Youn Sun Nah
Voyage

Korean jazz has one undisputed queen: her name is Youn Sun Nah. Her career is a peculiar one, starting late for a singer (at 23 years: before that, she worked for a fashion house), pursued almost for fun, and continued in the shadows, away from the limelight, constantly seeking her own personal forms of expression. To be honest, I believe I am the third or fourth person ever to talk about her in Italy: for us, East Asian jazz (Japan aside, perhaps) is often a mysterious object; and she is no exception, if it’s true that only with the release of her seventh album did people start (so to speak) noticing her.

She is a very discreet and reserved lady, this South Korean (but French by adoption) born in Seoul in 1969, who loves to sing "in the dark" (in every sense, take a look at her concerts) and favors daring, singular instrumental solutions, on the edge of the most essential minimalism: daughter of an opera singer, she began with the National Symphony Orchestra and then moved on, over the years, to ever more restricted jazz combos and has recently performed entirely solo on stage, revisiting standards like "My Favorite Things" with only the accompaniment of a kalimba. And performing pieces seemingly far removed from a jazz artist's sensibility (listen to her version of "Enter Sandman": yes, exactly the famous Metallica song, revisited in an acoustic key). Her style finds no immediate comparison: it is a vocal quality that can be both ethereal and sensual at the same time, at times "lunar" and intangible, yet capable of sudden outbursts and dizzying highs, especially when she tackles vocalese and scat, techniques in which Nah is a master. Like the great interpreters of the genre, she uses her voice as an instrument, exercising total control over it, and showcasing an enviable mastery of different registers; surrounded by an elusive and mysterious allure, she knows how to captivate festival audiences (Montreal and Hong Kong being the main ones she's participated in), leaving them stunned, plunging them into an atmosphere of unreal and sweet suspension. If you don't believe me, believe "Le Monde", which called her "a magnificent nocturnal creature, with a voice close to the ideal of perfection."

How can you not find the markedly "bluesy" accents of her (masterful) interpretation of "Jockey Full Of Bourbon" irresistible, among the best moments of the here-present "Voyage" (her penultimate work, dated 2009)? Singing Tom Waits from "Rain Dogs" while completely abandoning the "gritty" register is itself testimony of a strong artistic personality, an instinct alien to any form of conventions or stereotypes (similarly, Nah had already tackled Sting's "Consider Me Gone" without succumbing to the temptation of high tones). Modest the chosen instrumental accompaniment: there is the guitar of Ulf Wakenius, a Swedish jazz musician who has also worked with Pat Metheny, there are brief inserts of cello and accordion, there are percussion with a Caribbean flavor; finally, there are the contortions of an intense and deep double bass, which alone supports Nah's sharp sighs in "Calypso Blues", the "evergreen" signed by Nat King Cole that is the other absolute gem of the album: here the voice is intriguing, passionate, sinuous like the waves of the ocean sung in the text. In "Frevo", by Brazilian composer Egberto Gismonti, on the other hand, emerges the livelier and more theatrical vein of the singer, who offers moments of pure excitement, engaging in a high-brow unison with the acoustic guitar: one ascends and descends formidable progressions, reaching great heights and demonstrating surprising speed; a pure vocal exercise, one might say, an unreserved display of skill where craft and virtuosity outstrip sentiment; conversely, so much is the passion, so much the intensity put into the performance by our artist, that one doesn't get bored even during the five minutes of such a "technical" episode. Curious, but unsurprising given the character's caliber (and musical culture), is the inclusion of "Oh Shenandoah", a traditional American "ballad" dating back to the times of the War of Secession: the first part stands out, solely for the voice, without instrumental accompaniment; spine-tingling. But it's the whole album that flows perfectly, without drops or missteps (and in a 2009 album this is very, very rare).

Yes, artists like this still exist, even if no one talks about them... and it is a great pleasure for me to introduce you all to this little-known and exceptional artist.