Caroline Chung/Citizens Jazz - Sounds Of Haejin (2021)

Caroline Chung calls her band Citizens Jazz, which is a fitting moniker for a community of musicians drawing on an international array of Afrocentric rhythms. The aesthetic is democratic, but make no mistake; the Oakland bassist, composer, producer, and rainmaker Chung is firmly in command of this bandwagon.

A force on the Bay Area music scene for two decades, Chung is releasing “Sounds Of Haejin” on March 31. This is her first album under her own name and it’s a song-driven project that features some of the most interesting vocalists in the Bay Area, including Lilan Kane, Amy Dabalos, Miriam Speyer, and Chung herself.

“I just love so many different kinds of music,” said Chung, who grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. “I want to put music out there that people connect with, that inspires them in some way. A lot of new stuff was written in these weird, dark times, incorporating a lot of positive messages.”