South Korean singer whose music combines elements of popular music, jazz, and Korean traditional music, in particular, the style of pansori. He spent his childhood listening to his father and his uncle playing traditional music on the taepyeongso, a traditional Korean oboe and he grew to love the sounds of "Nongak", a traditional Korean music form associated with farm life. He worked for over 25 years doing odd jobs in various towns across Korea, but he found himself longing for the sounds of his childhood. Finally, in 1980, following in his father’s footsteps, he began to study the taepyeongso. He made his debut at age 46, at which time he was working as an electronics salesman. In 1993, Jang decide to quit his job as a car center clerk to focus solely on singing. Jang released his first album, entitled Hareulganeungil ("Passage to Heaven"), featuring pianist Im Dong-Chang in 1994. He then released 5 more albums and his music is often a combination of his own compositions and traditional Korean poetry. He often incorporates "kukak", traditional Korean folk songs in his music.
He performed the Korean National anthem at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
(Source: Wikipedia)
