Event
Great Integration: A Chamber Hip-Hop Opera at the Rae Douglass Gallery
Great Integration is steeped in an electrifyingly contemporary alloy of Taoist tradition, hip-hop music, poetry, forward-looking philosophy and arresting performance presentation.
In this penultimate installment of the ongoing Mik Nawooj saga, Black Swordsman of dominance is chosen as the one to trigger the Great Integration of the world before the arrival of Celestial King. When all the five lords of material realm are conquered, the old world we know will merge into one and the Great Celestial King will descend from ninth heaven to wipe out all the impurities of the world, thus creating a new world with brand new paradigm. It is an allegory that the music director of EMN, JooWan Kim, finds particularly apt for the approaching end times prophesied by the Mayan and other cultures in 2012 and, more importantly, for the new era that these tribulations will usher in.
This music, written by JooWan Kim, helped secure him a management contract with jazz legend Ahmad Jamal (2006-2009) and a lifetime endorsement by the Steinway & Sons Piano Company (2007). (It) incorporates elements from hip-hop and classical, creating a unique hybrid that is in the spirit of Gershwin and Piazzolla, both of whom pushed and blurred the boundaries of vernacular and art music.
Backed by his own Ensemble Mik Nawooj, featuring MC Kirby Dominant, JooWan Kim succeeds in accomplishing what most musicians want to but are unable to; creating a new kind of music that combines genres that are seemingly incompatible with each other.
With two sold-out performances in June, 2010 at ODC Commons in San Francisco, Great Integration: A Chamber Hip-Hop Opera has garnered a lot of attention from media and some of the highest level of music circles alike:
"In this day and age, for an artist to succeed, the talent has to be either exceptional or very different. JooWan Kim is both; exceptional and very different"
- Ahmad Jamal, legendary jazz pianist
" …Great Integration lives up to its name, drawing influences from classical to hip-hop, Taoism to the Mayan calendar."
-Mary Eisenhart, SF Chronicle
"Great Integration... breaks established boundaries between genres and styles…"
-Jason Victor Serinus, SF Examiner
"… This "great integration" works surprisingly (perhaps even shockingly) well. Ensemble Mik Nawooj sounds like something Wu-Tang Clan producer The RZA might conjure up if he got his hands on the Kronos Quartet:… When the Wu-Tang entered the 36 Chambers, they probably didn't expect an actual chamber music ensemble to be behind door 35. But who ever said hip-hop had to use two turntables and a microphone?"
- J. Graham, SF Weekly
" By calling Great Integration-an allegory about the end of times- a hip-hop opera… composer-pianist JooWan Kim maybe on to something."
-Rita Felciano, SF Bay Guardian
"… JooWan Kim envisions a musical landscape that defies such categories as jazz, classical, and hip-hop."
- Brenda Payton, Oakland Tribune
"… what they have achieved (and I'm still trying to wrap my brain around) is an apocalyptic, mystical, mold breaking, saga… yo this ain't any ol' Star Wars or Lord of Ring epic saga…"
-Mama FeelGood, Pirate Cat Radio
"… The most ambitious is "Great Integration: A Chamber Hip-Hop Opera," a millennial allegory with a Black Swordsman… set to the rapping of MC Kirby Dominant over JooWan Kim's moody piano score."
-The New Yorker
"... nobody has ever attempted anything like this on such a large scale, or with such sophistication… it's composers like Elvis Costello and JooWan Kim that are the true crossover artists, merging existing styles into something new and exciting that hasn't been done before…"
-Rik Malone, KQED (NPR)
"… the blend of influences is so wonderfully integrated that one would be hard pressed to say which dominates… overall perception was one of a composer and ensemble destined for greatness."
-Mark Alburger, 21st Century Music
At this show, there will be a world premiere of a new piece by JooWan Kim, written for Jazz vocalist Christopher Nicholas and piano trio.
This will be the longest show of 2010 for EMN.
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LocationRae Douglass Gallery (formerly Giorgi Gallery)
2911 Claremont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 0 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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