Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
Hyde Park Jazz Fest on Chicago’s South Side to Present 20th Edition
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
Linda May Han Oh will release Walk Against Wind on Biophilia Records on April 14.
(Photo: Courtesy of Biophilia Records)Bassist-composer Linda May Han Oh will release Walk Against Wind, her fourth album as a leader and first for Biophilia Records, on April 14. The album is the companion project to her acclaimed 2013 Greenleaf Music release, Sun Pictures, and will feature the same band—saxophonist Ben Wendel, guitarist Matthew Stevens and drummer Justin Brown—with the addition of keyboardist Fabian Almazan and Korean traditional musician Minji Park.
Born in Malaysia to Chinese parents and raised in Western Australia (where she added “Linda” to her given name), Oh arrived in New York in 2004 as part of the International Association for Jazz Education “Sisters in Jazz” program, quickly developing a reputation as a stalwart accompanist and imaginative composer.
In 2012, she released Initial Here (Greenleaf), her debut album, and in the same year topped the Rising Star—Bass category of DownBeat’s Critics Poll. In late 2015, she joined guitarist Pat Metheny’s newest quartet, which also includes drummer Antonio Sanchez and pianist Gwilym Simcock. She remains a member of the Dave Douglas Quintet as well as the Sound Prints Band with Douglas and Joe Lovano.
For her new album, Oh stated a desire to explore both the challenges and the rewards of an artist’s journey. Listeners familiar with Oh’s previous work will notice an increased presence of electric bass on the new album, as well as the addition of wordless vocals.
“Walk Against Wind is about the paths that we choose,” she said. “Sometimes they end up being the harder paths, but in the long run they prove more fruitful ... it’s [often] about thinking big picture about what you can give back to the community with your music. It’s definitely appropriate for these times given the uncertainty of what’s to come and the feelings of division, lack of unity and a climate of intolerance that’s arisen in the last few years.”
In joining Biophilia Records, Oh unites with a roster of artists who share a common interest in having a positive impact on the environment. Musicians signed to the label collaborate with organizations that specialize in conservation, sustainability and outreach initiatives. Additionally, Biophilia Records has created a new way to buy and consume music without the use of plastics. The label’s Biopholio is a new form of paper-art in lieu of the traditional CD jewel case or the CD itself, eliminating the potential for CDs and other plastic packaging to end up in landfills.
Biophilia Records was founded by Almazan in 2011 and is based in New York City. Additional artists on the label include singer-composer Lara Bello, bassist Desmond White and singer-songwriter Charlie Christenson. For a list of forthcoming album releases, including Almazan’s latest CD, Alcanza, visit the label’s website. DB
A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.
Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and…
Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.
Oct 6, 2026 1:33 PM
As emcee Mark Ruffin noted at the commencement of an epic tribute to saxophonist Sonny Rollins at the Cathedral of Saint…
Kurt Elling, Katherine Russell and Emmet Cohen (host on the 2027 Jazz Cruise) share a laugh at sea.
Sep 8, 2026 11:52 AM
It began in 2001. A travel agent named Anita E. Berry had been booking clients on “partial” jazz cruises that took…
Sep 17, 2026 11:00 AM
The 2027 DownBeat College Guide is an invaluable resource for music students, especially jazz students, to find a school…
