CD review: Ralph Alessi & Francesca Han – Exude 2022: Video, CD cover

Affirming a musical personality through composition and improvisation is the path chosen by the duo Francesca Han, piano & compositions, and Ralph Alessi, trumpet & compositions. This is not the first time that the Korean-born pianist and the American trumpeter have come together since they had the opportunity to meet in 2011 to record an album by Francesca.

Francesca Han was born in the Gangwon region of South Korea. She began learning the piano at a very young age and it was after university studies in classical music and composition that she decided to immerse herself in learning jazz. She has lived in New York, Seoul and Tokyo, but today she has settled in France. Attached to her origins, she has always aimed to merge traditional Korean music with jazz. Ralph Alessi is a must on the avant-garde jazz scene. He has recorded several albums, at least 25, between 1997 and today, including the album Imaginary Friends in 2019 recorded with saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, or Out of the silence in May 2022 with double bassist Stéphane Kerecki and pianist Marc Copland .

The album includes 11 tracks, including a traditional Korean one, 5 signed by the young pianist and 4 by the American, plus an interpretation of Pannonica by Thelenious Monk. The duo Francesca Han / Ralph Alessi offers you a peaceful instrumental exchange and a dizzying complementarity! Two exceptional musicians, entirely devoted to the music they serve with brilliance.