“Chinatown Dreams at Joe’s Pub (Oct 2024) picked as one of the ‘Feature: 18 of the Best Solo Cabaret Shows of 2024’ alongside Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, and Kelli O’Hara”

“It is a stunning work that not only shines light on a dark chapter of history but also feels inspirational for contemporary listeners.”

“One of New York’s most socially relevant and ambitious jazz talents...”

”A Mighty, Harrowing New Suite... a phanstasmagorical song cycle...”

”What was most striking about the show was not only Chou’s ability to shift between musical styles, but her prowess as a lyricist.”

“[Stephanie Chou’s] Chinatown Dreams is a seamless blend of styles...creative and mesmerizing throughout, as it traverses sounds both old and new....Chou’s performance never wavers, and is a delight throughout.” ”

“It doesn’t take a degree in mathematics to recognize that Stephanie Chou’s music is a singular equation fashioned out of an idiosyncratic array of influences.

...A beguiling body of tunes shaped by her Chinese American heritage and deep engagement with various jazz, folk and pop idioms.

She’s written songs inspired by traditional Chinese music featuring her lithe vocals in Mandarin. She also sets ancient Tang Dynasty-era poems to music, crafts chamber pop ballads and writes instrumental post-bop jazz tunes. Rather than shedding her older pieces as she explores new musical territory, Chou continues to expand her far-ranging repertoire.”

“What makes Stephanie Chou’s music so much more interesting than most jazz these days? It’s a lot more tuneful, it’s often very playful, draws frequently on Chinese themes from over the centuries, and Chou isn’t afraid to take all this and rock out sometimes.”

”She’s a double threat, on the horn and the mic: she has a bright, edgy tone on the alto sax and sings in a soulful mezzo-soprano in both English and Chinese...”

”It’s a shock this album has slipped so far under the radar up to now.”

“To discover the music of Stephanie Chou feels much like first discovering one of the greats, like Bessie Smith or Ella Fitzgerald—the music produces a tingle down the spine as our ears fill with the sounds of genius that will live on far into the future. [...] Saxophonist, chanteuse, storyteller and mathematician [...] Chou’s dizzying array of talent is contrasted by a down-to-earth persona”

“…she [Chou] hit upon a novel expression for her sax—and her vocals—by embracing her Chinese heritage and using its musical folk and pop legacy to create a unique blend of traditional Chinese, classical and jazz. She showcased this superbly at Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium on Thursday, March 8 to a full house.”

“With her exquisite arrangements, she [Chou] led her quartet, including the standout of the evening string and erhu player Andy Lin…on a rousing and lyrical set focused on her impressive album Asymptote.”

“What was so remarkable about Chou’s performance was its tasty diversity of styles....”

“Chou is a strong singer with an unadorned mezzo-soprano, a strong saxophonist and a brilliantly individualistic composer who’s shifting the paradigm, blending Chinese themes from over the centuries with jazz, classical and more than a little rock in places... Her music is relevant, and lyrical, and amazingly eclectic...”

”...Penelope, a haunting, crescendoing backbeat rock ballad fueled by Lin’s aching viola and a spiraling, smoky sax solo. It would have been a huge radio hit for an artsy band like the Alan Parsons Project thirty years ago.”

”Making Tofu ... a moody jazz waltz with a gorgeous, sternly crescendoing meteor shower of a piano solo and ominously modal sax work. Who knew so much energy was required to make those innocuous little cubes!”

“Stephanie Chou’s musical style was one of the most diverse I have heard. A triple threat being a composer, singer, and alto saxophonist, she led her unconventional band [...] through ballads, Chinese pop/folk songs, her own pop songs about as diverse topics as advanced mathematics and unanswered letters as well as excerpts from her opera on Japanese atrocities toward Korean and Chinese women during WW2.

Most touching was her sharing with us her experience growing up as a Chinese American with a song about the tough job of making tofu and a tongue twister about eating grapes that were rhythmically recited in a highly original fashion. [...] Chou’s tone on the saxophone was sometimes unique, resembling that of a Chinese woodwind instrument. Tones that Charlie Parker never would have heard or thought of creating. Yes, the music does evolve.”

“Chou is a genuine talent on multiple levels. She created the work, book, lyrics, and music; sang the lead role; and played alto saxophone in the ensemble. She is a beautiful woman to look at, listen to, and appreciate on all these different levels [...] a unique sound that was both pleasant and alarming at the same time. Chou has handled this dichotomy brilliantly. Her songs and her strictly musical moments further the drama she is offering. ”

“Stephanie Chou is a genuine triple-threat in the music business. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays alto saxophone and piano at the level of virtuosity, and also sings in an expressive, highly personable manner with a wide range. Chou’s work challenges expectations and defies categorization, but its brilliance in terms of conceptualization and performance makes the music compelling and wholly enjoyable listening. The emotions in her soundscapes are real threads of the human drama.

Simply exquisite, the instrumentalists and Chou’s vocals [are] placed perfectly in the arrangements to create an unmistakable mood.”

“Steph Chou’s Prime Knot is as impressive a musical debut as it is intellectually challenging - a project born from the notion that the pristine beauty of pure mathematics (Chou’s primary area of study at Columbia University) can reflect and inform the immutability of musical inspiration. Using a simple Chinese melody as a recurring theme, Chou constructs an album packed with smart, hip arrangements, played with lively precision and marked confidence. It says a lot that she was to recruit such a talented group of players to help her bring her music to life - pianist Jeremy Siskind, trumpeter Marcus Printup, and drummer Ronen Itzik especially. It says even more that Prime Knot is her first effort - an unlikely treasure from a relative unknown that can stand next to most recent jazz releases.”