| Jazz |
Summary: Owen Chen’s Eternal Wind reimagines Studio Ghibli classics with modern jazz, blending guitar mastery, cinematic storytelling, and Asian-American artistry.
The Ghibli Collection by Owen Chen: Expressive Jazz Meets Timeless Animation
Owen Chen is one of those understated artists whose work carries a profound poetry, immediately accessible while remaining remarkably complex. A composer and guitarist, his music reflects his personality: introspective, precise, and deeply expressive. Although Asian influences occasionally appear in his compositions, they are never dominant, unlike in the work of his colleague Nguyễn Lê, who places his cultural heritage at the forefront. Chen instead weaves together threads of jazz, classical music, and world music, demonstrating mastery of several instruments and offering surprises at every turn. His guitar playing in particular is carefully crafted, expressive, and marked by great subtlety.
His latest album, Eternal Wind, is a duo project centered on two guitars that reinterprets the timeless stories of Studio Ghibli through the expressive lens of modern jazz. The album emerged from a year of concerts at the Red Pavilion and was shaped by Chen’s long collaboration with guitarist Andrew Cheng. Together, they channel the emotional gravity, tenderness, and wonder of the iconic scores by Joe Hisaishi into a deeply personal language of improvisation.
Chen’s artistic sensibility is closely tied to his instrumental choices. A remarkable guitarist, he gives Hisaishi’s compositions a distinctive texture, allowing subtle dialogues between the instruments. He is joined by a collective of promising young New York jazz musicians whose contributions move fluidly between lyricism and boldness. The arrangements respect the original works while leaving room for spontaneity and discovery, creating an album that is both reverent and adventurous. For Chen, Eternal Wind reflects the experience of an Asian-American artist synthesizing his formative influences to create a voice that is uniquely his own.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the album lies in its musical architecture. The pieces immediately immerse the listener in a landscape of contemporary jazz, revealing Chen’s gift for storytelling through music. His work possesses a cinematic quality, painting landscapes and characters through melody and offering listeners not just music but immersive worlds. It is deeply expressive music that invites exploration of its textures, or perhaps simply an acceptance that its strength lies not in mystery but in evocative imagery and touching nostalgia. Pieces such as A Town With an Ocean View (from the film Kiki’s Delivery Service) reveal subtle European influences, while others shine through playful improvisations that keep the listener constantly engaged.
Albums of this caliber inevitably raise high expectations for what comes next. After a project as romantic and enigmatic as The Ghibli Collection, audiences will naturally expect more, a challenge that Chen seems more than ready to meet.
Owen Chen is, without a doubt, an artist who deserves to be discovered without delay. The originality of the musical arrangements in this project ensures that his future, through what we hope will be many personal creations to come, will be widely appreciated for both its poetic subtlety and technical mastery. While European listeners may not necessarily be surprised by the album, in the United States it carries an exotic and refreshing charm, testifying to Chen’s ability to build bridges between cultures while forging a sound entirely his own.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, March 11th 2026
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ETERNAL WIND is:
Owen Chen – electric guitar
Andrew Cheng – electric guitar, acoustic nylon string guitar (7), acoustic steel string guitar (8)
Cy Leo – harmonica (3,4,7)
Cole Palensky – tenor saxophone (2,3,8)
Carlin Lee – piano
Sean Hannon – upright bass
Anton Kot – drums
Track Listing:
1 One Summer’s Day 6:12
2 The Dragon Boy 4:51
3 Carrying You 5:39
4 Mononoke Hime 1:47
5 Ashitaka and San 4:02
6 The Legend of Ashitaka 3:10
7 A Town With an Ocean View 4:46
8 My Neighbor Totoro 4:04
9 Path of the Wind 5:02
(1, 2) from Spirited Away
(3) from Castle in the Sky
(4-6) from Princess Mononoke
(7) from Kiki’s Delivery Service
(8, 9) from My Neighbor Totoro
All compositions by Joe Hisaishi for Studio Ghibli Productions, except (3, 9) by Hisaishi & Hayao Miyazaki
Arranged by Owen Chen
Production Info:
Produced by Owen Chen & Andrew Cheng
Recorded & mixed by Edwin Huet at Pinch Recording, New York, NY
Assistant Engineer: Chris Stefano Pace
Recorded on August 17th, 2025
Mastered by Nate Wood at Kerseboom Mastering, Ridgewood, Queens, NYC
Band photo by Mikhail Lipyanskiy
Cover design & layout by John Bishop