Chien Chien Lu is a vibraphonist, contemporary percussionist, and composer whose Taiwanese upbringing, classical music education, and passion for R&B grooves crystallize into a fresh and distinctive approach to contemporary jazz. Lu’s fierce authenticity and jazz mastery shine bright on her September 2020 debut solo project, The Path, which spent 20 weeks on the Jazz Week Charts Top 20, earned Best Jazz Songs in Golden Indie Music Awards and three Golden Melody Awards nominations, four Golden Indie Music Awards nominations and led to Lu’s being named the “vibraphone rising star” in Downbeat Magazine’s 69th Annual Critics Poll. Lu’s band has also played many prestigious festivals including the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, and toured extensively in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Accompanied on The Path by an elite cast of musicians, Lu offers a unique, intersectional perspective on modern jazz as a Taiwanese-born woman vibraphonist with a masters in classical music from Taipei National University of the Arts as well as in jazz from University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

In her time as a classical percussionist, Lu has collaborated with composer Ching-Mei Lin and performed her marimba concerto for six-mallet marimba entitled Pulsing Wave, performed a solo percussion concert at Taipei Novel Hall, and in 2014, was named “Emerging Young Artist” for her work with her marimba duo at Taipei University of the Arts.

In 2015, Lu came to the United States to study jazz vibraphone with Philadelphia’s Tony Miceli, and graduated with a Masters of Music in Jazz Studies from University of the Arts in Philadelphia shortly thereafter. In 2017, she attended the prestigious Banff Jazz Residency under the direction of jazz pianist, Vijay Iyer, where she first met jazz trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. From there, Lu began to perform regularly in the U.S. and was invited to join the esteemed Jeremey Pelt Quintet.

In the next few years, Lu will continue to record and tour internationally with the Jeremy Pelt Quintet and her own band, and she plans to soon release a project in collaboration with bassist Richie Goods entitled, “Someday We’ll All Be Free.”

Photo credit: Stephen Pyo