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43 ‘mOnkeyS Can pLay nOTeS, BuT nOTeS aRe nOT THe muSIC. my gOaL IS nOT TO juST make muSIC, BuT TO COnneCT peOpLe. … I WanT TO COnneCT WITH THe audIenCe THROugH my muSIC.’ Ronn BRanton A fter first hearing about Korea through his Korean pen pal Helen Kim in the late ’90s, Ronn Branton grew more in- terested in the country he knew little about. After emails flew back and forth, the two started to feel a deeper con- nection. The pen pal later became his wife and they built a concert-planning company together. His musical talents and her gift for marketing were the perfect combination. “She has her own way of being creative,” Branton says. “We argue sometimes, but I can argue with someone who gets it. She has a skill set that no one else I’ve met over here has.” After moving to Seoul in 1998, he did a stint as a graphic designer, but left what he calls a thankless job to focus on building a name for himself and for jazz in general, as it was a little-known genre in Korea at the time. Sixteen years later, he has made a strong name for himself with a biannu- al gig, and he is working on his first major Korean musical, called “Tiger.” “‘Tiger’ is a Korean musical with a modern twist on traditional Korea,” says Branton, who is also the musical director. “It’s like searching for your identity. What’s it like to be Korean these days? What does it mean?” The musical tackles these themes using a mix of pop, rock and classical music to explore an ever-changing Korea. It’s currently in pre-production. Branton, an American pianist, started off small with a monthly event called “Jazz Is” in the early 2000s. The hour-long concert featured a trio of musicians who turned Korean children’s songs into jazz arrangements. “It’s a better way to con- nect with the audience, and it gave me a great chance to learn more about Korea,” explains Branton. The event series built up his following among locals, who heard music they were familiar with in a totally different way. “Monkeys can play notes, but notes are not the music. My goal is not to just make music, but to connect people,” he says. “I want to connect with the audience through my music.” For every musician and artist there is a different creative approach, and Branton is certainly not usual in that area. “I think in color,” he says. “For me harmonic color invokes mood and emotion. Usually I think in color first and then a melody comes from that.” This aproach doesn’t help him escape the artist’s dilemma of recording that precious thought, however. “I get ideas when I’m walking along and I’m away from the piano, which is a horrible thing because then you have to either have the recorder on the iPad or get a book and jot it down quickly — tempo, time, what you’re hearing — and hope to capture that when you get back to the studio.” For Branton, the most difficult part of the job is creating a routine and managing to stay awake long enough to jot down fleeting ideas. Late at night, while “half awake,” is the time when he starts to hear melodies and see the colors in his head. “When it’s dark, like a stage, there’s no noise around, I’m tired and I want to go to bed, but I can’t because I hear stuff, so I’ve got to keep working and then I’m tired the next day.” More info j “Ronn Branton’s 14th Jazz Christmas” is on Dec. 21 at 2 p.m. at the Seoul Arts Center and Dec. 24 at 8 p.m. at Jang Cheon Hall. Ticket prices range from 35,000 won to 55,000 won. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/groups/ happyjazzhouse or www.cafe.naver.com/ronnbranton.