Linda May Han Oh
Acoustic Bass
41 age
August 25, 1984 Birthday
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Birthplace
lindamayhanoh.com Website
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About
Linda May Han Oh is an acoustic bassist and composer whose work spans hard bop, chamber jazz, and cross-cultural composition. Born in Malaysia and raised in Perth, Australia, she moved to New York in 2008 and quickly established herself as one of the most sought-after bassists in contemporary jazz. She is a longtime member of Pat Metheny's quartet and performs with the Vijay Iyer Trio alongside drummer Tyshawn Sorey. A Grammy Award winner for her contribution to Terri Lyne Carrington's New Standards Vol. 1, she has been named Bassist of the Year multiple times by the Jazz Journalists Association. As a leader, her albums include Aventurine, Walk Against Wind, The Glass Hours, and Strange Heavens. She currently serves as Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music and as Ensemble Director for the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
Trivia
Oh served as both the bassist and the physical model for the character Miho, the bassist in the fictional jazz quartet in Pixar's 2020 animated film Soul. Her album Walk Against Wind was inspired by French mime artist Marcel Marceau and explored themes of nonverbal communication. She has a form of musical synesthesia developed through early Yamaha method training, associating pitches with specific colors and emotional qualities, which influences both her improvisation and composition.
Early Life
Born on August 25, 1984, in Malaysia to parents of Chinese descent, Linda May Han Oh moved to Perth, Western Australia, at age three. She began music through the Yamaha method as a child, studying classical piano before taking up clarinet at eleven and bassoon at thirteen. At fifteen, her uncle gave her an electric bass guitar, and she spent her high school years playing in rock bands covering Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. She discovered jazz through her older sister's record collection, which included Miles Davis and John Zorn. In 2002, she enrolled at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts to study upright bass and jazz, graduating with first-class honors. She then moved to New York to pursue a master's degree at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Jay Anderson, Dave Liebman, and Phil Markowitz.
Linda May Han Oh Solos
2024
Acoustic Bass solo - Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most - 2024
4/4 ballad in C major at 57 BPM
Acoustic Bass solo - Four - 2024
4/4 funk in E♭ major at 174 BPM