Violinist, composer and erhu player Meg Okura leads the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, a group of virtuosi, defining world-chamber jazz. Hailed by New York Times as “vibrant” and “sophisticated,” the ensemble "... mixes a classically trained mastery of strings, piano and drums with quick-witted compositional twist performed with high energy" (Down Beat Magazine). Their self-titled debut album was one of the finalists of the 2006 “Best Album” in the Independent Musicians Awards.

Juilliard trained Meg Okura weaves together classical music and jazz with traditional music from the world. Her compositions feature the erhu, a two-stringed Chinese violin, as well as the shinobue, a bamboo flute from Japan, and she puts her unique spins on masterpieces by composers ranging from Paganini to Coltrane.
A native of Japan, Meg Okura toured throughout Asia as a teenager as the concertmaster and the soloist with the Asian Youth Orchestra while attending the Toho School in Tokyo.

That same year, she also made her Kennedy Centre debut with the late Alexander Schneider’s New York String Orchestra. She then settled in New York City to pursue her classical study at The Juilliard School. While in school, she realized that studying jazz was the only way to become the most complete musician anyone could become, and made the difficult shift from classical to jazz upon completion of her M.M. degree.

Today, her credit includes over fifty appearances on albums, movie soundtracks, and television and music videos, performing with jazz legends including Michael Brecker, Lee Konitz, Diane Reeves, Steve Swallow, as well as pop icons such as Mary J. Blige, David Bowie, Il Divo, Lenny Kravitz, and Kanye West. She has also toured with the Cirque du Soleil’s production “Varekai” and “Corteo” as the featured violinist as well as New York’s own “Wintuk” at the Madison Square Garden.

The members of her ensemble are graduates of top conservatories in the country, who have gone on to perform with some of the biggest names in jazz, gospel, rock, pop and world music as well as major symphonies. As Elliot Simon from All About Jazz puts it “…the best jazz New York has to offer,” this New York-based ensemble features some of the most talented musicians from all ethnic, cultural, and musical backgrounds.

Since the ensemble’s debut at New York’s Stone in February of 2006, they have performed at NYC Winter Jazz Festival, Kaplan Penthouse at Lincoln Center, MoMA, Kumble Theater, University Settlement, Saint Peters Church, Saint Paul’s Chapel, as well as New York clubs such as Makor, Drom, and the Knitting Factory. In 2008, the ensemble made its Japan debut, playing all sold out concerts.

In 2009, the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble performed for the “Meet The Artist Library Series” as a part of Lincoln Center’s 50th anniversary celebration. During the same year, the ensemble made their West-coast debut, headlining the “Music Under the Stars” series at the Levitt Pavilion Pasadena.

Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble have won numerous grants and awards including Jerome Composers Commissioning Program (American Composers Forum), Urban Artist Initiative (Asian American Arts Alliance, Association of Hispanic Arts, Bronx Council on the Arts, Harlem Arts Alliance, New York Foundation for the Arts and Queens Council on the Arts), MetLife Creative Connections (Meet The Composer), and others.


 © Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble's website

This past month's curation at The Stone by Basya Schechter was noteworthy for new projects by young creative artists; one such event was the double bill of violinist Meg Okura's Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble and accordionist/pianist Uri Sharlin's Cardamon Quartet. Both Okura and Sharlin's groups played selections from debut CDs that elegantly intertwine elements of classical, jazz and world folk into a new sound. As evidenced throughout the evening, they do so by presenting precisely played ethnically inspired original compositions in an exciting modern jazz context. The common factor at The Stone and on both CDs is cellist/bassist Jennifer Vincent, whose exquisite playing classically grounds each group while enabling the prodigious soloists to strut, the melodies to entice, and the unique voicings to shine.

Okura composed, arranged and produced each tune on this recording, and her bowing in person and on CD is phenomenal. She delicately combines with Vincent and guest cellist Dave Eggar to enthrall, play thrilling pizzicatos or rip off fiery runs that include wild harmonics. Completing the core quartet are Yukari's soaring flute and Megumi Yonezawa's piano that draws on a multitude of forms. The brilliant traditional Japanese percussionist Satoshi Takeishi lends his singular rhythms and textures to each cut. "Yuki (snow)" falls from the sky with the sound of pizzicato flakes against a backdrop of hand percussion, until Yukari's lone flute beautifully signals an end to the wonder.

Yukari, Okura (viola) and Yonezawa take the lightly swinging "Step by Step" in different directions, yet pause to pay homage to Trane's "Giant Steps." "Dance at the Palace" begins as an out-of-time cavort until strings and flute signal the start of a fiery encounter that reaches a breathtaking climax. The touching "Peace in My Heart" leads into a hot "Viola da Samba," before the multi-themed "Dream Dancer" strikingly portrays the sound experience of a recently deafened violinist who can now only hear in her dreams. An achingly pure paean to the clarity of "Ancient Bells" closes things out.

 ©Elliott Simon - All About Jazz

This unique collection of eight melodic explorations is a superb orchestral fusion of Latin, Eastern and Western sensibilities performed with taste and grace by six accomplished artists, each of them with a strong individuality yet forming a unique ensemble. What makes this album original is the beautiful integration of melodies, themes and instruments in an organic lively ensemble. The flow of sounds, the dialogues between instruments, the contrasts and harmonies makes you think you are hearing a symphony. Like an impressionist painter using brushstrokes of bright colors to suggest luminosity, Meg Okura paints with rhytms, tempos and sounds skillfully distributed throughout the album. The output is an exemplary sample of esquisite musical chemistry.

JazzWorldQuest.com