JIHA, PARK - Communion

I dont want to play only traditional music. I want to play my own music... my own stories. - Park Jiha."Over the last few years a rising tide of new Korean artists have staked a place in the global music conversation. Groups like Jambinai, Black String and Park Jihas earlier duo 숨[suːm] have created exciting soundworlds that deftly combine the instrumentation and complex expression of Korean traditional music with an array of contemporary sounds such as post-rock, doom metal, downtempo jazz, and classical minimalism. While Park Jihas most recent musical endeavor, her debut solo album Communion, is another decisive step towards a more personal and forward-looking musical vocabulary, it also is deeply rooted in her traditional music education and background. Jihas main instrument is the piri, a traditional Korean instrument which is like an oboe. She also plays the saenghwang, a traditional instrument similar to a mouth organ and made of bamboo, the yanggeum (hammered dulcimer), and perc