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Born and raised in Concord, CA and currently living in San Francisco, tenor saxophonist/composer Jeff Chan has been striving to express his unique voice in the Bay Area creative music scene. Chan is particularly inspired by the work of African American creative musicians and is drawn to the spirit of dedication, individuality, expressiveness, and freedom that the foremost practitioners of the art exemplify. Chan counts among his most significant influences Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman. Chan is also motivated by the Asian American Creative Music movement and the high degrees of talent, skill, creativity, and consistency that are associated with it. Chan's goal is to perform music that reflects the inspiration that the masters of the art instill within their listeners while creating something personal, original, and relevant in the process. |
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Chan has performed across the country as both a leader of his own ensembles and as a guest artist with local musicians. He performed in the Knitting Factory's New York Jazz Festival (June 1998) where he led a trio featuring drummer Jackson Krall (who currently performs with Cecil Taylor). Chan also performed in the Third Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival (October 1998) where he led a quartet featuring festival founder, bassist Tatsu Aoki. Chan also performed as a guest artist with the Steven Hashimoto Ensemble as part of the festival. |
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Winds Shifting (Asian Improv Records 0033), Chan's first recording project as a leader, has received positive critical notice in both national and international publications. In reviews of Winds Shifting, critics write "This recording... is yet another sign of what a creative hotbed for improvised music San Francisco has become (Michael Rosenstein, Cadence, October 1998)," and also "Remarkably mature for his years, Jeff Chan's performance stands out as a model of thoughtful musicianship (Sam Prestianni, San Francisco Weekly, January 14-20, 1998)." The recording features all original compositions as well as some of the most talented musicians San Francisco has to offer. Present on the recording are bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer/cellist Elliot Humberto Kavee, and tenor saxophonist and Asian Improv Records co-founder, Francis Wong. |
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Current projects include The Big Fun Philharmonic, a large ensemble that provides for Chan the vehicle to exercise his unorthodox methods of leadership and music composition, both of which focus on providing the musicians as much freedom of expression as possible. Chan also participates in Cadence recording artist Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra, an exciting sextet that utilizes several different methods of composition and improvisation to result in a powerful group dynamic. |
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Other projects include the Asian Improv Saxophone Summit, consisting of tenor saxophonists Wong and Hafez Modirzadeh, The Damon Smith Trio, which focuses on freely improvised music, and a wind sextet, a cooperative ensemble which performs a mix of compositions and improvisations. |
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Artists that Chan has performed with include Genny Lim (poet), Jon Jang (piano), Mark Izu (bass), Dr. Anthony Brown (drums), Marco Eneidi (saxophone), Kash Killion (cello/bass), Glenn Spearman (saxophone), Donald Robinson (drums), and legendary trumpeter Clark Terry. Chan has studied with saxophonists Dewey Redman, Sam Rivers multi-instrumentalist Oluyemi Thomas, and drummer Victor Lewis. |
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