Jason Kao Hwang

Violinist/violist Jason Kao Hwang is a gifted performer involved in creative improvised contemporary music based on jazz, classical, and world music elements. Born in New York City in 1957 to a family of Chinese descent, Hwang developed interests in avant-garde music, jazz, and traditional Asian music. In the '70s he was part of the New York loft scene, a think tank for progressive innovators and improvisers. He was also a member of the writer's wing of the Basement Workshop, a historic Asian-American arts conclave in New York City's Chinatown. Some of the musicians to spring from this collective are Gerald Oshita, Fred Houn, and Miya Masaoka. He also drew early inspiration from such creative improvisers of the day as Henry Threadgill, Borah Bergman, Butch Morris, Reggie Workman, and Ken McIntyre. Although he had recorded since the '70s, working with William Parker, Billy Bang, and others, Hwang debuted as a solo artist in 1990 with Unfolding Stone. During this period, he also became known for fronting the Far East Side Band alongside Sang-Won Park, Joe Dailey, Satoshi Takeishi, and Yukio Tsuji. The group combined exotic instruments such as the taiko, kayagum, tuba, and his violin. They issued two CDs on the Victor and New World labels (1994's Caverns and 1996's Urban Archaeology) and toured worldwide, including Beijing, China. Hwang also led a trio, documenting music for the Sound Aspects and Flying Panda labels. As an accompanist, he worked with such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Vladimir Tarasov, Tatsu Aoki, Pheeroan akLaff, and many more. Along with his own works, Hwang has performed and co-arranged music for the original stage production of the Tony Award-winning M Butterfly. His scores were also commissioned by the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company, his composition "Flight of Whispers" was underwritten and performed as Music for Homemade Instruments for CRI Records on a compilation recording of Chinese-American composers, and he wrote the 2001 chamber opera The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown. An avid educator, Hwang has taught at several grade levels including founding adult classes in Asian-American Music at New York University and lecturing at Westminster and Brooklyn Colleges. High school students at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas benefited from his instruction of music, oral histories, and poems from 2002 through 2005, and he conducted workshops with Young Audiences/New York for elementary school students and teachers in composition and improvised music. Since the mid-2000s, Hwang has led the collective group EDGE featuring drummer Andrew Drury, trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum, and bassist Ken Filiano. They have recorded for the Asian Improv and Innova labels, issuing albums like 2006's EDGE and 2011's Crossroads Unseen. In 2013, he paired with guitarist and bouzouki player Ayman Fanous for Zilzal. Hwang and EDGE then collaborated with Deanna Relyea and Thomas Buckner on the poetry-infused Voice in 2016. The following year, he joined pianist Chris Forbes and trombonist Steve Swell, as well as his EDGE bandmates Drury and Filiano, for the inventive Sing House. 2018 saw the arrival of the Blood album, which also featured his Burning Bridge ensemble. In 2019, Hwang joined Karl Berger for Conjure and played on pianist David Haney's orchestral album Birth of a City. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi