A powerful and ritualistic session from South Korea's free improvisation scene, with tenor and soprano saxophones (Jung-Jae Kim & Sunjae Lee) and dual drum kits (Junyoung Song & Sunki Kim) channeling ancestral Korean shamanic ceremony through raw, primal energy, breath-driven phrasing, and a spiritual aesthetic that bridges indigenous tradition and contemporary free jazz expression.
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Jung-Jae Kim-tenor saxophone
Sunjae Lee-soprano saxophone, alto saxophone
Junyoung Song-drums
Sunki Kim-drums
Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.
UPC: 5904224874155
Label: Relative Pitch
Catalog ID: RPR1230
Squidco Product Code: 36125
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2025
Country: USA
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Tune-Up Studio, in Seoul, Korea, on August 14th, 2023 by Donghun Nam.
"This is free improvised music with two saxophones and two drum sets. The theme of the music is about identity that is linked to the region and culture, especially a specific folksy and indigenous characteristic in the Korean peninsula from long ago. The whole album describes a ceremony and its atmosphere and each track follows each step that is named by an ideogram."-Relative Pitch
"South Korean tenor sax player Jung-Jae Kim's Shamanism imagines Korean shamanic ritual, traditionally accompanied by folk music and traditional, centuries-old instruments (with much less controllable features and unique timbral qualities), transformed into spiritual free jazz aesthetics. Each of the twelve pieces of Shamanism describes a dramatic phase in this enigmatic ceremony and its unique atmosphere, and is named by a Korean ideogram.
Jung-Jae Kim is known for pushing the sonic aesthetics of the sax to delve deeper into human senses. He now lives in Berlin and has collaborated with Portuguese Ernesto Rodrigues and trumpeter Axel Dörner. The album features a free improvising quartet - two sax players - Jung-Jae Kim and soprano and alto sax player Sunjae Lee, and two drummers - Junyoung Song and Sunki Kim (who has played with Jung-Jae Kim in The JJ Motion quartet). The album was recorded at Tune-up Studio in Seoul in August 2023. Since moving to Berlin, Jung-Jae Kim played Shamanism with musicians from the local free scene.
Shamanism suggests a different, and, unfortunately, still under the radar, a different concept of free jazz and free music. It reflects a profound affinity to a timeless aesthetics of breath and rhythm, but is articulated in a captivating, raw, primal, intense, and ritualistic language, slowly introducing more meditative-spiritual themes, and it ends with the magical "Hae". It imagines a powerful, life-affirming ritual that bridges the Eastern ancient sonic aesthetics with the modern Afro-American and European ones."-Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts
Get additional information at Salt Peanuts
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Jung-Jae Kim Jung-Jae Kim is a South Korean saxophonist, the leader of the band The JJ Motion. ^ Hide Bio for Jung-Jae Kim • Show Bio for Sunjae Lee "Sunjae Lee was born in Boston, MA and began his music studies at Rivers Music School from an early age on piano, violin, and saxophone, and later attended the New England Conservatory Preparatory program before going to University of Rochester to major in Chemistry, while also studying upright bass at the nearby Eastman School of Music. After moving back to Boston, he released 3 albums as a leader between 2007-2009 before deciding to pursue a career in Natural Medicine, followed by a move to Portland, OR to get a doctorate in Naturopathy and Oriental Medicine. In Portland, which time his jazz group Kin Trio released the album "Breathe" on PJCE records and performed in the PDX jazz festival. In 2014 he moved to Seoul, Korea to practice Naturopathy, and in 2016 won the Jarasum Int'l Jazz Festival Concours Competition Grand Prize and Best Creativity Prize with his trio. Continuing to stay musically active while maintaining a full time job as a Naturopath, he released "Entropy" in 2019 with celebrated trumpeter Peter Evans, an old friend from Sunjae's days back in Boston. In 2020 he released two more albums focused on free improvisation, "Channel" and "Pulse Theory", and established a new record label, Mung Music, dedicated to showcasing the improvised and free jazz musicians in the Korean jazz scene." ^ Hide Bio for Sunjae Lee • Show Bio for Junyoung Song "Junyoung Song is a prolific drummer based in Seoul, South Korea, working primarily in jazz and free improvisation. He has released two albums as a solo artist titled Solo and Solo Live, showcasing his passion for unaccompanied drum music. After moving back to Korea upon receiving his degrees from Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, he has collaborated with numerous Korean musicians from both jazz and pop music, most notably with Sunjae Lee, Jongshin Yoon, Lucid Fall, Mijo Jung, and Mid-air Thief. His versatility and talent have established him as a respected figure in the Korean creative music scene." ^ Hide Bio for Junyoung Song • Show Bio for Sunki Kim "Kim Sun-ki began his career in jazz scenes in 2013 when he released The Journey of Gonia, a jazz trio. Since then, he has continued his diverse career by releasing Compassion, Day Break by jazz band DayTrip and Freedom by K.R. Project. Joining bassist Kim Chang-hyun's ^ Hide Bio for Sunki Kim
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
1/26/2026
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
1/26/2026
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
1/26/2026
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Jeop 07:22
2. Cho 02:06
3. Sang 06:28
4. Je 07:36
5. Yeom 09:38
6. Gang 01:41
7. Bon 02:40
8. Gae 06:04
9. Chuk 02:38
10. Mul 16:09
11. Bun 08:45
12. Hae 05:43
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Asian Improvisation & Jazz
Jazz
Collective & Free Improvsation
Quartet Recordings
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