Square One The Empress

• 1 Instant Composure 06:10
• 2 But Not For Me 08:27
• 3 Caravan 07:42
• 4 Everything Happens To Me 05:12
• 5 Bolivia 06:42
• 6 Stablemates 05:29
• 7 Mr. Syms 07:11
• 8 Nica's Dream 05:34
• 9 Milestones 06:56
• 10 Reminiscing 04:06
• 11 Yearnin' 06:59
• Total Runtime 01:10:28

Info for Square One

Award-winning jazz artist Pureum Jin brings together a group of up and rising female saxophonists and NYC’;s most sought-after rhythm trio for a full steam of straight-ahead jazz filled with sparkling saxophone ensemble through her new group The Empress. With Pureum herself as the leader, the group features Grammy winning artist Lauren Sevian, rising star Erena Terakubo, and versatile saxophonist Chelsea Baratz, as the saxophone quartet is supported by Steve Ash (piano), Joey Ranieri (bass), and Pete Van Nostrand (drums). The Empress presents jazz classic standards and original tunes written and arranged by legendary Germany-based baritone saxophonist Michael Lutzeier and arrangement / rearrangements by Pureum Jin. The group’s debut album, Square One, showcases the driving force and the movement of women in jazz as well as Asian musicians in jazz scene that has developed tremendously in the recent years, and promises to captivate listeners with its rich harmonies and innovative sound throughout the album.

A collection of standards, lovingly and skillfully performed by a close-knit group of top tier musicians in a reverent, traditional style — you can find it on any given evening in jazz's still-capital, New York City, if you hit the right clubs. What you usually won't find on those tiny basement stages, though, are women instrumentalists like Pureum Jin, founder of the new all-female saxophone quartet The Empress.

“Sometimes it can be challenging to keep my career moving forward, especially with the late-night jam sessions," says Jin, a mother of two young children. "I think jazz is still a world where being a parent can make things a bit harder to manage." So instead, Jin created her own stage upon which to pay homage to jazz icons like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane through those same familiar standards — one that was more welcoming to women artists like herself, but featured the same high level of artistry and expertise as those late night jam sessions. Square One is the result of those efforts, and the first release from Jin's Empress ensemble: two-time Grammy Award-winning baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian, who also serves as a production advisor on the album, internationally acclaimed upstart Erena Terakubo and Chelsea Baratz, a genre-bending fixture of the New York scene. Fittingly, the album is being fully released on March 21, 2025 to celebrate both Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day.

As much as Jin envisions the project as a new starting place (hence the title) — proof of her and her collaborators' mastery of jazz's building blocks and thus an appropriate argument for their place within the music's DNA — it is much more than boxes being checked. Bright, crisp, fluid playing abounds, with a verve and enthusiasm that feels as wonderfully vintage as many of the tunes being played. Two originals, "Instant Composure" and "Reminiscing," are both composed by German saxophonist Michael Lutzeier, who is also responsible for all but one of the release's timeless arrangements. Jin herself took on "Everything Happens To Me," creating a lush, romantic musical world around her and her collaborator's solos.

Jin has been planning the project for over a decade. Initially, she fell in love with Lutzeier's arrangements as the only female member of his ‘Supersax Korea’ project in the early 2010s — long before she'd moved stateside to pursue music in New York. The idea of reprising those arrangements stuck with her for years, and to make that same music as an all-women ensemble struck her as an ideal full-circle concept. "There weren't many saxophone players in Korea at that time, and especially not women saxophone players," she remembers. "I thought it would be really cool to highlight women in traditional jazz." After moving to New York in 2015, Jin started to meet the women who are now on this record — and the men who make up its rock solid rhythm section, Steve Ash (piano), Joey Ranieri (bass), and Pete Van Nostrand (drums). It is gender diversity, not any kind of exclusivity, that Jin is after. Once she had the arrangements from Lutzeier, all that was left was to book time at the renowned Van Gelder Recording Studio — which Jin had interviewed Don and Maureen Sickler about for Jazz People, a Korean jazz magazine years before. At that time, she had played a little within those famous walls and thought, "I really want to make my record here someday."

She did just that, bringing lively, swinging improvisation and a still-underrepresented perspective into the hallowed studio. Maureen Sickler engineered the project, and Jin was the executive producer — another anomalous all-woman component of the record. The tempi are blistering, the tunes classic, and the solos bold and nimble all to channel the fervor of those after hours jazz clubs. Though the tunes are carefully arranged, they are dynamic rather than stiff — old-school without being sleepy. Tunes like "Stablemates" and "Milestones" hearken back to a time when jazz's machismo was even more unrelenting than it is now, so to hear them reclaimed by a band led by a quartet of women is all the more invigorating. "It's definitly getting better and I’m seeing more jazz musicians with children making a success in the scene, but there is still more work to be done and I want to be a part of it," Jin says. "I just want to show that we can also play this very hardcore music and that, simply, is my message." — Natalie Weiner

The Empress

Recorded at Van Gelder Recording Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on April 11 & 12, 2024
Engineered by Maureen Sickler
Mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington
Produced by Pureum Jin

Pureum Jin is a South Korea-born, NYC-based award-winning saxophonist, arranger, and composer, establishing herself as one of the leading figures in the jazz world with her recently released album ‘The Real Blue’ through Cellar Live in June 2019. The title of the album ‘The Real Blue’ is a direct translation of her Korean name in English, as the tunes reflect the journey of her life and career after coming to the US – struggling as a woman, immigrant, and a mother, but moving forward with the love and support of her family and friends. Pianist and executive producer Jeremy Manasia has put together an all-star lineup, including the great Willie Jones III on drums, and rising stars Luke Sellick on bass, and Sabeth Perez on vocals. Since its release, the album has been receiving rave reviews from prestige jazz magazines, such as a 4-star review from Downbeat on its September issue, being featured as one of the albums on Jazz at Lincoln Center blog’s June New Release Round-up, making a cover of Jazz People Magazine in Korea, etc.

Starting her career in early 2000s in Korea and relocating to the US in 2015 to attend master’s program at MSM, Pureum has been building her brand as a notable jazz icon in both Korea and international jazz scene; a driving force and a leader in the continuing movement of women in jazz. She had been staging in major international jazz festivals as both a leader and sideman including Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival (Scotland, 2012), Takatsuki Jazz Street (Japan, 2010), Seoul Jazz Festival (Korea, 2013), Jarasum International Jazz Festival (Korea, 2009-2014), Jazz Korea Festival (Germany 2012 and 2013), DC Jazz Fest (US, 2018), and GREC Music Festival (Spain, 2018) just to name a few. She was chosen as one of the five rising stars by prestige Korean jazz magazine Jazz People in 2012 and made one of the top five finalists in Jarasum International Jazz Concours (Korea) in the same year. She was also selected as one of the two next generation Korean jazz icons to perform at EBS Space Gonggam on TV in 2015, celebrating their 10-year anniversary of the program. She is also often staged in major NYC jazz venues including Birdland, Smalls, Jazz at Kitano, Dizzy’s Club, and others with the hottest artists in the area.

Soon after graduation from MSM in 2017, she moved to Charlottesville, VA for a year to be with her family, where she actively performed as a member of the great John D’earth’s Sextet and being featured as artist in residency at UVa Jazz ensemble in November 2017. After moving back to NYC in summer of 2018 and with her latest album released in June 2019, she has been quickly establishing herself as a notable jazz figure in the US, and particularly at the epicenter of jazz – New York City. She occasionally visits Charlottesville, her second hometown, to visit her friends and to perform with John D’earth, including her another artist in residency with UVa jazz ensemble - Sister Saxophones, where she was featured with Grammy winning baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian.

Pureum’s quickly establishing as a key figure in NYC jazz scene, as she quickly makes debuts on most notable jazz clubs in the city and getting rave reviews from prestige jazz magazines around the world, including Downbeat, New York City Jazz Magazine, Jazz People, MM Jazz, etc. She was selected as one of the finalists for the Made in New York jazz competition 2018, making on stage as one of the few selected finalists at The Tribeca Performing Arts Center with legends including Al Foster and John Lee for the competition’s awards ceremony. Pureum also has recently won ‘Best Alto Saxophone’, ‘Best Female Rising Star’, and ‘Jazz Artist of the Year’ categories of New York Readers Jazz Awards 2019 hosted by Hot House Jazz Magazine and JazzMobile. She was also selected as one of the nominees in Korean Music Awards 2020’s “The best Jazz/Crossover - The Best Performance” category. View fullsize

She has a live album released by Nagel-Heyer in 2013 ‘Live in Europe’ and another album ‘The Real Blue Live in Barcelona’ released in January 2020 worldwide with a Spanish maestro Ignasi Terraza and his trio by SWIT Music. She holds a Master of Music in jazz performance from Manhattan School of Music (2017, US), and a Bachelor of Music in Postmodern music from Kyung Hee University (2008, South Korea).