Okkyung Lee

Today we’re listening to Okkyung Lee, a Korean cellist and composer based in Berlin. She grew up in Daejeon and moved to the U.S. in 1993 to study at Berklee College of Music.¹ There she was exposed to jazz music and increasingly began improvising on her cello, she told Stephan Kunze in Zen Sounds, eventually finding her way into New York’s downtown music scene. Across her nearly dozen solo records she moves fluidly across genres. Her most recent album, Just Like Any Other Day (어느날): Background Music for Your Mundane Activities, channels ‘80s Japanese environmental music. She set her cello aside in favor of “keyboard, computer and, cassette recorder.”² We’re also playing her 2020 LP, Yeo-Neun, on which her cello is accompanied by bass, harp, and piano.

Just Like Any Other Day (어느날): Background Music for Your Mundane Activities - Okkyung Lee (38m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

Yeo-Neun - Okkyung Lee (40m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Bandcamp / Tidal

We wish you a great start to your week.

1. Bandcamp Daily

2. A Closer Listen