Building Characters by Charles Chen
'Building Characters' by Charles Chen
On only his second album, could Charles Chen possibly more ambitious? With Building Characters, the bandleader/composer/pianist seeks to evoke the styles of many of his jazz forebears and heroes—sometimes more than one per tune—while summoning a variety of figures from anime, literature, ancient international military history and other sources.
If the premise sems convoluted, the result is anything but flummoxing. Playing rhythmic a harmonic support on keys to his ensemble of tenor saxes, trumpet, drums, upright bass and drums as he does solos, Chen and his crew channel the stylistic nuances of a litany of greats ranging from Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau to Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock. The impressive immersions in others' styles nonetheless sounds like an extension of Chen's own creativity regarding his respect for jazz history and finding fresh angles on modality and bop's interplay of improvisation and structure.
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