All About Jazz: CRIME ZONE Review by Chris Mosey

“Connie Han, dressed in skin-tight leather, tosses back her long and lustrous black hair, then walks like a prowling cat to the piano. She sits down, doesn't smile, looks darkly at the keyboard. She pauses then starts playing a percussive riff. Lights! The band emerges from the shadows and falls in behind her. 

Han, aged 22, from Los Angeles, has been playing piano and dreaming of this moment since she was five years old. "Another Kind of Right," the first number on Crime Zone, is a tune she wrote with Freddie Hubbard's "One of Another Kind" in mind. It's tough and provocative, just her style. She says, "The bridge is a swaggering Freddie Hubbard style of playing. Bill Wysaske (her drummer and general musical guru) arranged and curated a lot of what goes on here. It was his idea to make the transition from acoustic piano to Fender Rhodes for my solo. It gives the music a breath of fresh air. The song is definitely inspired by that post-bop, pre-fusion sound straight out of the late '60s and early '70s." Han knows where she's coming from and where she's going. With this album she's booking a place as a star in the jazz firmament of tomorrow.”

“Watch out for Connie Han, the face (and shape) of jazz to come.”

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All About Jazz Performance Review: Connie Han Trio at Smoke Jazz Club on October 4th, 2018

“Combustible is the first word that sprung to mind as pianist Connie Han opened her first set by spring loading her wily rhythm-mates, bassist Edwin Livingston and drummer/musical director Bill Wysaske through a twisty, bop energy homage to Freddie Hubbard, which, as she explained in her opening intros, she had recently composed.

After some humorous banter concerning her soon to be released debut Crime Zone on Mack Avenue Records, she embarked confidently into one of the tunes from it. "Gruvy" settled quickly into its groovy salsa swing. Her hands kin to the keyboard, roaming purposely across the landscape. Livingston proved himself an expressive soloist as Wysaske held center and Han vibrantly accentuated and punctuated both solo and groove. "The End of a Love Affair" featuring a crisply played solo from Han, was a tough, swinging salute to Brill Street and served as a spunky notice that Han clearly knows where the music comes from and how she can bend it to her will. "Crime Zone" with its punchy back and forth between bass and piano, sprung instantly to life.”

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All About Jazz Album Review: Crime Zone

Twenty-two year old pianist Connie Han comes at you flashy, fast, and furious on her Mack Avenue debut Crime Zone. But it's flashy and fast with more than enough sense of history and creative curiosity to keep your ear pinned to whatever device you're listening on. 

"Another Kind of Right" jumps from the start with short staccato bursts from Han that implore her born-in-the-groove bassist Edwin Livingston and drummer/producer/mentor Bill Wysaske to leap into the fray with her. Saxophonist Walter Smith III and trumpeter Brian Swartz begin winding around the groove and we're off to the races as Han's spirited solo shifts from acoustic to Rhodes, igniting flash-pots of post-bop and fusion. The time defying title track follows, with Han fully displaying a free-ranging, improvisatory flair and an inherent kinship with her instrument. Smith, to his credit, keeps up with and pushes her forward, towards the tune's exciting trio led false stops. 

Han has no trouble letting all her musical gifts hold centerstage at appropriate times throughout Crime Zone, and her interpretive strengths prove formidable. "Pretty Women" from Stephen Soundheim's 1979 musical thriller Sweeney Todd gets an engaging read, as she leads Smith, Wysaske, and Livingston through a languid, effortless take. Ditto Joe Henderson's hard bopping "A Shade of Jade." Han, her left hand a polyrhythmic, percussive fury, just has her way here, soloing madly with a willful and youthful confidence. 

"Southern Rebellion," another of the seven twisty Han/Wysaske originals, is a C-minor lightning strike, locking drummer and pianist in for a very heady run for the money as is "Extended Stay," another fun-house trio workout. Han proves plenty on her energetic and invigorating debut. Here's to her future and our appreciation of it.

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Musical Memoirs: CRIME ZONE Review

“Connie Han is an exceptional pianist with a style and a presentation all her own.”

“And polyrhythmic she is! This is one of those recordings that just seems to get better and better as it progresses. Here is a young, blossoming pianist who doesn’t just play expertly, but she has a passion brightly burning in her presentations. As she flowers, her obvious talent is glowing successfully, like a sunrise peeking through a cloudy morning.”

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French Jazz Website TRIBUNE2LARTISTE: CRIME ZONE Review

“An album that bears the mark of the passion of a young pianist with clever audacity. Listening, however, which carries the risk of an addiction, the audacity of the young Connie Han and its provocative nature make the stranger more exciting and the percussion of his game so alluring. A Crime Zone which one would like to tread too often, for the happiness of the senses. We strongly recommend it.” (Translated from French)

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