*Booking: booking at jenshyu.com
Article in the Wall Street Journal by Larry Blumenfeld, published Sept 16, 2011***:
"A Singer's Arrival, in Her Own Words"
Article/interview in All About Jazz by Dan Lehner, published June 6, 2011:
"Jen Shyu and Theo Bleckmann: Breaking the Song Barrier"
Article/interview in Downbeat Magazine by Ted Panken, April 2011 issue*:
"Jen Shyu: Transcending Technique" + photo by Joaquín Farnós
NY Times Review Jan. 9 of Winter Jazzfest 2011 by Ben Ratliff**:
"Butch Morris and Jen Shyu at Winter Jazzfest" + photo by Chad Batka here
All About Jazz Review by Daniel Lehner:
"Jen Shyu and Jade Tongue"
*Corrections to Downbeat article:
1. It was Stravinsky International Piano Competition, not Bach Competition
2. My first CD I produced on my label featuring Francis Wong was called "For Now", not "First Song"
3. My second CD "Jade Tongue" was on my own label Chiuyen Music, not on Pi Recordings
4. the two-string guitar on my solo project "Inner Chapters" is from Taiwan (called the moon lute, or moon guitar), not from East Timor
**Correction to NY Times review: the two-string moon lute is from Taiwan, not Vietnam
***A Singer's Arrival, in Her Own Words by LARRY BLUMENFELD, photo by ED KECK
"Lettered tiles crisscrossed the coffee table in singer Jen Shyu's Bronx apartment, remnants of an unfinished game of Bananagrams—a sped-up, free-form variant of Scrabble. How fitting. A playful yet rigorous approach to language animates her stirring music. Sounding fierce at times, ruminative at others, displaying tonal precision and an intuitive rhythmic sense, Ms. Shyu is among New York's most invigorating vocal presences. And perhaps the most enigmatic.
Part of the intrigue, especially through her highest-profile role, in alto saxophonist Steve Coleman's Five Elements band, is the question of language. "People always ask what I'm singing," she said. "The answer is a variety of languages, including ones from China, Taiwan and East Timor, which are points in my ancestry. When I'm improvising, I'm singing in all of them. Or none of them. I'm taking bits and pieces, making it sound like it could be a language."
Ms. Shyu's fluency in seven languages and several traditional musical styles is based on far-flung and deeply immersed study. (She leaves later this month for a year in Indonesia, her great- great-grandmother's birthplace, on a Fulbright Scholarship to study sindhenan, the traditional singing of Javanese gamelan music.) Her grasp of a language closer to home—modern jazz improvisation—has attracted attention within jazz's freest-thinking ranks. Her Jade Tongue ensemble features notable contemporaries such as bassist Thomas Morgan and trumpeter Shane Endsley. She is a featured vocalist on a recording of Anthony Braxton's opera "Trillium E," to be released next month. Her performance on Friday with bassist Mark Dresser at the Jazz Gallery in SoHo will mark the release of the duo's "Synastry" (Pi Recordings), a recording of wildly varied and distinctively moving duets.
For Mr. Dresser, who has pushed the expressive range of his instrument to extremes throughout his 30-year career, "what impressed me was the depth of her musicianship. Plus, she's fearless. She studies traditions and then does what she wants."
At the Stone in late August, performing solo, Ms. Shyu sang new compositions based on a three-month trip to East Timor, her mother's birthplace, and played a two-stringed instrument—a "moon lute," she called it—indigenous to her father's homeland, Taiwan. She sang lyrics, sometimes in English, on topics ranging from her nightly dreams to atrocities reported during East Timor's struggle for independence. Two nights earlier, at the University of the Streets, she performed "Raging Waters, Red Sands," a mostly through-composed suite that blended shuo-chang, an ancient Chinese narrative form, with a resolutely downtown Manhattan musical vernacular.
Long before Ms. Shyu, 33, absorbed those influences, her story began in Peoria, Ill. Her father, a mechanical engineer, and her mother, a librarian, met at graduate school in the U.S. Classical music, her father's passion, was Ms. Shyu's musical entry point, on piano and violin. She began singing Broadway showtunes, and ended up a classical-voice major at Stanford University. "I had no concept yet of improvisation," she said. Nor had she interest in the Xeroxed stack of Taiwanese folk songs passed on by an elder relative.
That changed after she encountered Francis Wong, a saxophonist influential in San Francisco's "Asian Improv" scene. He persuaded her to embrace jazz and to pick up that stack of songs. "Francis showed me that there was something, musically, that could be related to jazz but also to my heritage," she said. "I didn't know what yet, but the door was open."
If Mr. Wong opened a door, Mr. Coleman pushed her through. At his insistence, she listened to Charlie Parker solos, sang Art Tatum's piano lines, sought out jazz elders such as Von Freeman. She also immersed herself in Mr. Coleman's music, a complex mixture of "drum chants" and harmonic patterns often based on esoteric influences.
"Steve challenged me to follow my heart," she said. By 2003, she'd quit her job and set off for Taiwan. After her return, she sang on Mr. Coleman's 2004 album, "Lucidarium." She's been a member of his group ever since. By 2005, she'd settled in New York.
Mr. Coleman recalled, "People used to ask why a singer was in the band. Nobody asks anymore. She's carved out her own space."
Surrounded by Western and Eastern instruments at her apartment, Ms. Shyu reflected on jazz scat-singing ("something I moved away from a long time ago," she said) and the idea of xü zi, a concept among indigenous Taiwanese musicians that translates roughly to "empty words"—words that no longer have literal meaning but are believed to hold the most potent feeling. As she finds a place of prominence within the landscape of cutting-edge jazz, hers is a personal search worth following. The libretto to one of her recent pieces quotes a Han Dynasty princess: "Where at the sky's edge is my native land?" -- By LARRY BLUMENFELD, photo by ED KECK
Copyright 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
~Interview in NEW FACE OF JAZZ by Cicily Janus (Order HERE)~
Program @ Vital Vox Festival, ISSUE Project Room, NYC, 11.12.10
Jen Shyu, vocals, piano, Taiwanese moon lute, East Timorese lakado, dance
1. Gu Bo Pwa (Mother Cow’s Companion 牛尾拌) Translation
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Zhang Ri Gui 張日貴
2. Hommage to Mestre Marsal
East Timorese song for Lakado, lyrics by Mestre Marsal de Jesus
In the past, our ancestors left just culture which is like gold...
These days are modern; culture has many faces; we cannot forget the culture of Timor
3. Qemaiaqaiam (Women sing) Translation
Tribal song from Puyuma tribe 卑南族, taught by Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe
4. Su Xiang Gee (Thinking Back 思想起) / Soomi Line Translation
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Yang Wu Bin Mei / Soomi Line music by Jen Shyu
5. Go Kang e Xiu Diao (5-hole Tune 五孔小調) Translation
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Chen Ying 陳英 / Arrangement by Jen Shyu
6. Sofia Sofria Translation Music by Jen Shyu, poetry by Patrícia Magalhães
7. Moxa Music + Lyrics by Jen Shyu
8. Elliptical / Wayward Son / Eu e Tu Translation
Music by Jen Shyu, Spanish text from Esteban Montejo in Autobiography of a Runaway Slave; Mandarin text from To the Air, The Wanderer 遊子吟" by Meng Jiao孟郊, translated by Innes Herdan (300 Tang Poems) / Portuguese poetry of Eu e Tu by Patrícia Magalhães
Program @ San Jose Taiwanese American Center of North America,
April 3, 2010
Jen Shyu, vocals, compositions, piano, moon guitar, and er hu
Introduction: Su Xiang Gee (Hengchun melody:Thinking Back 思想起)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Chen Ying 陳英
1. Wu Ya Hwee (Rainy Night Flower 雨夜花)
Lyrics by Zhou Tian-Wang 周添旺，Melody by Deng Yu-Xian 鄧雨賢
2. Shim Sung Sung (Heart Grows Sour 心酸酸)
Lyrics by Chen Da-Ru 陳達儒, Melody by Yao Zan-Fu 姚讚褔
3. Gwat Ya Chiu (Moon Night Sorrow 月夜愁)
Lyrics by Zhou Tian-Wang 周添旺, Melody by Deng Yu-Xian 鄧雨賢
4. Qemaiaqaiam (Women sing)*
Tribal song from Puyuma tribe 卑南族, taught by Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe
5. Su Xiang Gee (Hengchun melody:Thinking Back 思想起) / Soomi Line
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Yang Wu Bin Mei / “Soomi Line” music by Jen Shyu
6. Gu Bo Pwa (Hengchun melody: Mother Cow’s Companion 牛尾拌)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Zhang Ri Gui 張日貴
7. Su Gwee Chun (Hengchun melody: Four Seasons Spring 四季春)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Chen Ying 陳英
Arranged by Jen Shyu
8. Go Kang e Xiu Diao (Hengchun melody: 5-hole Tune 五孔小調)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Chen Ying 陳英
9. Bang Li Za Gwee (Hope You Return 望你早歸)
Lyrics by Na Ka-No 那卡諾, Melody by Yang San-Lang 楊三郎
10. Beibo Diao (Hengchun melody: Pingpu Tune 平埔調)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Chen Ying 陳英, new English lyrics by Jen Shyu
* Qemaiaqaiam (Women sing) Translation:
1. The leader tells us
2. The leader we chose
3. Each family spreads the word and works together
(verses not sung during performance):
4. That one with the cut hair
5. He consults with us all there
6. So we agree to act together
7. The men bring the women wickers from the mountain to take to the gathering place
8. Everyone holds the wickers tight
9. From afar, the streams of flowers in the women’s hair seem to dance in the wind
10. We bring the wickers through the south king’s main door
11. When the women bring their wickers to the tribe’s gathering place, the ceremony ends
Kumuli Ku Lis
1. We want to end this qemaiaqaiam song
2. We sing with beauty
3. We give thanks to the men who prepared the wickers for us
Program @ Houston Taiwanese Community Center's Mid-Autumn Festival,
October 3, 2009
Jen Shyu, vocals, compositions, piano, moon guitar, and er hu
Introduction: Su Xiang Gee (Hengchun melody:Thinking Back 思想起)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Chen Ying 陳英
1. Wu Ya Hwee (Rainy Night Flower 雨夜花)
Lyrics by Zhou Tian-Wang 周添旺，Melody by Deng Yu-Xian 鄧雨賢
2. Shim Sung Sung (Heart Grows Sour 心酸酸)
Lyrics by Chen Da-Ru 陳達儒, Melody by Yao Zan-Fu 姚讚褔
3. Gwat Ya Chiu (Moon Night Sorrow 月夜愁)
Lyrics by Zhou Tian-Wang 周添旺, Melody by Deng Yu-Xian 鄧雨賢
4. Qemaiaqaiam (Women sing)*
Tribal song from Puyuma tribe 卑南族, taught by Formosa Aboriginal Song and Dance Troupe
5. Su Xiang Gee (Hengchun melody:Thinking Back 思想起) / Soomi Line
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Yang Wu Bin Mei / “Soomi Line” music by Jen Shyu
6. Gu Bo Pwa (Hengchun melody: Mother Cow’s Companion 牛尾拌)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Zhang Ri Gui 張日貴
7. Su Gwee Chun (Hengchun melody: Four Seasons Spring 四季春)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Chen Ying 陳英
Arranged by Jen Shyu
8. Go Kang e Xiu Diao (Hengchun melody: 5-hole Tune 五孔小調)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Zhu Ding Shun 朱丁順
9. Bang Li Za Gwee (Hope You Return 望你早歸)
Lyrics by Na Ka-No 那卡諾, Melody by Yang San-Lang 楊三郎
10. Wayward Son / Eu e Tu**
Music by Jen Shyu, "To the Air, The Wanderer 遊子吟" by Meng Jiao孟郊, translated by Innes Herdan (300 Tang Poems) / “Eu e Tu” poetry by Brazilian poet Patrícia Magalhães
11. Beibo Diao (Hengchun melody: Pingpu Tune 平埔調)
Taiwanese folk song from Hengchun as sung by Chen Ying 陳英, new English lyrics by Jen Shyu
* Qemaiaqaiam (Women sing) Translation:
1. The leader tells us
2. The leader we chose
3. Each family spreads the word and works together
(verses not sung during performance):
4. That one with the cut hair
5. He consults with us all there
6. So we agree to act together
7. The men bring the women wickers from the mountain to take to the gathering place
8. Everyone holds the wickers tight
9. From afar, the streams of flowers in the women’s hair seem to dance in the wind
10. We bring the wickers through the south king’s main door
11. When the women bring their wickers to the tribe’s gathering place, the ceremony ends
Kumuli Ku Lis
1. We want to end this qemaiaqaiam song
2. We sing with beauty
3. We give thanks to the men who prepared the wickers for us
**ME AND YOU (translation of “EU E TU”) by Patrícia Magalhães www.prosoema.com
Press
Latest Jade Tongue CD review: in Time Out by David Adler
BayJazz proudly presents...
Jen Shyu & Friends
Debut Album Release: For Now
Debut Album Release: For Now
Jen Shyu’s imaginative song and dance draws upon jazz, Chinese, and Afro-Cuban influences. Jen presents both forgotten songs and brand new arrangements of standards with freshness and versatility. Moving from ballad, to Taiwanese folk song, to bolero, Jen and her ensemble explore sounds beyond set genres of music. Jen Shyu – vocals Reception party and CD signing will take place immediately after the event. **FOR NOW CD will be available at a special price of $12 |
| DATE: | Friday, May 24, 2002, 8:00 PM | |
| VENUE: | St. Gregory’s Church, 500 DeHaro Street at Mariposa, Potrero Hill, San Francisco 94107 Directions: http://www.saintgregorys.org | |
| TICKET PRICE: | $10 in advance – call 415-461-3180 Tickets $12 at the door |
BayJazz is dedicated in offering to Bay Area jazz aficionados an opportunity to honor, listen, and experience our talented local jazz musicians in a beautiful, unique, pristine venue with outstanding acoustics. We promise you “nothing like this anywhere else in the Bay Area.”
Commentary"JEN SHYU. 'For Now,' 4AM Music ANA2002. A new singer meriting close attention, Jen Shyu's jazz craft and sensibilities are contagious without pause on 'For Now.' With blithesome warmth she establishes a personal code of prompt connection and spirit. On this CD of 11 cuts, she draws on color, novel treatments, instrumental soloists, and energy of the total group. Their rapport shows up the effects of playing together as a collective for some two years in various configurations. Saxophonist Francis Wong, the lone horn player, is highly reputed for his captivating improvisations; he is responsible for motivating Shyu to sing in an open manner on 'Lover Man,' deserting the straight-ahead stance she previously adhered to on the tune. An unbounded mix of songs offers a spread of sources and challenges, illustrating Shyu's versatility and adventuresomeness. Some highlights include the percussive flavors on 'Caravan,' an atmospheric 'Nature Boy' without signs of tethering to form but revealing Shyu's radar sensitivity to its lyric line and space, and the strong rhythmic feel of 'Summertime' sticking out among countless other versions. Germane to her Asian cultural ties, her gentle voice is haunting on 'Spring Flower Waiting For Dew.' 'Again' was catapulted as a 1954 Vic Damone hit record from the flick 'Roadhouse'; Shyu does the tune more than justice. Complemented by a band of San Francisco Bay Area stalwarts--percussionist Jimmy Biala, bassist John-Carlos Perea, pianists Dee Spencer and Art Hirahara, plus Francis Wong, Jen Shyu meshes her soulfulness with integrity and élan. 'For Now' is a bright forecast for later!"
~Dr.
Herb Wong, "Jazz Perspectives,"
International Association
for Jazz
Education Journal, November/December 2002
“...engaging arrangements and empathy between the musicians at a high level. This is a very cool CD!”
~Wayne Wallace, composer and arranger
"I love Jen Shyu's vocal rendition of the Chinese song “Spring Flower Waiting for Dew” because she sounds like a bell from faraway that is alone on an island surrounded by the sea."
~Jon Jang, pianist and composer
“For those who have been astounded by her prodigious pianistic talents, Jennifer Shyu reveals herself to be a double musical threat with her debut recording as a vocalist. From torch song stylist to sultry chanteuse to Chinese folk songstress, Ms. Shyu commands a range of interpretive abilities on the eleven songs comprising FOR NOW. At once drawing from her classical training and then freely improvising on ‘Summertime,’ Jen Shyu demonstrates a rare versatility and soulfulness. Her treatment of standards such as ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ and ‘Nature Boy’ showcase her creative and collaborative rapport with her musicians including Francis Wong, Art Hirahara, John-Carlos Perea and Jimmy Biala.”
~Anthony Brown, percussionist and educator
“One of the joys of being a resident artist in the SF Bay Area community is seeing the resurgence of young new artists coming here to do their work. It’s been such a pleasure getting to know Jennifer Shyu and working with her on this project. Jen combines an open mind and an open heart with tremendous clarity and drive. I’m very thankful to Jen for drawing out a new voice for me in her choice of my soprano for most of the tracks. I really enjoy her phrasing and ability to let the moment happen; we always have a great musical conversation. Jennifer Shyu has gotten a lot done in a short amount of time and had a large impact in the community here in San Francisco. FOR NOW comes from a very rich experience with family, friends, school, the arts community and her musical collaborators. We are all very lucky to be a part of such a heartfelt offering.”
~Francis Wong, composer and activist