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A review of Jeff
Chan's "Winds Shifting" from Cadence Magazine,
Vol. 24, No. 10, October 1998
(click on the cover to listen to and/or buy this album)
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This recording, the first as
a leader by Jeff Chan, is yet another sign of what a creative hotbed for
improvised music San Francisco has become. Like many young players, Chan
is working to absorb a multitude of styles from the history of Jazz music
into his playing and writing. The core trio of Chan, Dunn, and Kavee consistently
nail this music, which ranges from free bop to vamping groove to free
improvisation. Chan has a knack for writing pieces that have compelling
melodies, offering the basis for improvisations that swing with an open
energy. Even in pieces with the loosest of frameworks like "Dreams/Silver
Skies", he floats sad, flowing lyricism into the free group interplay.
That piece benefits from Kavee's dual role on drums and cello (simultaneously,
and without overdubbing) to expand the harmonic palette of the trio format
as his skittering harmonies play off of Dunn's dark arco. "Spiritual",
which at times sounds like an Ayler theme, integrates Straghalis' piano
into the group in intriguing ways. Rather than the traditional harmonic
and rhythmic role, Straghalis lightly layers splayed, atonal clusters
into odd spaces in Chan's phrases. Even when the focus turns to the piano,
he seems to play around the edges of the pulse created by the others,
teasing lines out of fitful, broken phrases. The 14-minute long "Winds
Shifting Coming and Going", pairs the leader's clear-toned lyricism
with the round, breathy, aggressive playing of Francis Wong for an extended
piece that freely moves between slow probing sections and quick, darting
counterpoint. Kavee is a light-handed melodic player, giving the music
a tuneful, open pulse throughout. Dunn is a flexible bassist, often playing
around Kavee's pulse to provide snaking counterpoint to the reed players.
This is a creative session charged with emotional directness and acute
group dynamicism.
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