Charles Chen - Building Characters (2025) [Hi-Res]

Jazz is full of legends – the Duke, the Count, the Lady. We know their names, study their harmonies, and memorize their solos. We listen to their recordings, referencing albums from 1961 at the Village Gate or from Slugs in 1970. We listen to musicians across their lifetimes, following how their musical abilities crescendo or diminish. We hope, by remembering them and passing along their tales, we can understand the geniuses behind the music. These stories keep the music alive. They keep jazz alive.

In this album, I paired jazz legends with other legends that grabbed my attention from fiction, myth, and anime. Using them as inspiration, I wanted to build sonic portraits of these characters, capturing the feel of their stories and their music in my original compositions.



Tracklist:
1 Kismet
2 Zhang Fei, Fierce Warrior
3 If on a winter's night a traveler
4 Colossus of Rhodes
5 Alice in Wonderland
6 Straw Hat
7 Soph, Aeon of Wisdom
8 Stardust