Welcome to KoanJazz.com

The group performing at the 2007 Vancouver International Jazz Festival

Koan: an exciting new world music group brings together jazz and traditional Chinese instrumental music infused with middle eastern and South American influences.

Koan includes six of the best Canadian artists from their respective musical traditions, all veteran performers with many years of professional experience. Three Chinese instruments, erhu, suona and dizi, share the front of the stage with trombone. The rhythm section includes guitar, acoustic bass and a large collection of world percussion instruments. The group began with the faculty of the Vancouver multi-cultural music program known as the Renfrew Community Performance Project. Drawing on several years of experience working together, the project has become greater than the sum-of-its-parts, successfully transcending the cultural boundaries without sounding contrived or derivative.

Koan performs original material composed by members of the group and includes improvised solos and group improvisations. The unusual instrumentation produces a unique sound and the chemistry between this group of highly skilled artists and their individual artistic backgrounds creates beautiful music not to be heard anywhere else, from ethereal ballads to complex written melodies and arrangements to boisterous ethno-jazz fusion jamming.