OUT FEBRUARY 20, 2026
ISAIAH
MEG OKURA | PAN ASIAN CHAMBER JAZZ ENSEMBLE
HIGHLIGHTS
2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble — a milestone celebrated with Isaiah, featuring trumpet legend Randy Brecker on Michael Brecker’s African Skies.
The album follows a series of award-winning works that have defined Meg Okura’s voice as a composer: Sushi Gadol, winner of the ISJAC Fundamental Freedoms Commission and the IAWM/Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Prize; Jubberish, commissioned by Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works, which directly led to the SJO George Duke Commissioning Prize; and Rice Country, composed during her Copland House Residency.
Isaiah was recently highlighted in DownBeat Magazine’s coverage of the Jazz Congress “Jukebox Jury,” where a panel of jazz DJs reached rare unanimity: it must be played.
MEG OKURA | PACJE
Praised by The New York Times for music of “grandiloquent beauty,” Tokyo-born, New York-based composer and violinist Meg Okura brings together her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble for their fifth album, Isaiah. Marking 20 years of creating music that bridges cultures and genres, the album celebrates faith, identity, and the search for harmony in a divided world.
TRACK LIST
ISAIAH
MEG OKURA | THE PAN ASIAN CHAMBER JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Adhyâropa Records • Total time: 55:38
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Sushi Gadol (feat. Meg Okura, Anne Drummond) – 5:48
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Blessing (feat. David Smith, Sam Sadigursky) – 4:04
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Isaiah (feat. Meg Okura, Remy Le Boeuf) – 6:10
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Rice Country (feat. Brian Marsella) – 7:48
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African Morning Vignette – 1:11
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African Skies (feat. Randy Brecker, Brian Marsella, Meg Okura) – 9:32
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Sunset Bells (feat. John Lee, Randy Brecker) – 7:06
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Jubberish (feat. Meg Okura, Sam Newsome) – 7:56
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Will You Hear My Voice (feat. John Lee, Remy Le Boeuf) – 6:02
PERFORMERS
THE PAN ASIAN CHAMBER JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Meg Okura – violin, electric violin (erhu on tracks 2, 6, vocal on track 2)
Anne Drummond – flute
Sam Sadigursky – bass clarinet (flute on track 5, B♭ clarinet on track 4)
David Smith – trumpet, flugelhorn
Rebecca Patterson – tenor & bass trombone
Riza Printup – harp
John Lee – electric guitar (acoustic guitar on tracks 4, 9)
Brian Marsella – piano
Evan Gregor – acoustic & electric bass
Peter Kronreif – drums
SPECIAL GUESTS
Randy Brecker – trumpet (tracks 5, 6, 7, 8)
Sam Newsome – soprano saxophone (tracks 5, 6, 7, 8)
Remy Le Boeuf – alto saxophone & clarinet (tracks 3, 9)
Rogério Boccato – percussion (tracks 6, 8)
ADDITIONAL PERFORMERS
Yotam Ishay – organ (tracks 6, 7)
Naomi Newsome – vocal (track 2)