Jeffrey Chan (born November 23, 1970) is an American saxophonist and composer.

Early life

Chan was born in

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Ba ...

on November 23, 1970, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has Chinese heritage.

Later life and career

Chan made his recording debut as leader in 1997, making ''Winds Shifting'' for Asian Improv Records (AIR). Over the next few years he worked in a variety of musical settings, including with the large group named the Big Fun Philharmonic. Chan moved to Chicago in 2002, where he studied with the saxophonist Jimmy Ellis and worked with Asian American musicians. ''In Chicago'', his second release on AIR, came from that year. Chan is a participant in the Asian-American Creative Music Movement, which has ties with the

Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1965 in Chicago by pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist Jodie Christian, drummer Steve McCall, and composer Phil Cohran. The AACM is devote ...

(AACM) and is also based in Chicago. He has composed for solo performance and large ensembles. Examples of the latter appeared on his 2009 album ''Horns of Plenty'', which was also released by AIR. As a performer, his main instruments are the tenor and soprano saxophones, but he also plays bass clarinet and flute.

Influences and style

Chan's "work evinces an awareness of the Asian American experience, embracing non-Western cultures and traditions while engaging with the central tenets of collective jazz improvisation." His "improvisational language takes root in the expansive structural and harmonic approach of

Dewey Redman Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played ...

and

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...

. He favors a flexible sense of pulse, a robust and hearty tenor saxophone sound, and a strong sense of collective organicism in his overall musical concept." Other influences include musicians linked to the AACM.

Discography

*''Winds Shifting'' (1997, AIR) *''Color Architecture'' (1999) *''In Chicago'' (2002, AIR) *''Horns of Plenty'' (2009, AIR)

References

External links

Jeff Chan's homepage (archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chan, Jeff 1970 births Living people People from Concord, California American musicians of Chinese descent American male saxophonists American male composers 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians