Piano, violin, saxophone, guitar, keyboards, like instruments, Oan Kim has played many musical styles. From contemporary music to indie pop-rock, from classical to film music, he has swept such a broad spectrum that, if he had to choose, Oan would be drawn in opposite directions.

To bring them all together, to become the magnet that draws them together so strongly that no walls can stand between them. Merging them in a series of jazz-colored photos, fixing them in hues of his own making. In a hybrid musical mix, influences and past experiences become one.

Crackles, triturations and loops are assembled one after the other. Circuit boards do their work, hijacking, deconstructing and reshaping sound in their own way. The guitar becomes unrecognizable, modulations take hold to accompany drums and percussion. The electro rhythmic ballet takes shape, with details only perceptible through headphones.

The contrast in the photo becomes even more striking.

Raw, the saxophone settles in. Spontaneous. Stripped bare. The breath captured as close as possible to the notes, escorted by a gentle aeolian murmur. Improvisations that echo Oan's rock years, when simplicity was the rule, as much as the roughness of traditional Korean music, his father's heritage.

Ambience calls for melodies, and melodies for arrangements.

Let in more light, play with the shadows and bring out the grain of the saxophone to the point of exposing it as plaintive and tortured. Fog up the space when it's time to meditate, to travel through imaginary landscapes captured with a wide-angle lens. Take your whole body with you, or just your soul.

Reed and voice take over. After the notes come the words, brutally expelled or slowly laid down on melodies infused with melancholy. The dominant hue of the album, diffuse in places, dominant in others, permeates the scores, inhabiting instruments and vocals to dress the whole with an atmospheric dimension.

A composer of music for films, contemporary art exhibitions and video art installations, Oan Kim is also a photographer. With Oan Kim & The Dirty Jazz, he creates music that can be used by anyone to create their own images...