by PJ Louallen

1.-Tell me about yourself?  

Hi, I’m jazz pianist Jinjoo Yoo. I moved to New York from Korea in 2015 and I’m currently working here leading my own band as well as playing as a sideman with different musicians.

2.-What made you want to be a Jazz musician? 

I have never thought I’d be a jazz musician until I turned 25. At first I just started listening to jazz music because I was simply fascinated by the fact that it is an improvised music. It sounded like magic and I wanted to learn the secret. From that point going to listen to the jazz music became an absolutely exciting hobby for me. Then I started wanting to play something on the piano just for fun, then joined an amateur band to find friends to play with. I found that playing with people is so much fun and I think that how it all started. I wanted to play something beautiful like those musicians that I always listen to – Duke Jordan, Wynton Kelly, Bud Powell, Hank Jones, Barry Harris….

3 – What instrument do you play ? And what is your greatest strength? 

I play the piano. To be honest, I cannot really think of any greatest strength in my playing (haha). I tend to see my weakness first so I feel pretty embarrassed to talk about my strength.

People say I have a nice touch on the piano that makes light sound. I think maybe it’s simply coming from my small hands and light body weight – playing the piano is all about using the weight of the body and gravity. 

4.-Out of all the instruments to play what made you choose the instrument that you play right now? 

I was introduced to play some other instruments when I was young. I learned violin and flute. I liked flute but I hated violin. I could not stand the sound that I make. Flute was fun but it was not as fun as playing the piano. I was naturally attracted by the piano.  Maybe it’s also because I had more opportunities to perform with piano than flute. I used to accompany church and school choir.

5.- Tell me how long have you been playing this instrument? And when did you fall in love with jazz music?

When I was 7, my older brother started taking classical piano lessons and I used to sneak into the piano room to sit in his class. I also wanted to learn what he learns. I was able to take piano lessons when I turned 8 and I was so happy. My teacher noticed that I’m learning fast and she wanted me to attend many piano competitions. I started attending 4-6 competitions every year and at a certain point I found myself not really enjoying the piano.

So I stopped learning it when I turned 10. Although I stopped taking formal education since then, I kept playing the piano by myself just for fun – you know, to play some pop music and famous movie tracks. I started playing again when I entered the college because I wanted to join amateur jazz band. I got to know about jazz music only after I entered the college.

My friend got a free jazz concert ticket and we went to see it. They played tunes such as Summertime, Autumn Leaves, etc – and the musician told us that they are improvising! I could not believe it and I thought there must be a secret logic behind it. It all started out of curiosity. I liked the fact that every musician can sound so different although they are playing the same tune. I felt there is a more space for individuality and freedom in jazz music.

Jazz music sounded pretty democratic to me and I felt that playing this music is not heading or forcing toward somewhere to make a perfect sound but taking risks, expressing opinions, finding a balance, and responding to the moment spontaneously.

Read more about Jinjoo at https://jinjooyoo.wordpress.com/about/