Jason Kao Hwang's quartet EDGE is nested in the urban mountains of New York City where he created Stories Before Within, personal tales celebrating both life and loss. Over the past three years EDGE has embraced both past and future with musical offerings resonant with human and animal overtones. Their instruments sing through sharp lines vibrating between history, cultures and genres. In the fall of 2008, EDGE will tour Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. They will also perform in EDGEFEST (name has no prior relation) at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbour, Michigan. In 2009, they will perform in Montreal and Vancouver. In 2006, EDGE's first CD (Asian Improv Records) scaled the college radio charts at #14 for CMJ and #4 for Canada's EARSHOT. EDGE was ranked #3 on a Top Ten CDs of 2006 list for ALL ABOUT JAZZ. They have performed Vision Festival XI, Tonic, Brooklyn College, the Living Theater, and the Stone, all in NYC. EDGE also performed at Sangha (Washington, D.C.), An die Musik (Baltimore), the Deep Listening Institute (Kingston, NY), and the Sanctuary for Independent Media (Troy, NY). 'Another brilliant collection of forward-thinking compositions from Hwang, 'Stories Before Within' offers a rich blend of jazz and chamber music that seamlessly merges Eastern and Western traditions into a singular global hybrid.' Troy Collins, ALL ABOUT JAZZ, 3/22/08.