Provocateur and Unifier: Linda May Han Oh Brings Jazz to Oberlin

Jazz, with its focus on improvisation and unique rhythms, is arguably human expression at its freest. It is an art form that rewards boldness, and few artists epitomize boldness more than composer and bassist Linda May Han Oh. Performing The Glass Hours on March 19 in Finney Chapel, Oh and her quintet will bring a stirring energy to Oberlin’s Artist Recital Series, uniting audiences through profound, innovative compositions.

Born in Malaysia and raised in Australia, Oh’s musical career began as a teen playing bass in Red Hot Chili Peppers cover bands. Her love of rock would evolve into a pursuit of jazz, where she enhanced her skills and visibility by performing with masters like Pat Metheny, Joe Lovano, and Dave Douglas. 

From these early collaborations, Oh learned to pay homage to the genre’s roots in her practice. “Jazz has a history that’s born out of struggle,” she says, “I think there’s a necessity, out of respect for that history, to really pay attention to the people who made it what it is.”

After learning from other musicians, Oh became a bandleader and composer herself, receiving acclaim across the jazz world. She shared the 2023 Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album with multiple artists for the collaborative work New Standards Vol. 1 and has earned multiple honors as Bassist of the Year from the Jazz Journalists Association. Her career has even extended to film, where she has scored documentaries and contributed to the Oscar-winning soundtrack for Pixar’s Soul (she even makes an animated cameo in the film). 

For her Oberlin concert, Oh and her quintet will primarily draw from their 2023 album, The Glass Hours, a meditative work exploring life, time, and the relationship they share. 

Audiences can also look forward to Invisible Threads, an ambitious recent commission that weaves together multiple narratives. “It explores how humanity is bound in extricable ways beyond what we feel and know—that there is more that unites us than separates us,” Oh says of the work.

Oh will also sample Strange Heavens, a new album released last year. “It’s based on the idea that humans prefer a familiar hell rather than search for an unfamiliar heaven,” she says

As these synopses show, Oh is unafraid to tackle profound, sometimes challenging themes in her work. “A lot of this music is from personal experience, but also just my desire to express myself … to use this improvised music genre to give out personal messages and emotions that I can’t put into words.” 

For example, the track “Jus Ad Bellum” covers war and draws on the artist’s time studying human rights law. “It is essentially my prayer for peace,” Oh says. The concert will also explore uplifting, hopeful subjects, with “Hatchling” serving as a celebration of life and a letter to Oh’s young son. 

Oh’s intentional use of jazz to explore deep, personal themes traces back to one of her biggest musical inspirations: renowned bassist Charles Mingus. “I’ve always admired his fearlessness and want to embody a bit of that when I play. He’s not afraid to be provocative with his musical voice,” she says. 

Alongside thematic boldness, Oh’s concert will be packed with musical innovation. This includes genre influences ranging from funk to progressive rock, as well as electronic effects programmed by quintet pianist Fabian Almazan. 

The performance will also integrate many improvisations, which Oh credits to the talent of her fellow musicians. “There are ways that we navigate this music each night that are so vastly different. [The musicians] are quick to latch on to different ideas if we decide to take a left turn.”

Joining Oh will be Almazan on piano, Greg Ward on saxophone, Sara Serpa on voice, and Mark Whitfield Jr. on drums.

Ultimately, Oh is excited to bring her quintet’s free-spirited approach to Oberlin, where, in addition to her concert, she will teach a public workshop on March 19 in the Birenbaum Performance Space. “I have so much respect and admiration for Oberlin and what it stands for in terms of art and freedom of expression.”

She finds that concerts like hers have the power to unite audiences and recalls an experience performing in Chile in 2023 with Pat Metheny. It was Metheny’s first time in the country following the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. Near the end of the performance, the audience broke into cheers and sang along to one of the pieces. 

“There are moments when you connect with people who really appreciate music and have seen tough times, and it makes it worthwhile,” she observes. Indeed, amid trying times, Oh’s humanist and provocative approach to jazz will be sure to unite audiences in Finney Chapel. 

Concert Details

Linda May Han Oh, The Glass Hours
7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19, 2025
Oberlin College Finney Chapel
90 N. Professor St.
Oberlin, OH 44074

Concert tickets are available online and by phone at 800-371-0178. Patrons may also purchase tickets in person between noon and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at Oberlin College’s Central Ticket Service, located at 67 N. Main Street in the lobby of the Eric Baker Nord Performing Arts Complex.

Free Artist Recital Series tickets for enrolled Oberlin College and Conservatory students are available through the Claim Your Seat program, made possible through the generosity of Richard ’62 and Linda ’62 Clark.   

Learn more about the Arts at Oberlin.

This program is proudly supported by Ideastream Public Media, official media partner of the Artist Recital Series.

Zach Terrillion ’24 graduated from Oberlin with a major in English, a minor in creative writing, and concentrations in journalism and public humanities. After a year-long term as the marketing and development fellow at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in California, they recently returned to Ohio to support the Conservatory of Music’s artistic programming, including promotion for the Artist Recital Series.