PHOTO: Aaron Kahn performs at Hoyt Arboretum in Portland in this undated courtesy photo.(Mike Drewry/Hoyt Arboretum via Aaron Kahn)

By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
Portland trumpet virtuoso Aaron Kahn has been busy by anyone standards. 
Kahn is releasing an album of music he describes as “sound journeying” as well as performing at one of the Bay Area’s leading synagogues for Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s independence day. 
The album, set to release Saturday, Apr. 20, is the product of the group Anamnesis, consisting of Kahn, Austin Kourakin, and the mononymic pianist Sequoia. The album’s two tracks, totaling 45 minutes, were recorded at The Big Red Studio in Corbett. 
“We had an energetic one, and a kind of mellow, lower your blood pressure one,” Kahn said. “I’m just delighted with how the tracks came out.”
Kahn was a member of Art/Lab’s second cohort of Jewish artists, and the program produced by Rabbi Josh Rose and Shoshana Gugenheim Kedem has been an important factor in how Kahn has defined his career path as an artist. 
“Being a part of that greatly informed how proud I am of my Jewish identity. And how important it is to signal and convey the importance of being, you know, a young adult Jew in today’s world,” Kahn said. “Everything from the spiritual aspects, the sacred to the cultural identity and representing music by Jews is singularly important to me.”
It’s a big part of why he’ll be performing in Palo Alto this year on Yom Ha’atzmaut Tuesday, May 14. 
“I’m playing pieces that were that were written for me at from my [Regional Arts and Culture Council] debut in August as well as Israeli and Jewish folk songs,” Kahn said. “I’m a firm supporter of the State of Israel, and  it’s important to me to get this cultural music into the ears of audience members.”
It’s fitting then, that an Israeli-American musical leader was a big part of the launching of Kahn’s music career. A native of San Jose, Calif., Kahn played with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and worked with conductor Benjamin Shwartz, who Kahn has remained in touch with through the years.  
“It was a good move by my parents to let me do that on Shabbat in my senior year,” Kahn jokes of his time with the SFSYO.
His musical influences extend far beyond classical, as he recently performed a selection of Argentine tango pieces written for flute and guitar and transposed for trumpet.is work has branches outside music, as well. Kahn is launching a venture called Pardes that should be launching later this year – as well as preparing for other performances, writing and teaching. 
“We’re dedicated to creating localized paradises, microclimates of health, safety, and peace through immersive creative experiences, artistic experiences for people,” Kahn said of his Pardes venture. “It’s influenced by Jewish mysticism. Pardes is the root of the word paradise. It is the orchard; the original metaphorical paradise on earth.”
Anamnesis will be available for purchase, both as a download and a physical CD, at aaronkahnmusic.com.