Yoo youn cho
1. Can you share with us how you first got introduced to jazz music?
I first came across with blues music listening to musicians like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, SRV, Derek Trucks and so on. Then when I got to college and met friends who were jazz fans there, I was introduced to the music and fell in love with it ever since.
2. Growing up in Korea, what kind of music influenced you before jazz entered your life?
My father likes classical music, so it was always on in the household. I studied classical percussions and clarinet until the age of 12 or so.
Growing up in Korea, I naturally got exposed to K-Pop as well, but I never had a taste for the ‘K-Pop Idol’ music. I remember listening to SG Wannabe’s music.
I used to read music critics’ books recommending older pop/rock music and go search for them online when I was in middle/high school.
3. Were there any specific moments or experiences that made you decide to pursue jazz professionally?
Probably after I moved to Seoul for college. I always wanted to be a musician of some kind, but growing up in Wonju which had very small live music scene, I had very little idea of how it’s gonna be like. After moving to Seoul, mingling with jazz musicians and fans every night, the decision came to me naturally.
4. What inspired you to come to New York for your music education?
As I mentioned earlier I liked blues music and even some bluegrass music when I was young, thanks to the internet, I always had a curiosity of the land they originated from. After falling in love with jazz music, I desired for NYC, the city of swing and bebop.
After graduating from college, I was looking for opportunities to go to New York and study jazz music further. Then I had an interpretation gig for vocalist Alexis Cole for an interview in Seoul. After the interview, we had dinner together at a Korean bbq restaurant, had some soju as well. She asked me which guitarist I want to study with if I ever get to NY. I said Pasquale Grasso, who I was, and still am admiring. She said he’s teaching at her school, SUNY Purchase, and told me to send her my portfolio. Within a week, I got an acceptance letter from the graduate school. Later I found out that PG already knew of me from my IG video playing one of his works. Anyway, that’s how I got the opportunity. One of those magical moments of life.
5. How did your time at Purchase College shape your approach to jazz guitar?
Completely changed it. My posture, technique, attitude, understanding of the instrument, appreciation, everything. I got to a point where I love playing jazz guitar even more. Also I feel more comfortable and somehow more free. Maybe that’s because I had a chance to meet many friends who’s got the same kind of dreams and enthusiasm as a jazz musician. They gave me courage and inspiration.
6. Were there any professors, peers, or experiences that had a lasting impact on your playing style or career?
That question only can get me to talk all day long. I won’t elaborate much on this because I don’t want to leave out any. I’ll just say I met many good friends.
7. How did studying jazz in the U.S. differ from your earlier music education in Korea?
Jazz education in Korea sometime is not really about jazz music. It’s all western music except classical—more focused on pop, rock, funk, etc. And even when you say it’s jazz education, they’re more about all those modes and scales and so on. Not really on the repertoire and sound of the jazz legacy. The education I experienced in and out of school in NYC is much more vibrant and purely focused on “jazz” music with much love and enthusiasm. Yet they’re just my thoughts. Outside of New York, I have no experience, so I cannot say.
8. Which jazz guitarists or musicians have influenced your playing the most?
They change every now and then since I listen to a lot of recordings and keep searching for things I have missed. I tend to go for “the source”, though. Musicians from the swing and bebop era. Bean, Roy Eldridge, Charlie Shavers, Teddy Wilson, Fats Navarro, Tadd Dameron, Charlie Christian, Elmo Hope, and so on.
9. How would you describe your personal style of jazz guitar?
Swing and Be-Bop.
10. Do you incorporate elements of Korean music or culture into your jazz compositions or performances?
Not necessarily so. But sometimes I listen to older post-war korean music and cry over their helplessness, nostalgia, heartbreak and love. I think the colonization and the war have shaped modern Koreans’ shared feelings of so-called “Han“, and I think somehow that is very close to African American blues. I find that’s the human connection Koreans have towards jazz music.
11. How would you compare the jazz scene in Korea to the jazz scene in the U.S.?
With a great help of good hearted jazz lovers’ willpower and widespread usage of social network services, I think all the scenes around the world are getting closer, like long lost family members trying to reach out to one another. I am very happy about it, but I want to introduce great-but-lesser-known musicians to each other scenes more. Money is one problem but we will find a way sooner or later. That being said, I find the Korean jazz scene is leaning towards straight-ahead jazz more than ever before, through younger generations of musicians.
12. What challenges have you faced as a Korean jazz musician breaking into the international jazz world?
Probably the biggest thing would be the fact that I am far away from my family and friends back in Korea, but that’s also true for a lot of young musicians who’s not from the city. However I was very lucky to meet good friends in NYC.
13. Are there any memorable performances or collaborations that stand out in your career?
The biggest venue would be Dizzy’s club when I played with PJO Big Band led by Jon Faddis and David Dejesus. That indeed was a powerful experience, but I also very much appreciate smaller playing and sitting-in experiences at bars and restaurants, which I played with musicians like John Mosca, Pasquale, Ari Roland, Stefano Doglioni, Kihong Jang, Jinjoo Yoo, Christopher Potter, Anthony Dom, Adam Gay to name a few. I like more intimate setups I guess. Maybe that’s because of the nature of the instrument. I don’t like too much amplification.
14. What has been the most fulfilling aspect of being a jazz guitarist?
That I get to enjoy my time working. Also the feeling of inclusion coming from other jazz musicians. They’re like family.
15. Where do you find inspiration for your music—people, places, emotions?
Certainly my colleagues, and also listening to records.
16. How has your Korean heritage shaped your identity as a jazz musician?
I think that’s been answered earlier.
17. Do you see jazz as a universal language, or do you feel it carries specific cultural roots?
The history lets you know the specific sound of jazz music is African American, but the joy it brings is human and universal, which transcends one culture. It does intrigue me to have interests in the African American history and culture, however. And also the history of opera and earlier European American music which later became known as “The Great American Songbook”
18. How do you navigate the balance between honoring jazz’s American roots and bringing your unique perspective to the genre?
As of now I don’t feel the necessity to intentionally impose my cultural roots to my music. It’s tricky not only musically but also personally. I would say 98% of cultural Koreans nowadays didn’t grow up listening to traditional Korean music. It’s sad to say so but it’s true. I don’t feel comfortable putting those into my music because it’s not genuine. I like traditionally trained musicians doing so, since they really know it and dig it, like the band Ssing-Ssing. I would like to study it one day, somehow I feel obligated to do so as a musician, but as of now, I can’t.
19. What projects are you currently working on or looking forward to?
Speaking of recordings and making albums, I think of it more like a snapshot of my days, or like a documentary of some sort. Not looking for hi-fi production or big commercial hits. So I’ll probably do a spontaneous one with my friends that I play with when we feel like and have the means. I mainly play in smaller groups nowadays, that being a trio or quartet, but I also like writing for bigger bands with a number of horns, too, so that’s gonna be another project for me, writing more arrangements.
20. Do you have any advice for aspiring jazz musicians, especially those from Korea or other non-Western countries?
Practice whenever you can. Don’t think of it as work. Go out to jazz clubs and jam sessions every night, sit in, chat up, have a beer, make friends. Enjoy.
