Biography
Violinist and violist Jason Kao Hwang brings distinctive interpretive depth to improvised music that merges jazz, classical traditions, and global influences.
New York City welcomed his birth in 1957 within a Chinese-American household, where early exposure to avant-garde sounds, jazz improvisation, and longstanding Asian musical forms shaped his artistic direction. During the 1970s he participated actively in the city’s loft-scene gatherings that nurtured experimental players and forward-thinking composers, while also contributing to the literary wing of the Basement Workshop, the landmark Asian-American cultural hub located in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Fellow artists who emerged from that same environment include Gerald Oshita, Fred Houn, and Miya Masaoka. Contemporaries such as Henry Threadgill, Borah Bergman, Butch Morris, Reggie Workman, and Ken McIntyre supplied additional formative sparks during those years.
Although his recording career stretches back to the 1970s through associations with William Parker, Billy Bang, and numerous others, Hwang stepped forward as a bandleader with the 1990 solo release Unfolding Stone. Around the same time he assembled the Far East Side Band, whose roster featured Sang-Won Park, Joe Dailey, Satoshi Takeishi, and Yukio Tsuji; the ensemble wove together unconventional timbres from the taiko, kayagum, tuba, and Hwang’s violin. Two albums appeared under the group’s name—Caver ns on Victor in 1994 and Urban Archaeology on New World in 1996—followed by international engagements that reached Beijing. He simultaneously directed a trio whose documentation surfaced on the Sound Aspects and Flying Panda imprints. As a sideman he has supported figures including Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Vladimir Tarasov, Tatsu Aoki, and Pheeroan akLaff.
Beyond his own projects, Hwang supplied performances and co-arrangements for the original Tony Award-winning production of M Butterfly. Commissions from the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company led to the piece “Flight of Whispers,” which received funding and appeared on a CRI Records anthology of Chinese-American composers under the Music for Homemade Instruments series; he further composed the chamber opera The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown in 2001. In educational settings he established adult courses in Asian-American music at New York University and delivered lectures at Westminster and Brooklyn Colleges. Between 2002 and 2005 he guided high-school participants at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas through studies of music, oral histories, and poetry, while Young Audiences/New York programs allowed him to lead elementary-level workshops in composition and improvisation for both students and instructors.
From the mid-2000s forward Hwang has headed the cooperative unit EDGE, completed by drummer Andrew Drury, trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum, and bassist Ken Filiano. The collective has issued recordings on Asian Improv and Innova, among them the 2006 album EDGE and Crossroads Unseen in 2011. In 2013 he joined guitarist and bouzouki player Ayman Fanous for the duo project Zilzal. EDGE later united with Deanna Relyea and Thomas Buckner on the 2016 poetry-centered release Voice. The next year Hwang convened pianist Chris Forbes and trombonist Steve Swell alongside Drury and Filiano for Sing House. Blood arrived in 2018, spotlighting his Burning Bridge ensemble. In 2019 he partnered with Karl Berger on Conjure and contributed to pianist David Haney’s orchestral recording Birth of a City.
New York City welcomed his birth in 1957 within a Chinese-American household, where early exposure to avant-garde sounds, jazz improvisation, and longstanding Asian musical forms shaped his artistic direction. During the 1970s he participated actively in the city’s loft-scene gatherings that nurtured experimental players and forward-thinking composers, while also contributing to the literary wing of the Basement Workshop, the landmark Asian-American cultural hub located in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Fellow artists who emerged from that same environment include Gerald Oshita, Fred Houn, and Miya Masaoka. Contemporaries such as Henry Threadgill, Borah Bergman, Butch Morris, Reggie Workman, and Ken McIntyre supplied additional formative sparks during those years.
Although his recording career stretches back to the 1970s through associations with William Parker, Billy Bang, and numerous others, Hwang stepped forward as a bandleader with the 1990 solo release Unfolding Stone. Around the same time he assembled the Far East Side Band, whose roster featured Sang-Won Park, Joe Dailey, Satoshi Takeishi, and Yukio Tsuji; the ensemble wove together unconventional timbres from the taiko, kayagum, tuba, and Hwang’s violin. Two albums appeared under the group’s name—Caver ns on Victor in 1994 and Urban Archaeology on New World in 1996—followed by international engagements that reached Beijing. He simultaneously directed a trio whose documentation surfaced on the Sound Aspects and Flying Panda imprints. As a sideman he has supported figures including Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Vladimir Tarasov, Tatsu Aoki, and Pheeroan akLaff.
Beyond his own projects, Hwang supplied performances and co-arrangements for the original Tony Award-winning production of M Butterfly. Commissions from the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company led to the piece “Flight of Whispers,” which received funding and appeared on a CRI Records anthology of Chinese-American composers under the Music for Homemade Instruments series; he further composed the chamber opera The Floating Box: A Story in Chinatown in 2001. In educational settings he established adult courses in Asian-American music at New York University and delivered lectures at Westminster and Brooklyn Colleges. Between 2002 and 2005 he guided high-school participants at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas through studies of music, oral histories, and poetry, while Young Audiences/New York programs allowed him to lead elementary-level workshops in composition and improvisation for both students and instructors.
From the mid-2000s forward Hwang has headed the cooperative unit EDGE, completed by drummer Andrew Drury, trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum, and bassist Ken Filiano. The collective has issued recordings on Asian Improv and Innova, among them the 2006 album EDGE and Crossroads Unseen in 2011. In 2013 he joined guitarist and bouzouki player Ayman Fanous for the duo project Zilzal. EDGE later united with Deanna Relyea and Thomas Buckner on the 2016 poetry-centered release Voice. The next year Hwang convened pianist Chris Forbes and trombonist Steve Swell alongside Drury and Filiano for Sing House. Blood arrived in 2018, spotlighting his Burning Bridge ensemble. In 2019 he partnered with Karl Berger on Conjure and contributed to pianist David Haney’s orchestral recording Birth of a City.
Albums
