Woong San's Jazz Series Returns for a Fourth Volume, With a 30th Anniversary Album Still to Come

Jazz vocalist Woong San dropped the fourth volume of her ongoing K-pop jazz reinterpretation project on August 3, collecting ten beloved Korean pop standards under the title Sarang, Geu Geurieum 4 (Love, That Longing 4), distributed through Universal Music Korea. The album arrives two years after the previous installment, and Woong San said she hopes it brings comfort to fans who have been waiting.

The tracklist reads like a survey course in Korean pop history. Jo Deok-bae's Kume and Geudae Nae Mame Deureoomyeon, Jeong Mi-jo's Gaeyeoul, Lee Jang-hee's Annyeong, Kim Chang-wan's Geudae Tteonaneun Nare Biga Oneungga, Nami's Seulpeun Yeon, Hyun In's Kkum Sogeui Sarang, Lee Nan-young's Dabange Pureun Kkum, and Baek Seol-hee's Bomnarun Ganda are all here, each recast in Woong San's cool, measured jazz style. She also added a re-recorded version of her own original composition I Sing the Blues, rendered this time as an unhurried blues arrangement.

The production approach is as deliberate as the song selection. Suzuki Takanori, a highly regarded Japanese clarinettist, contributed to the sessions, adding a modern edge to the album's vintage cool-jazz foundation. The recording team worked with a stripped-down instrumentation and leaned into space and silence, capturing performances in single takes to preserve the live-room energy that studio polish tends to erase.

"I started this series hoping more people could enjoy jazz comfortably and find some comfort in music," Woong San said. "I hope it becomes a welcome gift for fans who have waited two years."

The timing of the release is worth noting. Woong San marks her 30th anniversary as a recording artist this year, and Sarang, Geu Geurieum 4 is only the first of two planned releases before the end of 2025. Her 11th full-length studio album, Here's to Life, is scheduled for early October as the formal anniversary record. Early returns on the jazz series suggest a loyal audience that follows the project across volumes; whether the anniversary album extends that reach beyond her core base is the thing to watch this fall.