Jazz Articles

Jen Chapin/Stephan Crump: Open Wide

by Craig W. Hurst
November 1, 2002

Like the popular “jazz” singer Nora Jones and some of the work of Cassandra Wilson, the music on Jen Chapin’s newest release on the Purple Chair Music label, Open Wide provides another example of the wide range of influences today’s musicians are confronted and how the boundaries of what constitutes jazz perhaps have been expanded. The typical elements that are often associated with jazz--bluesy inflections in the melody, complex harmonies, and swing are not readily apparent in Chapin’s music. Although ...