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Charles Chen: Building Characters

By Jack Bowers
June 15, 2025
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San Francisco-based pianist and educator

Charles Chen

piano
b.1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Chen returns with Building Characters, his second recording in as many years, and as on his debut album, Charles, Play! (Cellar Music, 2024), he is backed by an all-star supporting cast that includes a front line of trumpeter

Randy Brecker

trumpet
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Randy Brecker and saxophonists

Bob Sheppard

saxophone, tenor
b.1952

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Sheppard and

Lawrence Feldman

saxophone
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Lawrence Feldman. They bolster a sharp and powerful rhythm section consisting of bassist

Mike Richmond

bass
b.1948

" data-original-title="" title="">Mike Richmond and drummer

Adam Nussbaum

drums
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Adam Nussbaum.

Missing are the members of Chen's quartet on Charles, Play! (tenor

Ralph Moore

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Ralph Moore, bassist

Peter Washington

bass
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Peter Washington, drummer Kenny Washington) but their replacements, to state the obvious, are more than satisfactory. While Chen plays with his usual eloquence and savvy, six of the eight numbers on offer are his original compositions, which are by and large agreeable but rather less than noteworthy. Supplementing them are a curiously laid-back reading of "Alice in Wonderland" and

Hoagy Carmichael

piano
1899 - 1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Hoagy Carmichael's enduring masterwork, "Stardust," which closes the album.

Chen raises the curtain with another ballad, his own "Kismet," on which the members of the group are limited to furnishing no more than background phrasings. "Zheng Fei, Fierce Warrior," which follows, intensifies the heat as it allots blowing space for Chen, Brecker, Richmond and one of the tenors while Nussbaum's drum kit amplifies the fireworks. Two more of Chen's decorous charts, "If on a Winter's Night O Traveler" (splendid solos by Chen, Brecker and either Sheppard or Feldman) and the lyrical "Colossus of Rhodes," lead to "Alice in Wonderland" whose muted approach seemed perhaps more inspiring on paper.

Chen's "Straw Hat" dances neatly forward behind admirable solos by Brecker, Chen and one of the tenors before Brecker coolly introduces the last of Chen's works, the sauntering "Soph, Aeon of Wisdom." Chen is typically well-spoken on "Stardust," which ends the session on a tranquil yet positive note. On the one hand, Building Characters is a largely pleasing and well-played second outing; on the other, a step or so removed from Chen's admirable debut recording.

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Track Listing

Kismet; Zhong Fei, Fierce Warrior; If on a Winter��s Night O Traveler��; Colossus of Rhodes; Alice in Wonderland; Straw Hot; Soph, Aeon of Wisdom; Stardust.

Personnel

Charles Chen

piano

Randy Brecker

trumpet

Bob Sheppard

saxophone, tenor

Lawrence Feldman

saxophone

Mike Richmond

bass

Adam Nussbaum

drums

Album information

Title: Building Characters | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: Cellar Music Group

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