Jon Jang

Jon Jang (actually Jang Jian Liang , * 11. March 1954 ) is an American jazz - pianist , composer and bandleader of modern jazz .

Live and act

Jon Jang has Chinese roots, works in the Asian-American jazz spectrum and combines jazz with elements of Asian music in his music.

Jang graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1978. He worked with Fred Ho's Afro-Asian Ensemble , later with David Murray , James Newton , Anthony Brown , Mark Izu , Jiebing Chen , Liu Qi-Chao and Max Roach . In 1987 he founded the record label Asian Improv Records with Francis Wong . In the 1990s, Jang recorded a number of albums for the Soul Note label, on which musicians such as flautist James Newton, David Murray and Max Roach participated. In addition to his work as a musician and band leader, Jang Jang sees himself as a political activist; so is his first album Self Defense! a statement in the tradition of the Pan African People's Arkestra directed by the radical Californian composer Horace Tapscott . The album takes a stand on the injustice done to the Japanese during the Second World War in the United States. In the album Tiananmen! Jang also uses Chinese folk music, but the main influences are Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington's "world music" ideas.

The Jon Jang Sextet performed at the 1997 Beijing Jazz Festival . Jang lives in San Francisco .

Selection discography

• 1985: Tomorrow Is Now (Soul Note) with the Afro-Asian Music Ensemble
• 1987: We Refuse to Be Used and Abused (Soul Note) with the Afro-Asian Music Ensemble
• 1987: The Ballas of the Bullet (AsianImprov) solo
• 1988: Jangle Bells (AsianImprov) solo
• 1991: Self Defense! (Soul Note)
• 1993: Tiananmen! (Soul Note)
• 1994: Two Flowers on a Stem (Soul Note) with David Murray
• 1995: Immigrant Suite No. 1 (Soul Note)
• 1998: Beijing Trio (AsianImprov, 1998) with Max Roach
• 1999: Self Portrait (AsianImprov) solo

literature

• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .

Web links

• "The Music of the Flowing Stream: An Interview with Jazz Composer Jon Jang", by Ken Chen, from Satellite (January 2001)
• "An Interview with Jon Jang and James Newton", by Nic Paget-Clarke
• Jon Jang at Discogs (English)