Conceived in Seoul in 2015 as an improvisation experiment, PAN Project is now a sextet of collaborators who hail from the USA, Canada and East Asia. “PAN” is a Korean word that means “to gather” or “come together,” and the group’s moniker is also derived from p’ansouri, a Korean vocal style of musical narration and percussion that’s highly regarded in that country. Playing a variety of stringed and percussion instruments from Korea, China and Japan, PAN Project’s debut album was recorded on both sides of the Pacific.

Some of their haunting, plaintive music is based on traditional folk music (such as “Kangwon”), but PAN Project also takes improvisatory sounds into the territory of neo-traditional adaptations for modern life and beliefs. “Kangwon” is an excellent tune to introduce the eerie Korean double-reed bamboo wind instrument played by gamin known as a piri, five-holed Japanese shakuhachi flute blown with considerable technique by Ned Rothenberg, and Jeff Roberts’ Chinese plucked guqin. The opening track also features erhu (Chinese two-stringed bowed fiddle) of Ying-Chieh Wang, and janggu (Korean double-headed barrel drum) played with a thin stick or hand by Woonjung Sim. 

The sound of human breath through bamboo shakuhachi conveys expressive sounds of life itself. Rothenberg has studied the instrument to a point of mastering its proper tone and vibrato. Subtly fragmented melodies in a duo arrangement of “Yi Gu Ren” (“Thinking of an Old Friend”) are suggestive of other-worldly mystery as the flute’s tones blend with the gentle melancholy of the guqin. Microtonal shadings color this piece in a very organic way, as does a trio arrangement of “Si Xiang Gi” (“Thinking of….”) to reflect nostalgically on one’s longing for home as the shakuhachi and erhu converse with the saenghwang, a Korean free-reed polyphonic mouth organ capable of playing 2-4 notes simultaneously.    

A captivating story that spans five tracks, “Sugungga (Song of the Sea Palace)” presents the tale of a dragon king’s selfish desire for immortality and adventures of a rabbit and turtle. The five movements create moods of tension, wit, wisdom and joy. It’s enlightening to read the story synopsis for each 1-3 minute track to appreciate how musical narrations of vocalist Sae-Yeon Jeong interpret one of the few surviving stories of p’ansouri. English translations are provided in the liner notes. Her vocal form, while perhaps hard for westerners to decipher, is only a taste of the operatic dramatic solos that can be sung for hours to the accompaniment of a drum, and with only a fan and handkerchief as props. For further exploration of Korean p’ansouri, you might also want to check out performer Kim So-Hee who has been recognized as a “living national treasure.”     

Later in PAN Project’s set, “Gutgeori” features the five stellar instrumentalists in a piece based on a 12-beat Korean rhythmic cycle with origins from shamanistic ritual music and culture of the rural dispossessed.   To close the journey, “The Bell Rings Deep Blue” introduces very pleasant sounds from the quintet. Some are so subtle that PAN Project creates aural impressions of a musical garden with different sounds, textures, colorings, ornamentations and melodic phrases. While this isn’t music for karaoke parties and sing-alongs, its timeless quality and place stem from its poignant messages, folk tales, fables and dominant images for quiet introspection and relaxing meditation. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)