Watch a video for Okkyung Lee's composition "5 Gories", recently performed at The Kitchen in New York. Lee was the subject of The Wire 363's Invisible Jukebox, tested by Kurt Gottschalk
Cellist and composer Okkyung Lee was born in South Korea and moved to the US to study in Boston, first at Berklee College Of Music, then at the New England Conservatory of Music. Trained in Western classical and brought up with Korean traditional and pop music, she became interested in jazz and improvisation while at college. After moving to New York City in 2000, she became involved in the city’s downtown scene, becoming a regular at the Tonic venue and going on to work with John Zorn, Lawrence D ‘Butch’ Morris, Laurie Anderson, John Butcher, Christian Marclay, Marina Rosenfeld and may others.
"5 Gories" (in Korean, "5개의 고리") is from Okkyung Lee's 2014 Gori & Bahndahl (고리와 반달) premiered at The Kitchen in New York, March 2014.
Lee is currently preparing for a week-long residency at John Zorn's New York venue, The Stone, in May, where she will play with Kim Gordon, Vijay Iyer, Ikue Mori, Bill Nace, Ches Smith, C Spencer Yeh and others.
Video and music by Okkyung Lee, shot and edited by Nina de Vroome.
