A review of Jeff Chan's "Winds Shifting" from
Coda Magazine, November 1, 1999
(click on the cover to listen to and/or buy this album)

		REEDS & BRASS CD Reviews by Greg Buium Divided into two sections, reeds and brass, these fifteen CD's represent the kind of music being released by traditional labels - such as Britain's Spotlite or Storyville from Denmark - and newer, more daring companies, such as lucid subjazz from California or New York City's New World Records. Not all of this music is new, but it has all been recently released, and together it showcases a wide range of reed and brass players from Europe and the United States. The review of Winds Shifting follows All of the musicians on Winds Shifting, tenor saxophonist JEFF CHAN's first recording as a leader, are active on the San Francisco creative music scene. The CD's first half is a trio session, with Trevor Dunn on bass and Elliot Humberto Kavee on drums and cello. , while the trio becomes a quartet in the second half, with pianist Neil Straghalis sitting in for one tune and tenor saxophonist Francis Wong replacing him for the final two. Recorded in April and May of 1997, the album is made up largely of Chan compositions - including Snap, Crackle, Pop, a charming nod to Ornette Coleman, and Infringement, a haunting, shrewdly built piece for Chan's raw, slightly off-centre sound. And the final quartet pieces are electric: Wong's appearance charges Chan. The tenors barrel through two open structures, leaving with a Straghalis melody, Cactus Patch, as sweet as it is strong.
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