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Late Park Seong-yeon‘s last song to be released next month

Late Park Seong-yeon‘s last song to be released next month

Posted August. 26, 2020 07:40,   

Updated August. 26, 2020 07:40

한국어

An unfinished song by jazz vocalist Park Seong-yeon who passed away on Sunday will be released in September.

Jazz bassist Cha Hyeon, 69, said Tuesday that “The Autumn Song,” which Park was working on before she fell gravely ill, will be released on CD and digital in early September.

Cha gave the song he wrote and arranged to Park last year. In an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo, Park said she received a new song entitled “One Autumn Day.” “It was originally called “Diva’s Autumn,” but I asked to take diva out because I was embarrassed,” she said. “I will practice hard to get it released on CD.” It was her last interview.

Cha expressed regret that they could not finish the song. They were finished with the practice right before Park was admitted to emergency care unit last October and could not continue as no visitors were allowed in hospital due to COVID-19.

Park is the mother of Korean jazz. She opened a club called “Janus” (now called “Diva Janus”) in 1978, the first jazz live club in South Korea built without the help of foreign funds. It has provided a stage for many Korean artists for decades even when it struggled to make a profit. Cha also made his debut at the club.

“I started playing jazz in 1989 at the club,” Cha said. “I would not have been able to become a professional jazz player without Janus.”

“I saw her on Thursday for the last time, and she greeted me with a smile,” he said. “I should have given her the song earlier.”


imi@donga.com