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| Pansori singer Kim Yul-hee, center, and Korean reggae band NST & the Soul Sauce. / Courtesy of Eastern Standard Sound |
By Jon Dunbar
Pansori, a Korean musical tradition performed with highly stylized vocals and arrhythmic drumming, may be stylistically as far from reggae music, a genre originating in Jamaica in the late 1960s. But somehow, a group of Korean musicians has found a way to put the two together.
"Last Sept. 18, South Korean President Moon visited North Korea and remarked that we have lived together for 5,000 years and lived 60 years apart," said Noh Seon-teck, bassist and leader of Korean reggae band NST & the Soul Sauce. "I realized through reggae that imperialism, which began with the slave trade, was not ended and I was a citizen of a colonial nation of the 21st century. Just as reggae is the music of descendants of black slaves, pansori and folk songs are also popular music composed of the common people of 18th century Korea."
NST & the Soul Sauce has released its latest full-length album, "Version," a collaboration with pansori singer Kim Yul-hee, bringing together the musical traditions of Korea and Jamaica.
Their collaborative relationship is nothing new, as they have been working together since 2017, when they participated in a project connected to the Muju Film Festival that year.
"Traditional Korean music is a combination of the dynamics of jangdan (rhythm), dynamic, and compositional melody resembling the unique mountain ridges of Korea, which is a combination of harmony and balance," explained the band's drummer Kang Tek-hyun, the guy who really has to merge the two genres at the rhythm level.
"In addition, it is characterized by a healthy direction from the bottom up, starting from the people and directly affecting the ruling class rather than being presented unilaterally from the top down. Because it is such a beautiful and strong Korean tradition, the physical and mental demands necessary for performing it are not always easy for us, but the process of feeling and learning is a great joy."
They've since toured the world together and released a first full-length album, "Back When Tigers Smoked," which featured Kim on the track "Red Tiger." But they held back on releasing any pansori-reggae recordings until this latest album.
"The sound of Kim Yul-hee is deep and powerful," Noh said.
The album features eight songs, three of which are dub remixes. It includes "Bbaengdeok" from the pansori play "Shimcheongga" and "Joong Taryeong" (Monk Song), which uses verses from "Shimcheongga" and "Heungboga," both of which have been part of the band's repertoire for years. Also included are "Bak Taryeong" (Gourd Song) from "Heungboga," the folk song "Heung Taryeong" and an original song, "Jeongdulgosimne," which translates to "I'd Love to Hear it."
"With this album, we are looking forward to finding songs that are more suitable for us," Kang said. "What has become more certain through this album is that we are confident of the natural steps that move tradition forward to a unique future and direction."
Noh added: "On the surface, it seems like genre and genre have met, but it seems that the message and message, vibration and vibration have met."
Japanese sound man Naoyuki Uchida worked with them on the album, after a successful collaboration on their previous release. Noh and Kang referred to him as their "musical cousin" and said they consider him a member of the band.
The newer songs widen the band's range, introducing new rhythms and grooves as the musicians try to fit together two very different music genres, while also exploring and innovating Korea's music traditions combined with modern music.
"For Koreans, traditional music is still very familiar and can be found easily all over the place, but it is fixed as something old that will not be new at all," Kang said.
He expressed interest in exploring other traditional Korean music genres through the soundscape of reggae and dub, including minyo, samulnori and especially shamanistic music.
"Traditional music should be treated as a living thing, not a historic artifact," Noh said. "As Bob Marley said, 'My first song was crying;' pansori and minyo in Korea are also shouting for the freedom and truth of the people, criticizing corrupt men and the ruling class with humor and satire."
For both musicians, the collaboration has become a chance to explore their own roots and build new meaning. "This journey has now become a look forward, not a step back," Kang said.
The band will celebrate the release of the new album with a two-hour showcase performance this Saturday starting at 7 p.m. at Hyundai Card Understage in Itaewon. Visit fb.com/nstandthesoulsauce for more information.
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