius Gomes offer a combination of vast musical talent that re-imagines Samba in an original fashion.
The voice is sometimes aided by words in Korean or English but mostly used to conjure wordless melodious vistas. Gomes’s accompanying guitar never veers towards pretentiousness. It is all low key and fluent. Said to be based on solos by Charlie Parker, Lyle Mays, Chris Potter, Miguel Zenón and others, one does not need to be fully aware of any of those factors, the end result is a flow of sweet sound expressed with immense and entertaining talent.
Reuben Klein