Featured Artist: John Chin

Jazz CD cover CD Title: Blackout Conception

Year: 2007

Record Label: Fresh Sound New Talent

Style: Straight-Ahead / Classic

Musicians: John Chin (piano), Mark Turner (tenor sax), Alexis Cuadrado (bass), Chris Higgins (bass), Bill Campbell (drums)

Review:

South Korean born, Los Angeles raised pianist and composer John Chin has been working in New York City for almost a decade.  Originally a classical music student, the gifted Chin entered Cal State University Los Angeles as a pre-med student at the age of 14.  The discovery of jazz just one year later led him to change his major to music and intense jazz study quickly followed.  Following graduation there was further study at the University of North Texas which eventually led him to move east and study with Kenny Barron at Rutgers University.  Among the artists Chin has worked with include Norah Jones, Vincent Herring, Donny McCaslin and Joel Frahm. 

Blackout Conception, Chin’s debut CD as a leader, finds him working in quartet and trio settings with saxophonist Mark Turner, bassists Alexis Cuadrado or Chris Higgins and drummer Bill Campbell.  The CD is full of highly intelligent and melodically oriented jazz tunes all aimed at providing the soloists with a depth of expressive possibilities during their solo sections.

Mark Turner, always a standout player, further confirms those expectations with his work throughout.  His solos are logical, thoughtful, yet contain moments of unique harmonic conception that reaffirm his talent deserving wider recognition status.  On “Blackout Conception” he smoothly sails through the lanky chord changes, and on the Kenny Barron Latin-tinged “Joanne Julia” he plays starkingly beautiful lines that weave a velvety texture through his instrument’s range.

Bill Campbell’s playing is understated.  He sweetly swings through the title number and on Kenny Barron’s “Lullaby,” but behind Chin’s solo on “Joanna Julia” Campbell could have gripped the reins a little tighter.  Chin plays long lines during which Campbell stays out of the way.  A few pokes, prods and jabs into Chin’s solo might have helped take him out of his comfort zone and given the solo the spark it needed.

As a pianist Chin has an excellent time feel, a firmly academic and solid harmonic understanding, and good compositional insights, but as a soloist he sounds like he’s still developing.  He provides some nice insights behind Turner’s solo on “After Crash” and plays Billy Strayhorn’s “Passion Flower” with a nice sympathetic touch, but he doesn’t raise eyebrows.  Maybe the overly laidback vibe of the selection of music has something to do with this.  It will be interesting to watch his career as he develops and adds some seasoning to his work.



Tracks: Blackout Conception, Joanne Julia, I Won't Argue With You, After Crash, Some Other Time, Lullaby and Passion Flower

Record Label Website: http://www.freshsoundrecords.com/

Artist's Website: http://johnchin.com/

Reviewed by: Thomas R. Erdmann

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