Jeff Chan

Saxophonist/producer/composer Jeff Chan has played a prominent role in what has been described as the Asian-American Creative Music Movement or Asian-American Creative Music Network in the '90s and 2000s; essentially, it is a coalition of Asian-American musicians who play jazz, most of it avant-garde jazz that has been influenced by the Chicago-based Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). In fact, the movement has often been compared to the AACM and has ties to that organization. Some participants in the Asian-American Creative Music Movement are of Japanese descent (including acoustic bassist Tatsu Aoki and alto/soprano saxophonist Doug Yokoyama), while others have had Chinese heritage, including tenor saxophonist Francis Wong (co-founder of Asian Improv Records, a small independent label with offices in San Francisco and Chicago) and Chan. Based in San Francisco (with strong ties to the Windy City), Chan brings a variety of avant-garde influences to the table. The probing improviser, who is primarily a tenor and soprano saxophonist but has played the flute and bass clarinet as secondary instruments, has been greatly influenced by the artists of the AACM (including the Art Ensemble of Chicago and fellow saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell, Joseph Jarman, and Anthony Braxton), but his abstract, cerebral, left-of-center work has also been affected (either directly or indirectly) by explorers who range from John Coltrane to the revolutionary alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Chan was born in Concord, CA, on November 23, 1970, and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. The late '90s and early 2000s found him taking part in a variety of activities, one of which was the Big Fun Philharmonic (a large ensemble). The West Coast reedman has also been a member of...