Jazz trombonist and producer Peter Lin and his AAPI Jazz Collective, the collective of Asian American Pacific Islanders founded in 2019, have unveiled their new album Identity. On it, they explore the landscape of jazz from its US roots to its Asian influences and their position in this web of diversity. The result?

Identity is, to say this much in advance, a very well-recorded, sensitively recorded and excellently mixed album. And it is also good because with Erena Terakubo on alto saxophone and flute, Mike Bond on piano, Daseul Kim on bass, Wen-Ting Wu on drums and guests Brandon Choi on trumpet and singer Mỹ Tâm Huynh, the result is an octet that is not exactly trivial to arrange and sort for an acoustic recording. Here, however, it works brilliantly.

The very first bars of Emperor's Stride, the opening song from Identy, quickly create a bar atmosphere. Fast jazz at the highest level, finely interwoven brass figures with little jokes such as the implied train toot in Tank!, mostly briskly performed melodies that seem familiar, and solos that tell stories as well as stories from the history of jazz. Then there are the vocals in Moonlight Densestu and the very atmospheric ballad Bèo Dạt Mây Trôi, whose Vietnamese lyrics lend the ensemble performance a coloring that goes beyond US traditions.

The particular strength of Identity lies in this mix of cultural influences. Instead of playing off the heritage of different traditions and cultures against each other, a variety of influences come together here to form a common whole that presents itself excellently and is a joy to listen to. This makes Identity a fine album, not just for traditionalists. (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Peter Lin, trombone, producer
Erena Terakubo, alto saxophone, flute
Mike Bond, piano
Daseul Kim, bass
Wen-Ting Wu, drums
Special guests:
Mỹ Tâm Huynh, vocals
Brandon Choi, trumpet