| Jazz |
This album is a fascinating one, primarily because the composer is also the vocalist, but there’s also a uniquely tragic story tied to it. Musicians know well that the freedom of live performance, improvisation, and collaboration sparks a chain reaction of creativity. For Mavis Pan, award-winning pianist, composer, and singer, this statement has never been truer. Pan was elated in January 2023, after a three-year break due to the effects of the global pandemic, when the borders reopened and she was able to take her quintet on tour in Saudi Arabia. Shortly after this newfound euphoria, Pan experienced a radical emotional shift. Upon her return to New York, she visited her homeland, Taiwan, to reunite with her father, whom she hadn’t seen in years. Since her last visit, her father had suffered a stroke and endured the debilitating isolation caused by travel restrictions. This heartbreaking experience profoundly impacted Pan, leading her to reflect nostalgically on her life.
Her music, steeped in reflection, family tragedy, and nostalgia, yet filled with hope, is delivered here through a mosaic of works that trace the highs and lows of life and how Pan managed to overcome them. Releasing on October 4, this album, co-produced with renowned woodwind player Ted Nash, brings together a star-studded group, including Nash (tenor saxophone, flute, and clarinet), Geoff Burke (alto and soprano saxophones, alto flute, and clarinet), Mark Wade (bass), Jared Schonig (drums), and Pan herself on piano and vocals. One can’t help but pay close attention to each note of these compositions, where the search for beauty seems linked to a perpetual, perhaps even ancestral form, brushing against the wings of classical music in its poetic form and jazz in its intentions. It is here that we also discover Mavis Pan’s fabulous talent as a pianist. The compositions hold their ground, with a deeply rooted style, a way of telling stories or self-reflecting. Stories, always stories—big or small—they shape art wherever it may be. *Rising* is far more than an album; it’s like flipping through a history book of her life. This collection of 12 pieces (13 in the deluxe digital edition) spans 20 years of her artistic life. Each piece is the mark of a moment, a person, a place, or a challenge that Pan faced and overcame. “Jazz is about being in the moment, and I wanted to capture every fleeting moment with a song,” she says. *Rising* thus tells a multitude of emotions, whether it be the joy of being welcomed as a “diva” during her Saudi Arabia tour, the return to New York, or the challenges she faced as a woman of color and immigrant in the United States. This album is a true testimony of her heart, painted on a vibrant musical canvas.
This album cannot leave one indifferent; one must take the time to immerse themselves in it to feel its effects. It is the work of someone rising from a heavy trial, and without a doubt, we should leave the final words to Mavis Pan: “*Rising* means victory,” she declares, “rising from a deep emotional and spiritual abyss.”
If all the fractures a human being endures gave us such ambitious and successful works, we wouldn’t know where to direct our ears. Indeed, this album deserves a spot on our 2024 list of “Essential” albums.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, September 25th 2024
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