It all started with a collage. I had previously put together this photo collage/graphic score with the whale silhouette as a basis for improvisation at blue whale, a jazz club dear to my heart. I envisioned the score being open to various interpretations, from playing the contour of the whale to having each piece represent a sound memory, drawn from the countless ensembles I’ve heard there, or just making whale sounds for fun.

I presented a different kind of collage, at my last performance on August 10, 2011, before moving away from Los Angeles, piecing together parts of me, from singing & playing gayageum, to spoken word & ridiculousness. I realized that it functioned as a response to my first show in LA, themed "Portrait,” where I aspired to create a self-portrait through the lens of jazz music. I lived in LA just shy of two years, maturing during that time in many aspects, including artistically, and have come to understand that my portrait actually looks like a collage.

With that understanding, I put together the disparate elements for this performance, free from any particular paradigm, singing Brazilian pop and jazz standards, telling my stories, screaming and throwing eggs. I am grateful to blue whale for being a venue where I could do such things not only without scrutiny, but instead with loving encouragement.

I made yet another collage for one of the pieces in the show, a graphic score for the improvisation section of Ornette Coleman’s “Humpty Dumpty,” which you can view if you click “View flyer” below. Also, you can view clips of the performance collage here on youtube.

While I had the unifying theme of collage in my mind all along, I didn’t tell anyone else about the concept, and am only sharing my thought process behind the project, after the fact. I also realize that most every creative project is a collage, since numerous internalized influences will inevitably seep into anything an artist does. With that said, this projects page is at risk for becoming irrelevant if every project is a collage, but I will look at it as a way of distinguishing one collage from another. I will continue to post new projects in the future, if they focus on a specific concept, repertoire or ensemble of people.