Park Jiha's Korean Soundscapes - Asides (V)

"So which did you prefer?" I said to The Hungry Cat Cat, my gig buddy.  "Park Jiha on the dulcimer (which isn't a dulcimer), or Park Jiha on the mouth organ (which isn't really a mouth organ)?"  We both agreed that there was something mesmerising and otherworldly about the second of these two instruments, the saenghwang.  It is poor memory rather than ignorance that finds me searching for a reminder about the correct names of the fascinating instruments that Park Jiha played at her Rich Mix London gig.    

I've been listening to the Korean multi-instrumentalist for over a year now and am charmed by her music.  The lugubrious sound of the saenghwang is close to sonic ether.  The instrument, which resembles a miniature 'Iron Throne', emits a sound that alternates between the mournful and joyous.  The texture of each of the individual piped notes can almost be felt and as they follow each other, you sense that the melody is on the cusp of faltering, but, like a rush of bubbles from a child's wand, the next set are released just in time.

Winter is coming

And that's not to take anything away from the yanggeum, which on 'Thunder Shower' actually provided my favourite moment of the evening.   Against the background of rainwater gurgling into a gutter, Park Jiha struck the twenty-eight strings of this dulcimer-like instrument with two bamboo sticks, giving flight to the most beguiling sounds which tripped hypnotically around the room.

Park Jiha, sitting behind her musical kit, resplendent in a lime green dress, commanded an awe-like attention.  She let us know how thrilled she was to be playing at the K-Music festival for the first time and occasionally, in slightly hesitant English, introduced some of the songs.  Words were not necessary though.  Perhaps the one misstep was the overlaying of 'Easy' with a poem by Dima El Sayed.  The sultry piping of the saenghwang was pushed into the background and our lulled thoughts were forced to return to a more ironic and less gentle disposition.       

The only other disappointment of the evening was that we heard little from Park Jiha's first album Communion.  I was eagerly anticipating 'The Longing of the Yawning Divide' – here is a wonderfully moving performance of that piece and a great illustration of what is so special about the saenghwang.   But that's a fan's quibble and it barely distracted from an incredibly satisfying and intense performance.  A January show at St. Luke's has been mooted, and I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to listen to Park Jiha's gorgeous sounds as they ascend towards the upper reaches of Nicholas Hawksmoor's obelisk spire.