Ensemble Mik Nawooj's Chamber Hip-Hop Opera at Yoshi's SF July 25, 2010

Hard on the heels of sold-out performances of the chamber hip-hop opera Great Integration at ODC Commons in San Francisco with Push Dance Company, composer/pianist JooWan Kim and his Ensemble Mik Nawooj make their Yoshi's San Francisco debut. Dynamically forging a new musical style that collides genres from hip-hop and jazz to pop and classical, JooWan Kim and Ensemble Mik Nawooj will perform music from Kim's epic narrative, "Great Integration: A Chamber Hip-Hop Opera." Performers include Kim, vocalist Christopher Nicholas and and MC Kirby Dominant in the groundbreaking, genre-blurring style that has brought Kim and Ensemble Mik Nawooj to the attention of legends like Ahmad Jamal. The concert is presented by Golden Fetus Records.

"Great Integration" is steeped in an electrifyingly contemporary alloy of Taoist tradition, hip-hop music and poetry; forward-looking philosophy and arresting performance presentation. In this penultimate installment of the ongoing Mik Nawooj saga, Black Swordsman of dominance is chosen as the one to trigger the Great Integration of the world before the arrival of Celestial King. When all the five lords of material realm are conquered, the old world we know will merge into one and the Great Celestial King will descend from ninth heaven to wipe out all the impurities of the world, thus creating a new world with brand new paradigm.

Kim's music incorporates elements from hip-hop and classical, creating a unique hybrid that is in the spirit of Gershwin and Piazzolla, both of whom pushed and blurred the boundaries of vernacular and art music. Backed by his own Ensemble Mik Nawooj, featuring MC Kirby Dominant, JooWan Kim succeeds in accomplishing what most musicians want to but are unable to; creating a new kind of music that combines genres that are seemingly incompatible with each other.

Official Website: http://www.goldenfetus.com