"JIhee Heo has done for me that rare and beautiful thing I value and cherish most about incredible music (especially jazz music), she has inspired me. Her honesty doesn't require verbage, or a fancy EPK to convince me. The honesty, the courage and commitment, are wonderfully obvious in the music, spoken very clearly with that language. I know that Jihee speaks at least three languages fluently. The universal one has spoken to me profoundly of God's love. The virtuosity is ancillary." Kirk Whalum, Saxophonist "Passion is a thematic album. Every song is connected and driven by one story from start to finish. The themes of the album are presented through different configurations of a nonet, consisting of trumpet (Philip Dizack), trombone (Frank Cohen), tenor saxophone (Jure Pukl), alto saxophone (Pat Carroll), piano, bass (Daniel Stein), drums (Charles Burchell), and vocals (Patricia Wichmann). The compositions are complex, yet emotionally driven, featuring unique and unusual voicings and a strong rhythmic style that I feel will connect with people regardless of religious beliefs or affiliations. In creating this album, I wanted to meld classical ideas with jazz harmony and rhythm. I wanted to bring the concept of the oratorio or cantata into jazz, which is something that has not been widely explored in this genre. When I started writing the music for this project, I knew that I wanted to share it with as many people as I could and I didn’t want to write music that was going to be overly complex or technical. I wanted to write in a way that would introduce new people to jazz without overwhelming them, and would still challenge myself artistically. The big challenge of this project was finding a way to make the music speak to a wide array of people, while maintaining my artistic integrity and writing music my friends and I would still want to play. I believe that one of the most beautiful aspects of music is the liberation it brings. Music frees people to feel a spectrum of emotion spanning love, joy, happiness, sadness, loneliness and all the feeling in-between. These emotions are present and necessary in the life of every human being, bringing meaning and depth to our lives. As a musician I feel blessed to be a part of that beauty. For me, writing and performing “Passion” has been an uplifting and liberating experience. I hope that you will also find freedom and joy in this music." Jihee Heo