With roots planted firmly in his Asian heritage, technique and sensitivity honed by his schooling and experience in New York, and with a singular voice propelled by an intense desire for a more complete artistic expression, Jack Lee has most successfully coalesced his diverse influences into a seamless statement on his fifth album as a leader, Into The Night.

With associate producers Billy Kilson and Ed Maguire and mixing engineer extraordinaire Gary Wright, Jack has assembled an empathic and virtuosic cast of musicians including Bob James, Alex Foster, Manolo Badrena, Toninho Horta, Rachel Z, David Dyson, Hilary James, Valtinho Anastacio, James Genus and Mark Ledford. The combination of jazz, Brazilian, Rhythm & Blues, pop, funk, and Asian influences leaves a deep emotionally satisfying impact upon the listener.

Born in Seoul on September 2, 1966, Jack absorbed the sounds of rock guitar heroes such as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Jeff Beck before discovering the jazzier sounds of Pat Metheny, Larry Coryell, and Miles Davis. At 17, he traveled to the United States to pursue his passion and later enrolled as a computer science major at Columbia University. A stint as a disc jockey at the well-known station WKCR-FM exposed him to an extraordinary breadth of jazz music. Being a student in New York allowed him to experience first hand the living legends of jazz in the city's renowned clubs, and also enabled him to study first-hand with such guitar luminaries as Larry Coryell, Emily Remler, Bill Connors, and John Scofield.

In 1991, Jack's first disc Poong-Un (Winds and Clouds), recorded with production partner Ed Maguire, was released by Warner Music, followed by tours of Korea and Hong Kong. In 1992, he released Magnolia Blossom (Warner Music) which evolved after an auspicious meeting with Brazilian guitarist and composer Toninho Horta. Following tours that year with his own band to Japan, Korea and Hong Kong, he visited Brazil with Toniho Horta, Europe with Chico Freeman's Brainstorm band, and Moscow as part of the Tri-Cultural Festival. 1993 release Gracefulee (Polydor K.K.) featured an expanded cast of stellar musicians, including saxophonist Alex Foster, drummer Gene Jackson, bassists David Dyson and James Genus, keyboardists Charles Blenzig and Rachel Z and percussionist Manolo Badrena. Jack was the featured soloist with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestraís Pops Concerts in the fall of í93. In 1994 Jack recorded Where My Heart Goes (Dae Hong Communication), which explored his Asian cultural heritage and grew from his fruitful collaboration with accomplished multi-instrumentalist Norihito Sumitomo, and featured such stellar musicians as keyboardist Gil Goldstein, bassist Mark Egan, and drummers Danny Gottlieb and Billy Kilson. In that time Jack toured Japan with saxophonist Takeshi Ito and produced Ito's Groove Island, T.K.Covers (East West Japan) and Toninho Horta's Foot On The Road (Polydor K.K.) Recently, Jack performed in Seoul with legendary pianist Bob James and his daughter Hilary, with whom he has teamed up for his latest effort.

Into the night

Wafting strains of Bob James' piano melt into the subtlely propulsive 6/4 rhythm as Jack makes his entrance on Into The Night's opening tune, Nevis, co-written with Ed Maguire. The romantic acoustic guitar expounds upon the tune's lilting melodies, expanding and deepening their emotional impact in this softly tropical piece. Vocalist Mark Ledford, best known for his work with Pat Metheny, contributes lyrics and a pure Rhythm & Blues sensiblity to Last Letter, a bittersweet and soulful original ballad that features the intricate vocal and guitar interplay between Mark and Jack. Jack turns up the funk on You Understand, which features crisp pocket grooves provided by bassist Dave Dyson and Billy Kilson and reworks some of the sophisticated harmonic material that marked Jack's emrgence as a leader.

The album's title tune, Far Into The Night, features vocalist Hilary James' lyrics on a Toninho Horta composition. Hilary's voice is clear and pure as Jack's fluid guitar work adds polish and charcter to this plaintive ballad. An unusual approach marks Soledad, which is excerpted from Argentinian tango master Astor Piazzola's piece of the same name, re-arranged with a contemporary funk-jazz feel and different instrumentation, but which retains the painfully emotive character of the original. The tranquillity of sunrise is evoked by Billy Kilson's tune Morning Calm, in which Jack's lyrical guitar work fluidly negotiates the liquid harmonies of this subdued piece. Pianist Rachel Z and Jack duet on Rachel's U Melt Me, a midtempo tune with a melancholy yet assertive feel that features the fleet-fingered articulations of both players.

Ed Maguire's Honey is a romantic ballad that features a seductive hook and the textural variations of Ed's distictively lush harmonies underlying Jack's passionate acoustic guitar work. Silent Song was written by Toninho Horta as a tribute to his departed friend, legendary Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, and features Bob James' symphonic orchestration which gently envelops Hilary James's crystalline voice. Hilary also wrote the lyrics to this tune, which showcases Toninho's extraordinary harmonic mastery. A trio between Jack and Bob and Hilary James concludes the album. Half Moon is a tradition Korean children's melody which has been harmonically re-arranged and to which Hilary wrote lyrics. The child-like simplicity of the melody belies the emotional and musical richness that marks Jack's most popularly accessible record.