Description

Hailed by Downbeat Magazine "The Jazz Warrior-Goddess" with "a skill and ferocity unmatched by all but the most accomplished of pianists," 27-year-old piano wizard and composer Connie Han interprets the jazz piano pantheon with her own fiery, contemporary style.

Named a Steinway Artist in 2019, the pianist exhibits her charismatic playing style in its full emotional range on Secrets of Inanna, Han’s third release on Mack Avenue Records — a dynamic musical portrait of the beguiling and mysterious Inanna, ancient Sumerian proto-goddess of Love, Beauty, and War.

With an interpretation that belies her age, Han’s expertise shines in the piano trio idiom. Paved by Chick Corea/Roy Haynes and McCoy Tyner/Elvin Jones, the timeless drum-piano tradition is explored in Han’s interplay with longtime collaborator/drummer Bill Wysaske. The two like minds and their combined chemistry has proven exceptionally fruitful in Han’s career, as Wysaske’s myriad contributions include concept development, production, composition, and arrangement on all three albums released by Mack Avenue Records.

Han’s latest release Secrets of Inanna portrays the Sumerian mythos of the goddess’s solitary descent into the abyss of her soul: the underworld. As told in the Sumerian legend The Descent of Inanna, the heroine’s quest and prophetic evolution can only be completed with Inanna’s commitment to endure immeasurable suffering — a metamorphosis in which she kills her prior self and is ultimately reborn as the Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Han believes in the power of myth to lead a grounded existence as an artist and human being. The wisdom imparted by epics such as The Descent of Inanna is as meaningful to Han’s work as her influences. Throughout Connie’s own journey, music continues to prove itself as meditative sanctuary and a constant truth of life. It is part of her vision to embolden and inspire audiences of all ages with storytelling through the jazz piano idiom.

Gustav Mahler once said, “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.” With each upcoming performance and recording date, Connie Han continues to fulfill this axiom with tenacity and identity — standing on the shoulders of giants who have so deeply impacted her artistry.