Photo: Linda May Han Oh @ 2017 Winter Jazz Fest | © Joyce Jones/Suga Bowl Photography. Some Rights Reserved. Creative Commons CC-NC-BY-ND. Used with permission.
The next show will air on Sunday, April 16, 2017 from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM Monday Eastern Standard Time on WBAI, 99.5 FM in the NYC metro area or streaming online at wbai.org. “Suga’ In My Bowl” continues to honor women who solo by recognizing bassist, composer, bandleader and educator Linda May Han Oh as part of Jazz Appreciation Month.
Born in Malaysia, raised in, Perth, Western Australia, Linda May Han Oh began playing piano, bassoon and at fifteen dabbled on electric bass playing jazz in high school bands while playing a lot of Red Hot Chili Peppers. Oh studied at the W.A Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) where she graduated with first-class honors.
She was a James Morrison Scholarship Finalist in 2003 and in 2004 was an IAJE Sister in Jazz and received the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s award in 2008. She also received an honorary mention at the 2009 Thelonious Monk Bass Competition and received the 2010 Bell Award for Young Australian Artist of the Year. In 2010 she was nominated for the Jazz Journalist’s Awards for Up and Coming Artist of the Year, and received the award of No. 1 Acoustic Bass Rising Star in the Downbeat Critic’s Poll. This same year she received 2nd place at the BASS2010 Competition in Berlin.
Oh completed her Masters at the Manhattan School of Music in 2008 studying with Jay Anderson, John Riley, Phil Markowitz, Dave Liebman and Rodney Jones. She now teaches the precollege division there and is involved in jazz videoconference master-classes for high-schools around the US. As an active teacher she was also involved in creating a series of lessons for the up and coming BassGuru app for iPad and iPhone.
Oh has performed with the musicians such as Joe Lovano, Steve Wilson, Vijay Iyer, Dave Douglas, Kenny Barron, Geri Allen, Fabian Almazan, and Terri Lyne Carrington. She is currently the bassist with guitarist, Pat Metheny.
Oh is an active double bassist, electric bassist and composer, composing music for various ensembles and short films, also participating in the BMI Film Composers Workshop and Sundance Labs at Skywalker Ranch. Oh composed for Sabrina McCormick’s short film A Good Egg which was featured in the New York Shorts Festival.
In 2009 her self-released debut trio album Entry with Obed Calvaire and Ambrose Akinmusire received some critical attention. It was listed in Artforum magazine as one of Vijay Iyer’s top ten of 2009.
Her second album Initial Here released on Greenleaf Records in 2012 features a quartet with Dayna Stephens on tenor sax, Fabian Almazan on piano and Rudy Royston on drums with special guest Jen Shyu on vocals. This album was mentioned several times for album of the year in various jazz polls.
Sun Pictures is her third release – a quartet album recorded live at WKCR studios featuring Ben Wendel on tenor saxophone, James Muller on guitar and Ted Poor on drums.
Linda’s latest release Walk Against Wind is scheduled to release Friday, April 14.
(Bio adapted from Oh’s website)
To recognize National Poetry Month, Suga’ will open the program with a recitation of “You Made Me Funny” from the late renaissance woman Abbey Lincoln.
This program is hosted, engineered, produced, and edited by Joyce Jones. Listen for our On the Bandstand segment with NYC metro area appearances of Suga’ guests at the end of the first hour with Associate Producer Hank Williams.
Web Extras:
Read a 2016 Village Voice profile on Oh and the difficulties New York-based musicians face now.
Listen to a stream of the full album of Oh’s Walk Against Wind for a limited time at Listen.Hear. on the Suga’ blog.
Watch Oh and her band perform “Deeper Than Happy” in a live performance for WNYC Radio.
Watch this amazing 2012 solo by Oh, playing with saxophonist Joe Lovano’s quintet .
Watch the preview video for Oh’s Initial Here release.
Hank Williams is assistant producer for Suga’ in My Bowl and produces the weekly “On the Bandstand” segment as well as running the show’s website and blog, where he has reviewed several jazz festivals. His writing has also appeared in Left Turn magazine and American Music Review. He teaches at Lehman and Hunter colleges in the City University of New York system.
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