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Jo-Yu Chen: Obsession
by Dan Bilawsky
Japanese musicians get most of the ink when jazz sights turn to Asian-born wonders, but pianist Jo-Yu Chen is proof that Taiwan has its fair share of homegrown talent. Chen has been making waves over the past few years, self-releasing her Sam Yahel-produced debut, joining the fold as a Steinway Artist and, most recently, signing with Sony Music Taiwan. On Obsession, she shows no signs of slowing down, on a something-for-everyone program that can keep people guessing ...
Continue ReadingJo-Yu Chen Trio: Incomplete Soul
by AAJ Italy Staff
Giunta al secondo disco, la pianista taiwanese conferma e perfeziona quanto aveva espresso nel precedente Obsession. Stessi partner e stesso produttore (Sam Yahel) per un lavoro nuovamente ricercato, in cui il talento strumentale si lega a quello compositivo. In Incomplete Soul troviamo sette temi a suo nome, tre momenti liberamente improvvisati, due motivi pop taiwanesi ("Chess" e “Red Bean") e un tema folk cinese. Segnali di vicinanza al proprio ambito culturale che la pianista sembra voler confermare sia evitando d'interpretare ...
Continue ReadingJo-Yu Chen Trio: Incomplete Soul
by Dan McClenaghan
Taiwanese-born pianist Jo-Yu Chen is going somewhere. The cover photo of her Incomplete Soul shows the artist in the back seat of a car, gazing at an indeterminate distance, with a look of quiet, unyielding determination on her face. Her journey with this recording is one of a melding of her classical influences with the improvisational aspect of jazz, and to an extent an East/West blend of sound. She begins with her original, “The Wandering Songstress," opening with the eerily ...
Continue ReadingJo-Yu Chen: Incomplete Soul
by James Nadal
Where most musicians today release a record as a statement that they have arrived, Jo-Yu Chen's recording Incomplete Soul characterizes the ongoing journey of musical exploration which the pianist began with Obsession (Sony, 2010). Opening with the erhu (two-stringed Chinese violin) opening to “The Wandering Songstress," the record is a musical metaphor of Chen herself. In honor of her Taiwanese heritage, she chose this song and two others--"Chess" and “Red Bean"- to display her Asian cultural roots, while masterfully blending ...
Continue ReadingJo-Yu Chen: Obsession
by AAJ Italy Staff
Allieva di Kenny Barron, Jason Moran e Sam Yahel, la pianista taiwanese fa il suo ingresso sulla scena del jazz dalla porta principale, debuttando in trio con un lavoro co-prodotto con il suo mentore Yahel, grande strumentista ancora in attesa dei dovuti riconoscimenti. Il CD dopo essere apparso sul mercato come autoproduzione è stato poco dopo ristampato dalla Sony e distribuito con una bonus track, la intensa ballad “Cry Me a River."Residente a New York dal 1990 dove ...
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