Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Annie Chen Octet: Secret Treetop

Annie Chen Octet: Secret Treetop

By Jack Bowers
December 30, 2018
View read count

Over the years, jazz has widened its horizons to encompass a broad range of music that many of those who practiced and/or appreciated the more traditional forms might not recognize, let alone endorse. Among the more recent genres is "world music," which embodies various rhythmic and harmonic elements of jazz without assimilating its core values. On her second album, Secret Treetop, composer/vocalist

Annie Chen

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Annie Chen's octet performs world music and does it well—but it is only narrowly akin to jazz in its more established framework.

Chen, born in Beijing and based in New York City, draws her inspiration from many sources—eastern Europe, Japan, Taiwan, the classical canon, soul, funk, her native China and, to a lesser extent, American jazz. In addition to seven of her wide-ranging compositions, Secret Treetop includes folk songs from Inner Mongolia ("Ao Bao Xiang Hui," or A Date in the Yurt, whatever that means) and Taiwan ("Gan Lan Shu," or Olive Tree). Chen sings these songs in Chinese, the others in English save for the album's lone (almost) instrumental track, Chen's "Mr. Wind-Up Bird, Secret Longing," arranged (as were the others) by guitarist

Rafal Sarnecki

guitar
b.1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Rafal Sarnecki. It should be noted that Chen has maintained a rather pronounced Chinese accent, making her vocals more than a touch unclear; luckily, the lyrics to each song are provided in the album's booklet. Those sung in Chinese are reproduced in that language.

Even though vocals and ensemble are in the ascendant, the session is not devoid of improvisation, with violinist

Tomoko Omura

violin
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Tomoko Omura and pianist

Glenn Zaleski

piano
b.1987

" data-original-title="" title="">Glenn Zaleski soloing to good effect on "Orange Tears Lullaby." Enticing ad libs are fashioned elsewhere by Sarnecki, trumpeter

David Smith

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">David Smith and alto

Alex LoRe

saxophone, alto

" data-original-title="" title="">Alex LoRe (who sparkles with Sarnecki on "Mr. Wind-Up Bird"). As to Chen's lyrics, they often conform to a visible Chinese pattern too, as though they'd been written (as indeed they were) by someone whose primary language is not English. Be that as it may, it is Chen's compositions, and not her lyrics, that lend the album its import. And even though it strays rather far from what many observers would consider jazz in the truest sense of the word, Chen does what she does quite well. High marks for that, with the caveat that the credible jazz content in Secret Treetop is minimal at best.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Ozledim Seni; Majo Kiki in 12 Days; Ao Bao Xiang Hui; Secret Treetop; Orange Tears Lullaby; Mr. Wind-Up Bird, Strange Yearning; Leaving Sonnet; Gan Lan Shu; My Ocean Is Blue in White.

Personnel

Annie Chen

vocals

Rafal Sarnecki

guitar

Tomoko Omura

violin

Alex LoRe

saxophone, alto

Glenn Zaleski

piano

Mathew Munz

bass

Jerad Lippi

drums

David Smith: trumpet, flugelhorn (7).

Album information

Title: Secret Treetop | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: Self Produced

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Mojhtestasse
< Previous

Dexter Gordon: Portrait of a Sophist...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.