Jason Kao Hwang: "Myths Of Origin" - In 2023, violist and composer Jason Kao Hwang gave us Book Of Stories, following it last year with Soliloquies, an excellent album of solo improvised pieces. With his new album, Myths Of Origin, he continues to tell stories, as its title suggests, and continues to improvise, but now as a conductor rather than player. While the album is divided into tracks, it is really one continuous piece of music, one great story. It opens with "The Collapse Of Gravity," starting appropriately enough with a single bang on the drums. And as the strings come in, there is an eerie sense of mystery, and the sound begins to build, the action taking place all around us. Frightening, beautiful, and perhaps inevitable, the dramatic music holds us spellbound. It leads straight into "Spin Fast And Burn," which has a more constant motion at its core, and when that is firmly established, the electric guitar takes things to another level. In the second half, things spin faster, the elements combining into one solid and exciting mass. It eases back for a moment as the track ends and "Multiply And Rise" begins. Now different voices make themselves known, to themselves and to us, testing the air, testing their arms, their voices, entering a chaotic dance, from which certain voices begin to dominate and create form. Stranger territory is explored at the beginning of "Dust Gathers Around Sleep," steps taken in darkness. And an undeniable beauty emerges, witnessed by various beings who then offer their own perspectives, bubbling on the surface. "Landmarks Vanish" begins in a more grounded, solid place, a stronger, more insistent energy determining the action. It gets its grip on us quickly, and does not release until it is certain we are under its sway. A fascinating and exciting ride. The guitar at one point surprisingly reminds me of the beginning of "Someone To Watch Over Me," just for a moment, and then goes into odder territory. "Where Fools Fear" takes us into a more delicate realm, with an air of contemplation, of melancholy. And then it grows from there, leading into "Ancestors Of Light," a more mysterious landscape, with beauty pushing up through the surface. And then we are in more familiar territory with "Anthem Of Knowing," a jazz club at the beginning of existence, where we can relax, ease into reality, as things take form around us and those forms rise up in dance. "Never Forgotten" moves slowly, stretching its great limbs across space and taking it all in, the beauty, the sadness, the vast emptiness. At the end, there is applause, which is actually a bit jarring, for this ride becomes a personal one for each person who listens. This album was released on July 7, 2025. - Michael Doherty, michaelsmusiclog.blogspot.com

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