About
"Outside
of the barrage of nightclub gigs
and casuals that most cats do
while they're coming up, my first
real gig came the summer after
I graduated from high school.
We played four consecutive sold-out
shows at Madison Square Garden
with Luther Vandross, Chic and
Larry Graham. Since the opening
moment of that first show, there
has really never been any doubt
as to what I wanted to do with
the rest of my life..." -Jeffrey
Chin
Jeffrey has been playing piano since the age of six, when he began his
formal musical training in classical piano under the tutlelage of Julia
McCaslin and Samuel Rodetsky. During that time, he won numerous scholarships
and awards, performing regularly in many open competitions and recitals.
After eight years of private lessons, his interests began to blossom;
he branched out and taught himself to play many other styles and types
of music, including what would eventually turn out to be his passion...jazz.
Jeffrey currently owns and runs his own recording
studio, production company,
music publishing company
and independent record label
(the latter two with his long-time friend and business partner, Steve
Creason).
Past
touring, recording and performance credits and clients include: Sylvester
and the Two Tons Of Fun, Bill Summers and Summers' Heat, Lenny Williams
(Tower of Power), Tremaine Hawkins, Chris Issak, Teddy Pendergrass, Little
Milton, Ray Charles, Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Dolly Parton, Don
Johnson, Everett Chambers, Orrin Keepnews, Malo (w/ Jorge Santana), Second
Wind, Attitude (w/ David Brown and Mike Carabello of Santana), Little
Anthony and the Imperials, Los Mocosos, DubAddxx, Columbia Artists ("Love,
Janis"), Oracle, Adobe, Netscape, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega, KRON,
KTVU, KQED, KMEL, Casio, TCI, the San Francisco 49ers, BMW, Filmworks,
Inc., San Francisco Fire Department, Anubis Entertainment, the Oakland
Raiders, the Oakland Atheletics, San Francisco Symphony, Sinocast, Oakland
Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Music Camp, NAACP and the San Francisco
Department of Parks & Recreation.
Armed with an array of keyboards and synthesizers or with nothing more
than an acoustic piano, Jeffrey is available for your recording sessions,
tours and live performances. He is also available as an accompanist, with
or without his "acoustic" and "electric" ensembles.
With a penchant to grow both musically and artistically, he is always
seeking opportunities to produce, write and arrange for both established
as well as new up-and-coming artists. And with a growing interest in corporate
and industrial work, he always remains open to collaborations with filmmakers
and directors to score original soundtracks in the film/motion-picture
and commercial industry. Demo reel(s) available upon request.
When in town and not recording,
Jeffrey performs live at various
venues with his ensembles as well
as with various artists, fellow
musicians and friends in the greater
San Francisco Bay Area. If you'd
like to be on his mailing list
to find out where you can come
out and see him perform publically,
feel free to sign up using the
form directly below.
Among
Jeffrey's production and arrangement credits is a 12-song jazz HDCD (which
was written up in Billboard Magazine, July 2001) for vocalist Shane
Kelly, recorded at Fantasy Records (Berkeley, CA) and Studio 880 (Oakland,
CA). You can click
here for the full list of credits and more information about the recording.
The CD is available for purchase at CD
Baby.com and Amazon.com.
Another CD that Jeffrey recently produced, arranged and played all keyboards
on is "Journey
Into The 14th Hour", released in October 2004. A compilation
of original material by native Bay Area songwriter/singer Anna Maria Flechero,
this CD is in the adult contemporary-smooth jazz genre and features some
of his friends and fellow musicians, including Billy Johnson (drums),
Ron Belcher (bass), Tim Landis (guitars), Ron Smith (guitar), Melecio
Magdaluyo (sax, flute), Charles McNeal (sax), John Santos (percussion),
Rafael Ramirez (percussion), Jeanie Tracy (vocals), Margo Leduc (vocals),
Tony Lindsay (vocals) and others. "There's something here for
everyone...elements of swing, bossa, samba, R&B and more."
Jeffrey further states, "These are songs about love, hope, trust
and many other issues that we all deal with on a day to day basis".
He sends out a very special thanks to recording engineer extraordinaire
Gary Mankin,
mastering engineer Steve Hall @ Futuredisc,
Alexis Paris @ Alexycon
Studios, Randy Rood @ Emeryville
Recording Company and to all his friends and fine musicians without
whom he could not have made this recording. This CD is also available
at CD Baby.com.
Last year, Jeffrey produced and arranged "Entelechy", a 10-song CD featuring all-original material by upcoming local Bay Area singer/songwriter Justin McKee. Featuring Billy Johnson (drums), Uriah Duffy (bass), Tim Landis (acoustic guitars, electric guitar leads), Aaron Arabian (McKee's friend since pre-school on rhythm electric guitar), this debut recording of ten original songs showcases the 19-year old Mckee's (songwriter, vocals and piano) virtuosity as well as creativity. Kudus again go out to engineer Gary Mankin @ Knob & Tube and Steve Hall @ Futuredisc Systems for yet another one! Released in March 2005, you can click here to preview some of the cuts or here to purchase the CD.
In May 2006, Jeffrey completed an original soundtrack (55+ minutes of music) for the mystery "Cassandra's Echo", an independent film both shot and set in current day San Francisco. It was composed, arranged, recorded and produced right here at Honu Recording. The film recently made its premier at the 2006 FAIF Film Festival, held at Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, CA. Click here to listen to samples from the soundtrack, and look for an official release date of November 12th for the movie on DVD. You can purchase your copy by visiting the official "Cassandra's Echo" website by clicking here.
Starting July 7th thru November 5th, you can catch Jeffrey perfoming in Columbia Artist's San Francisco production of "Love, Janis" at the Marines Memorial Theater, located in the Theater District of downtown San Francisco. The show is a celebration of the life and music of legendary singer/songwriter Janis Joplin. You can click here for more information about the show and to purchase tickets.
In November 2006, Jeffrey will be producing a jazz CD for singer/songwriter Anna Maria Flechero at Fantasy Records and right here at Honu Recording. Besides his acoustic and electric trios, featured artists include Cedar Walton and his trio (Lewis Nash, drums and David Williams, bass) and many others.
Jeffrey is also currently in the studio recording an acoustic trio project, as well as an adult-contemporary/smooth jazz project with his electric ensemble and special guests. Look for multiple release dates in the near future.
And be sure to visit Jeffrey on MySpace.com at http://myspace.com/jeffreychinmusic (jazz and commercial music), or at http://myspace.com/jeffreychinsoundtracks (music for film, television and interactive media).
To hear some excerpts and examples of Jeffrey's work (including the CDs
mentioned above), click here.