Jeff Chan (saxophonist)
Jeff Chan | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jeffrey Chan |
| Born | November 23, 1970 Concord, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Free jazz, free improvisation |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument(s) | Tenor sax, soprano sax, bass clarinet, flute |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Labels | AIR |
Jeffrey Chan (born November 23, 1970) is an American saxophonist and composer.
Early life[edit]
Chan was born in Concord, California on November 23, 1970,[1] and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area.[2] He has Chinese heritage.[2]
Later life and career[edit]
Chan made his recording debut as leader in 1997, making Winds Shifting for Asian Improv Records (AIR).[2] Over the next few years he worked in a variety of musical settings, including with the large group named the Big Fun Philharmonic.[2] Chan moved to Chicago in 2002, where he studied with the saxophonist Jimmy Ellis and worked with Asian American musicians.[1] In Chicago, his second release on AIR, came from that year.[2]
Chan is a participant in the Asian-American Creative Music Movement, which has ties with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and is also based in Chicago.[2] He has composed for solo performance and large ensembles.[1] Examples of the latter appeared on his 2009 album Horns of Plenty, which was also released by AIR.[1] As a performer, his main instruments are the tenor and soprano saxophones, but he also plays bass clarinet and flute.[2]
Influences and style[edit]
Chan's "work evinces an awareness of the Asian American experience, embracing non-Western cultures and traditions while engaging with the central tenets of collective jazz improvisation."[1] His "improvisational language takes root in the expansive structural and harmonic approach of Dewey Redman and Ornette Coleman. He favors a flexible sense of pulse, a robust and hearty tenor saxophone sound, and a strong sense of collective organicism in his overall musical concept."[1] Other influences include musicians linked to the AACM.[2]
Discography[edit]
- Winds Shifting (1997, AIR)[2]
- Color Architecture (1999)
- In Chicago (2002, AIR)[2]
- Horns of Plenty (2009, AIR)[1]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
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| National | |
