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Jo-Yu Chen: Savage Beauty
ByThe disc of (mostly) Chen originals begins with "Slightly Ajar," a first take on the first day of recording, a warm up trio improvisation so free and darkly beautiful that the decision was made to use it as the opener. "Creeper," the ninth of the set's ten tunes, rolls in a similar style, a drifting abstraction of a quartet improvisation, with guest saxophonist Mark Turner joining the core trio of Chen, bassist Christopher Tordini and drummer Tommy Crane to paint an ominous soundscape full of shades of deep grey.
Chen has a talent for picking her guest artists. Turner sits in on four tunesfollowing the mode of Stranger, where Chen employed guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel to enhance her trio sound on selected cuts. On "Panthers," Turner's clean tone, punctuated by Chen's crisp piano touch, opens the tune before Chen and her trio mates take things "out there" with a free-ranging bravado before the sound gels into a structural tighten-up with the saxophonist's reentry.
The title track is a perfectly-arranged quartet tune, laid down in a spare fashionan intense ballad inspired by British fashion designer Alexander McQueen (1969-2010). Chen states that she "always wanted to express myself as delicate, dramatic and playful but ulta powerful," attributes of McQueen's empowering fashion approach that the pianist transfers to her music.
Having made a big leap forward with Stranger, Chen has evolved furtherin part under the influence of McQueenwith Savage Beauty, crafting a sound that is at times restrainedwith a jungle cat menace humming just below the surfaceand at times unshackled and flamboyant. For Chen, the album represents an emergence from a period of personal darkness with strength and style.
Track Listing
Slightly Ajar; Panthers; Stay With Me; Savage Beauty; Walking Through Fear; A Tale Of Two Cites; Spooky Ooky; Song For Twins (Mia & Max); Creepers; Will I See You Again.
Personnel
Jo-Yu Chen
pianoJo-Yu Chen: piano; Christopher Tordini: bass; Tommy Crane: drums; Mark Turner: saxophone (2, 4, 6, 9).
Album information
Title: Savage Beauty | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Sony Music
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