May 2008

John Chin
Blackout Conception
Fresh Sound New Talent

By Forrest Dylan Bryant

Alternating between trio and quartet formats, pianist John Chin sticks to medium tempos and a ballad feel on this CD, painting gentle scenes in bold, vivid colors. He has a firm touch at the keyboard, but occasionally spices his straightforward declarations with pointillist elaborations. Saxophonist Mark Turner proves an excellent foil for Chin on four tracks, enhancing the ebb and flow of Chin’s pensive melodies and spurring the band to great surges of emotion that build inexorably, and then dissipate like dreams.