Jeff Chan’s Perspectives Trio
Jeff Chan’s Perspectives Trio featuring Tatsu Aoki and Special Guest Vijay Anderson
Celebrating the release of Perspectives – multi-instrumentalist/composer Jeff Chan’s fifth Asian Improv Records Celebrating the release of Perspectives – multi-instrumentalist/composer Jeff Chan’s fifth Asian Improv Records title as a leader – the Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival is proud to present the Perspectives Trio, featuring Chan on tenor saxophone, flute and clarinet, bassist Tatsu Aoki and special guest from New York, drummer Vijay Anderson. The Trio will draw from a broad sonic palette as they perform music from the new album.
Chicago multi-instrumentalist/composer Jeff Chan is dedicated to advancing the understanding of the Asian American experience through music. He has worked with many of the leaders of the Asian American creative music movement, including saxophonist Francis Wong and bassist Tatsu Aoki as well as some of the top figures in the Chicago music scene such as saxophonists Jimmy Ellis, Ari Brown, Mwata Bowden and Edward Wilkerson Jr., trumpeter Ameen Muhammad, drummer Avreeayl Ra and pianist/vocalist/bandleader Yoko Noge. With a discography of more than 10 recordings as a leader, sideman and producer, Chan has performed extensively in the Chicago area, across the nation and in Europe. Critics have said that Chan is “… a voice to be reckoned with… (Brian Gilmore, JazzTimes)” and that his work is “music of uncommon majesty, spirituality and emotional depth (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune).”
Vijay Anderson is an accomplished, well-documented and in-demand drummer, bandleader, composer, and teacher based in Brooklyn, NY, where he relocated to from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2018. He has performed and recorded with Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalists Lynn Johnston and Vinny Golia; Bay Area composers/performers Ben Goldberg, Sheldon Brown, Graham Connah, Lisa Mezzacappa, Hafez Modirzadeh and saxophonist/composer Marco Eneidi. He has worked extensively with bassist/composer Adam Lane as part of Lane’s Full Throttle Orchestra, the Adam Lane Trio featuring Vinny Golia, and Adam Lane’s Blue Spirit Band. Anderson has composed and performed original scores for filmmakers Jeff Kao and Tim Hicks as well as for projects by the Facing East Dance & Music. Other notable career highlights include performing with Connie Crothers, Daniel Carter, Roberto Miranda, Bobby Bradford, William Roper, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, John Tchicai and Wadada Leo Smith.
Tatsu Aoki is a leading advocate for the Asian American community, as well as a prolific composer and performer of traditional and experimental music forms, a filmmaker, and an educator. Aoki is a Founder and Artistic Director of the Annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival, which will be celebrating its twenty-fourth anniversary in 2019. His sustained and intensified endeavors have resulted in awards from multiple cultural and musical organizations, recognizing his cross-cultural collaborations. Recently, in addition to directing and composing for two film projects, Aoki has been touring as part of Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble, performing on a world tour for her “Mandorla Awakening II” project (playing acoustic bass, taiko drum, and shamisen); and was also awarded the 2019 Community Service award from the Asian American Coalition of Chicago for his continued leadership and contribution to the community.