Linda Oh

An interview with Linda Oh on experiences and identity

JK: Linda, Malaysia is not known for jazz, what were you early influences that took you to the bass?

LO: My family and I left Malaysia for Perth when I was three years old – my parents are ethnically Chinese, though born and raised in Malaysia, my father studying in Australia and Britain.

My parents didn’t listen to a lot of music growing up, though they had some recordings of Malay music.

I grew up primarily playing classical piano, moving through clarinet to bassoon and took that quite seriously. My earliest influences that led me to electric bass were – Jaco Pastorius, Flea Balzary (who I had the pleasure of meeting when he came to one of my shows in LA. At that time when I started playing I had a garage band with some friends in high-school – at the time listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin and Rage Against the Machine.

My older sister had a diverse musical taste which introduced me to recordings of Meshell Ndegeocello amongst others.

I started playing bass in the school jazz band and listening more to older jazz recordings – my main reason for taking up the upright was when I heard Ray Brown on Oscar Peterson’s Night Train. From that point I had other influences – definitely Charles Mingus, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, Miroslav Vitous.

JK: How do you find your background influences your music.

LO: Well, it’s hard to say. Growing up the majority of my life in Perth, I consider myself Australian, also Chinese – but not just Chinese – Malaysian-Chinese. Living in the US for the past nine years has made me think more about this.

There have been times growing up in Australia I never felt quite Australian enough – as a child thinking I had to be Caucasian to be Australian. I speak a little Mandarin, but at home my mother spoke Hokkien to us while we replied mainly in English.

I think some of my music consciously and sub-consciously deals with identity. I guess every artist at some point questions origins, identity and where they fit within the environment they live in.

JK: What tips would you give to aspiring Australian musicians who are keen to head to the US?

LO: Work hard and be as open as possible.

JK: What can we expect to hear from your band at Wangaratta?

LO: A mixture of songs from my latest release “Sun Pictures” as well as some new pieces. I just recorded a trumpet trio album which includes a suite I wrote based on a wordless graphic novel by Perth artist – Shaun Tan, “The Arrival” which depicts a story of a migrant – the images seem like a fantasy, but is based research and true stories of refugees and migrants.

JK: What else do you have on the horizon?

LO: I just recorded my trio album, I’m working on a film score – a short sci-fi film about time-travel. I have dates/tours coming up with my own band, Steve Wilson, Fabian Almazan, Dave Douglas, Jaleel Shaw various recordings including my quartet.

The past few years particularly have been really busy touring and playing shows which have been really rewarding, though I also hope to set aside more time for personal study and musical growth.

The Linda Oh Quartet is performing her own compositions at Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues on 31st October with James Muller (guitar), Jon Irabagon (tenor saxophone)  and Rudy Royston (drums).

She will also perform a duo concert with vocalist Gian Slater and is the bass player with Dave Douglas.

Linda is performing exclusively at the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues

Earlybird tickets for Wangaratta are available till the end of September

Free download from Linda’s album Sun Pictures available on her website – Linda Oh 

LEAVE A REPLY