Jazz Articles about Jo-Yu Chen

About Jo-Yu Chen

Album Review

The short version of pianist Jo-Yu Chen's biography: Born in Taiwan, started with music in the classical realm, moved to New York to study oboe and piano at Julliard School, and fell under the spell of jazz. That's not an unusual back story in the world of jazz, with the exception of her Taiwanese roots. The pianist self-produced two CDs, Obsession (Sony Music Taiwan, 2010) and My Incomplete Soul (Sony Music, 2011), and now--as the first Taiwanese jazz artist signed ...

Album Review

Jo-Yu Chen: Obsession

Read "Obsession" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 28, 2012

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 ...

Album Review

Jo-Yu Chen Trio: Incomplete Soul

Read "Incomplete Soul" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 20, 2012

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 ...

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Album Review

Jo-Yu Chen Trio: Incomplete Soul

Read "Incomplete Soul" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
February 2, 2012

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 ...

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Album Review

Jo-Yu Chen: Incomplete Soul

Read "Incomplete Soul" reviewed by James Nadal

by James Nadal
December 9, 2011

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 ...

Album Review

Jo-Yu Chen: Obsession

Read "Obsession" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
September 2, 2011

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 ...