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Linda May Han Oh
Based in New York City, GRAMMY award-winning Linda May Han Oh is a bassist/composer who has performed and recorded with artists such as Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Terri Lyne Carrington, Steve Wilson, Geri Allen and Vijay Iyer.
Originally born in Malaysia and raised in Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia, she has received many awards including a 2022 Deutscher Jazz Preis, 2nd place at the BASS2010 Competition, a semi-finalist at the BMW Bass competition and an honorary mention at the 2009 Thelonious Monk Bass Competition. She was voted the 2018-2021 Bassist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist’s Association, as well 2022 Bassist of the Year in Jazztimes. Linda also was voted 2019 Bassist of the Year in Hothouse Magazine and was the 2020 recipient APRA award for Best New Jazz Work. In 2023 she received the prestigious Herb Albert Award for music.
Linda has had five releases as a leader which have received critical acclaim, her latest – a quintet album entitled The Glass Hours on Biophilia Records. Her latest commissions include “Littoral Tales” a solo piano piece in two movements for Gloria Cheng, and “Ephemeral Echoes” written for percussion trio and piano trio as well as “Mirrors and Shadows” written for piano and bass duo.
Linda has written for large and small ensembles as well as for film, participating in the Sundance Labs at Skywalker Ranch and composing for several of sociologist/film maker Sabrina McCormick. Linda also composed and produced music for a collaborative film project with non-profit, “Hoperaisers” based in Korogocho, Kenya by film-maker Kizito Gamba and contributed music to his latest documentary “Calling the Shots” co-directed by Kore Abong about aspiring African women in the film-industry.
Linda is currently Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in the bass department and is also part of the Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice led by Terri Lyne Carrington. Linda was featured on bass in the 2020 Pixar movie "Soul" under the musical direction of Jon Batiste (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) alongside drummer Roy Haynes and was the model for the character in the film - bassist “Miho.”
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Jo Lawry: Acrobats
by Angelo Leonardi
Ha trovato un intrigante, e quanto mai riuscito, equilibrio tra sperimentazione e mainstream la cantante australiana Jo Lawry nel suo pieno ritorno al jazz dopo il debutto del 2008 con I Want to Be Happy. Il merito va condiviso con la contrabbassista Linda May Han Oh e la batterista Allison Miller, magnifiche co-leader di un progetto di piena partecipazione collettiva. Dopo quell'acclamato debutto (recensione da 4 stelle e mezzo su “Down Beat" e inclusione tra i ...
read moreLinda May Han Oh Quintet at Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society
by Roy Strassman
Linda May Han Oh Quintet Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society Half Moon Bay, CA January 28, 2024 Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society is a fantastic seaside venue for enjoying gemütlich hospitality and late Sunday afternoon jazz. On this Sunday, the tides rolled in Linda May Han Oh and her formidable quintet. Linda May is a remarkable bassist and has an enchanting presence. Attired in a full-length Hawaiian grass--type skirt, she played--or should I ...
read moreVijay Iyer: Compassion
by Mike Jurkovic
As the title track of Compassion gets conjured up on a rubato tumble of Tyshawn Sorey's cymbals, bassist Linda May Han Oh begins her work which--on all of Compassion--is herculean. Vijay Iyer ushers in, and a quiet thing of beauty gets underway. It is one of the album's monster tracks. And eleven more tracks follow. Much like the trio's 2021 ECM effort Uneasy, Compassion makes for a most intense and most satisfying listen. “Arch" is a vivid display ...
read moreVijay Iyer: Compassion
by Neil Duggan
The term “Supergroup" is often over-used. It usually refers to a group whose members are already successful as solo artists. In rock music, it often referred to members of a successful rock group who got together for a recording, frequently disbanding later. Fortunately, Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey are going from strength to strength, showing no sign of disbanding and wholly justifying the term Supergroup. Compassion is their second album as a trio, following 2021's Uneasy ...
read moreVijay Iyer: Compassion
by Doug Collette
Vijay Iyer's Compassion should ratify his position alongside Brad Mehldau and Fred Hersch in the pantheon of contemporary jazz pianists/composers. That is, if previous, comparably stellar titles such as Historicity (Act Music, 2009) haven't already elevated his position accordingly. Once again in the company of bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, the visionary musician leads an ensemble that formulates an exquisite redefinition of jazz's well-established instrumental concept of the piano trio. Having released twenty albums ...
read moreAnthony Branker & Imagine: What Place Can Be for Us? - A Suite in Ten Movements
by Angelo Leonardi
L'avventuroso post-bop del compositore Anthony Branker, ben espresso dall'album Beauty Within del quintetto Imagine, trova nuovi e più articolati sviluppi in questo What Place Can Be for Us?. Il gruppo conferma il chitarrista Pete McCann e la coppia Fabian Almazan e Linda May Han Oh ampliandosi fino a un medio organico con alcuni dei massimi giovani strumentisti di New York: il trombettista Philip Dizack, i sassofonisti Walter Smith III e Remy Le Boeuf, il batterista Donald Edwards e la vocalist ...
read moreLinda May Han Oh: Navigating the Glass Hours
by David Bixler
Bassist Linda May Han Oh's recording The Glass Hours features the front line of vocalist Sara Serpa and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, while pianist Fabian Almazan and drummer Obed Calvaire join her in the rhythm section. Being a new parent has caused her to reflect on what she does as a musician and in this episode of LINER NOTES she talks about how a new awareness of the fragility of life in a world that can be an unsafe place ...
read moreRecent Listening: Linda May Han Oh
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Recent Listening In Brief: Linda May Han Oh, Aventurine (Biophilia) The album title, aptly, seems to suggest adventure. Indeed, the CD contains plenty of that attribute in the bassist-composer’s instrumentation, textures and rhythmic values. The name was suggested, however, by a certain shiny translucent mineral that seems to glow from within, as does much of Ms. Oh’s music in this collection. The inspirations for her compositions, her choices of fellow performers and the way she writes and presents much of ...
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Bassist Linda Oh Interviewed at All About Jazz
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Fully Altered Media
In an arena that is overwhelmingly dominated by her male counterparts, bassist Linda May-Han Oh is going to be a force with which to be reckoned. Her auspicious self-produced debut, Entry (2009), was lauded by critics, and was one of pianist Vijay Iyer's top picks for 2009. Her technical know-how is solidified by visceral, emotive and gutsy performance. Oh walks softly and lets her double-bass do the boasting, and does so impressively. With the buzz slowly getting out about her ...
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Have You Heard Linda Oh?
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The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
Like most who've heard the young Aussie bassist Linda Oh, my starting point was hearing her fresh debut recording “Entry“. Besides the fact that she just kind of materialized on the scene untethered to advance hype, the record was first of all curious because Ms. Oh took the hang-fly route and played her music with a lean and mean trio, including other promising peers drummer Obed Calvaire and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The presence of those young firebreathers further stirred the ...
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The Jazz Session #139: Linda Oh
Source:
Michael Ricci
Bassist Linda Oh was born in Malaysia to Chinese parents, grew up in Perth, Australia, and now plays the bass in New York City. Her debut recording, Entry (self-produced, 2009), is a strong trio statement featuring trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and drummer Obed Calvaire. In this interview, Oh discusses her decision to challenge herself on her first recording; her upbringing and how it influenced her decision to become a jazz bassist; and how she has dealt with stereotypes about Asian women ...
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Photos
Music
Longing
From: LongingBy Linda May Han Oh
West 4th St
From: LongingBy Linda May Han Oh
The Door of No Return
From: What Place Can Be for Us? - A...By Linda May Han Oh
Haven't Meta Yet
From: Same Moon in the Same WorldBy Linda May Han Oh
Stablemates
From: Let's Get TropicalBy Linda May Han Oh
Straight Talk
From: Let's Get TropicalBy Linda May Han Oh
MR 2
From: Let's Get TropicalBy Linda May Han Oh
Mental Self Defense Fitness
From: Let's Get TropicalBy Linda May Han Oh
Let's Get Tropical
From: Let's Get TropicalBy Linda May Han Oh
Glacier Lake
From: Let's Get TropicalBy Linda May Han Oh
MR 4
From: Let's Get TropicalBy Linda May Han Oh
Trio 3
From: Let's Get TropicalBy Linda May Han Oh
The Gulf
From: Orange AfternoonsBy Linda May Han Oh
Videos
Linda May Han Oh
Location: New York City
Instrument: Bass
Born: August 25, 1984
Management: Music Works International
Publicist: Fully Altered Media
