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Chien Chien Lu: The Path
ByLeading a crack band that includes pianist Shedrick Mitchell, bassist/producer Richie Goods and drummer Allan Mednard as the core, Chien Chien immediately establishes herself as a groove-conscious harmonist. She draws from an extensive color palette in her work, values the powers of space and suggestion, lays into a line as good as anybody, and paints what's, in essence, a portrait of a soulful modernist on the rise. From the simmering, thrumming funk of Roy Ayers' "We Live in Brooklyn Baby," which opens the album, to the organ-coated, cool-headed sermonizing on "Mo' Better Blues," which wraps things up, Chien Chien remains engaged and engaging in every respect. Hints of two-mallet masters, from Milt Jackson to Ayers and Stefon Harris to Warren Wolf, seep into her lines, yet she plays with a distinctive voice shaped by a unique merging of streamsculturally, with relation to her Taiwanese roots and American existence, and musically, with respect to the collision of classical and jazz ideals.
A number of coversthe aforementioned material, a Latin-spiced "Invitation" featuring some primo Pelt, a glistening "Blue in Green"offer a window into Chien Chien's interpretive powers. But her gifts as a composer also come through clearly on the album. "The Imaginary Enemy," with a searching marimba introduction, Goods-grounded glide and stormy sendoff, is but one example of how Chien Chien makes worlds converge; "Tears and Love," dedicated to the vibraphonist's grandmother and riding a line between glistening beauty and slow-flow neo-soul, is another; and the title track, conceptually teased with several conversationally-enhanced vignettes spread across the program and shifting from rolling episodes to rocking realms, is a third. With eyes on tradition and innovation, a clear understanding of several musical languages and currents, an appreciation for inlets and outlets at work, and open-minded mallets in motion, Chien Chien Lu makes a notable splash with The Path.
Track Listing
We Live in Brooklyn Baby; Invitation; Blind Faith; The Path Interlude 1; Blossom in a Stormy Night; Blue in Green; The Path Interlude 2; The Imaginary Enemy; Tears and Love; The Path Interlude 3; The Path; Mo' Better Blues.
Personnel
Chien Chien Lu
vibraphoneShedrick Mitchell
pianoRichie Goods
bassAllan Mednard
drumsJeremy Pelt
trumpetQuintin Zoto
guitarIsmel Wignall
percussionYoojin Park
violinPhoebe Tsai
celloLisa Lee
vocalsAlbum information
Title: The Path | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Self Released
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About Chien Chien Lu
Instrument: Vibraphone
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