Eyvind Kang

Violist and violinist Eyvind Kang hails from Seattle, where he pursued studies at Cornish College for the Arts while also receiving violin instruction from Michael White. In 1994 the Jack Straw Foundation awarded him an Artist Support Program grant, which funded the initial seven installments of his NADEs series; Tzadik issued the resulting 7 NADEs in 1996, and Theater of Mineral Nades followed in 1998. Kang blends classical forms with jazz conventions while incorporating elements from an array of traditional and popular idioms; in addition to writing and performing his own pieces—sometimes on tuba—he has appeared alongside John Zorn, the Sun City Girls, and Wayne Horvitz’s 4 + 1 Ensemble. A 1999 trio date with clarinetist Francois Houle and drummer Dylan van der Schyff, Pieces of Time, appeared on the Canadian imprint Spool.

After the turn of the century Kang’s output expanded rapidly. He contributed as a session player and arranger to projects by Beck, Laura Viers, Animal Collective, Sunn 0))), Alvarius B, Six Organs of Admittance, and numerous others. He belongs to Bill Frisell’s 858 Quartet and has collaborated with the guitarist on many additional endeavors. During this period he issued his own recordings at an accelerated rate across multiple labels; among the key solo albums are The Story of Iceland (Tzadik, 2000), Virginal Coordinates (Ipecac, 2004), Orchestra Dim Bridges with Tucker Martine (Conduit, 2004), Socket: Jan. 14-15 (Amulet, 2005), Aestuarium (Endless Records, 2005), The Yelm Sessions (Tzadik, 2007), and Athlantis (Ipecac, 2007). He also supplied the score for a theatrical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby, featuring a libretto by Amy Engelhardt of the Bobs, which premiered in May 2006.

Recorded in Barcelona with more than thirty musicians, The Narrow Garden came out on Ipecac in early 2012. In 2016 Kang joined Asheville-via-Bhutan guitarist Tashi Dorji for Mother of All Saints and experimental vocalist and composer Jessika Kenney for Reverse Tree. Plainlight, issued in 2018, served as the long-awaited follow-up to his 2002 Abduction debut, Live Low to the Earth, in the Iron Age.