Younee

New Album
'Improvisations Live in Germany'

A Masterpiece of Improvisation Art

With her third album, the South Korean pianist and composer YOUNEE sets new standards and celebrates a spectacular comeback. Improvisations Live in Germany impressively showcases her extraordinary gift for free improvisation and her deep connection to music. This album is a vivid documentation of her musical journey and her relentless pursuit of artistic freedom and innovation. Recorded at various locations in Germany, it captures the magic of unique performance moments. Each piece is one-of-a-kind, shaped by the special atmosphere and energy of the audience. The acoustics of the venue, especially the character of the piano, play a significant role. With her impressive creativity and dynamism, she manages to transcend the boundaries between classical music and jazz, creating an exciting new style: Free Classic & Jazz.

Improvisations Live in Germany is an artistic revelation that shows how deep and moving music can be. The recordings were made with a very special microphone technique that virtually places the listener in the position of the artist at the piano. When YOUNEE performed at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, she improvised on the theme of spring at the suggestion of an audience member, giving birth to the track “Frühling (Spring).” At the Jazzopen Stuttgart, she captivated the audience with her "Song for JOS." In Hamburg's "Fabrik," "Joy" was the trigger for her performance. "Cuba," recorded at the "Ofenwerk" in Nuremberg, sounds as if she had just returned from Havana, even though she has never been to Cuba. "Crazy Night in Lichtenfels" was created spontaneously at the city festival in the basket-making town of Upper Franconia. And which jazz club can claim to have its own YOUNEE piece like the "Unterfahrt" in Munich? "From Korea to Bach" is autobiographical. "Lefthand Improvisation," recorded at the Palatia Jazz Festival in Speyer, points to the potential of new playing techniques, and "Instrument Is Alive" is a true "Fantasie Impromptu." This fantasy was inspired by a visit to the Instrument Museum. She imagined the instruments dancing in the absence of visitors.

The musician continues to draw inspiration from classical masters like Bach and Beethoven. Her "Bright Moonlight," recorded at the International St. Wendeler Jazz Days, is inspired by Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata." He called his work a "Sonata quasi una Fantasia." Her music is exemplary of the postmodern zeitgeist of the 21st century. She rethinks concerts, creating new frameworks and spaces where music can be experienced differently and where musicians and audiences meet on equal footing. For her, music is always communication. Her announcements and the titles of the pieces serve as introductions, as guides. Her practice of making music requires an almost dreamlike sensitivity, a sense for situations, and the ability to react. For Younee, nothing works without imagination. And the listener always feels that here is an artist who does not use improvisation as a mere stopgap but rather to articulate her very personal attitude towards music. She always plays what she feels at the moment, and for her, the piano is more a partner and friend than an instrument. This album highlights the role of improvisation, as well as the musical tradition. YOUNEE reunites what has belonged together for decades. For her, improvisation and composition are two sides of the same coin, symbolizing unity.

AVAILABLE IN STORES AND ONLINE ON NOVEMBER 1, 2024.

(Fulminantmusic, FM003CD)

Album Improvisattions Live in Germany

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Album 'My Piano'

With her second album “MY PIANO”, South Korean Composer and singer/songwriter YOUNEE, who has been lauded as a star pianist by the enthusiastic media, proves once again that she indeed ranks among the finest!

For “Jugendstil”, her German debut album which had taken the bestseller-charts by storm, she had still relied on the “classics” such as Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and others for inspiration, but on her new album YOUNEE lights impressive fireworks of eleven of her very own compositions, of breathtaking dexterity and technique ranging from furioso to pianissimo and taking the listener along on a highly emotional journey and into a new world of piano music.

Until the final note, everything happens intuitively, spontaneously, unexpectedly, without ever drifting off into the realms of kitsch or virtuosity for virtuosity’s sake. “That’s me”, states YOUNEE, an equally pretty as well as charismatic performer currently living in Germany, about her new album.