Lua ya Yeahwon Shin, Aaron Parks & Rob Curto

• 1 Lullaby 02:36
• 2 Moving Clouds 03:32
• 3 Island Child 04:14
• 4 Mysteries 03:13
• 5 The Moonwatcher and the Child 04:15
• 6 The Orchard Road 02:20
• 7 Remembrance 01:26
• 8 Beads of Rain 03:59
• 9 A Morning Song 03:08
• 10 Travel Blue 03:12
• 11 Beads of Rain, Var. 03:18
• 12 The Orchard Road, Var. 02:43
• 13 Sunrise 02:28
• Total Runtime 40:24

Info for Lua ya

South Korean singer Yeahwon Shin’s ECM debut, “Lua ya” is a gentle album of songs and lullabies, recorded in 2012 in the spacious acoustics of Mechanics Hall, near Boston. It’s a very intuitive set, shaped by “improvising, listening to our childhood memories and letting the music flow”, as Yeahwon says. Shin and pianist Aaron Parks played together just once before the present recording, finding “an instant improvisational connection” which is further explored here. Accordionist Rob Curto shares with Yeahwon an affinity for Brazilian music and has collaborated with her previously (in contexts including her Latin Grammy-nominated album “Yeahwon” on ArtistShare). But this new disc is a project beyond the idiomatic borderlines: Korean children’s songs are amongst the inspirational sources, and jazz has influenced the phrasing and imagination of all three participants, yet “Lua ya” seems to emerge from a place of pure music and a common reservoir of feeling. Yeahwon Shin dedicates the set to mothers and children everywhere.

“Lua ya”, ECM debut of Korean singer Yeahwon Shin is a gently undulating album of songs, with a strong and subtle improvised component. These are songs remembered, discovered and invented by Yeahwon and her distinguished accompanying musicians, pianist Aaron Parks and accordionist Rob Curto, drawing both on childhood memories and the spirit of the moment. The album’s development has been fortuitous. The impetus for “Lua ya” came originally out of an Aaron Parks session. Yeahwon had come along as a visitor to Mechanics Hall, near Boston, where producer Sun Chung was recording a solo album with Parks (“Arborescence”, due for imminent release on ECM). The rich resonance of the sound in the room encouraged her to think about how a piano/voice duet might sound there, and in experimental mood decided to test it.

The album heralds the arrival of Yeahwon’s daughter Lua, and is dedicated to mothers and children everywhere. The songs covered on the album are ones that Yeahwon learned from her own mother. “We had a small garden and we’d sing all the time while planting things each season. Those are some of my earliest musical memories.” Some of the songs, like “Island Child” and “Remembrance”, are very well known in Korea, others, she says, perhaps less so today. Yeahwon sang some of the pieces for Aaron Parks and for Rob Curto before the session, but most of the musical direction was determined in the process of recording. “We tried a few different approaches, basic things like who should start a piece, before we decided – it was Sun’s suggestion – to simply play a thirty minute concert in the hall, with no discussion. We just kept going. Some of the best musical moments came from this.” “Lua ya” was recorded in May 2012, in Mechanics Hall, Worcester MA, with Sun Chung as producer and mixed in Oslo by Sun Chung, Manfred Eicher and Jan Erik Kongshaug.

Yeahwon Shin takes the music back to South Korea in September for concerts where she’ll be joined by Aaron Parks and accordionist Jean-Louis Matinier, well-known to ECM listeners for his recordings with Anouar Brahem and with Francois Couturier’s Tarkovsky Quartet.

Yeahwon Shin, voice Aaron Parks, piano Rob Curto, accordion

Recorded May 2012 at Mechanics Hall, Worcester, MA
Engineered by Rick Kwan
Mixed at Rainbow Studio, Oslo by Jan Erik Kongshaug, Manfred Eicher and Sun Chung
Produced by Sun Chung

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Booklet for Lua ya