Chien Chien Lu The Path

Chien Chien Lu hadn’t always planned to carve out a career as a vibraphone jazz musician, but after finding moments of inspration in the work of Roy Ayers, we are grateful for her decision to enter the studio and release her wonderful genre-melding debut album The Path. Taking elements from key modern soul and jazz releases of the early 70s, there’s boundless style on show across this special analogue release that oozes bold musicianship and is packed with talent.

Lu is a graduate of The National Taiwan University of Art where she studied percussion and continued her studies overseas by completing her masters in the Vibraphone at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She first teamed up with jazz trumpet maestro Jeremy Pelt at his request to join his quintet, and from that point on the two have collaborated extensively, and his contributions on this record are subtle where they need to be, but also dazzle in moments of bliss. Make no mistake, this is Chien Chien Lu’s work, but her recording members combine with cohesion and intertwine in ways that feel inseparable and aligned.

At the front of this release is an ode to Roy Ayers with a cover of the captivating “We Live in Brooklyn Baby” which has all the charm of the original master work plus an opportunity for Lu to demonstrate her seamless bond with the vibraphone right from the get-go as combines duties with the intricate guitar work of Quintin Zoto. Throughout this record there is a theme of reflection between Lu’s home in New York and her Taiwanese roots, and Lu invites us into her thoughts behind the album’s construction via a series of vignettes leading up to “The Paths” as well as sampling a traditional piece of Taiwanese music at the start of “Blossom in a Starry Night”. The album concludes in a similar way to as it starts with a tribute, but this time to Spike Lee’s movie “Mo Better Blues” and cements Lu's everlasting affinity with New York.