Local singer-songwriter Odessa Chen is self-taught on guitar and classically trained in cello and voice; she belonged to choirs specializing in medieval styles. Her singing is mellifluous as the late Jeff Buckley's, while her distinctive songs balance temperate emotional intimacy with wintry shoegazer and dreamscape ambiance. The history of her band (Devin Hoff, Rich Douthit, Roger Riedlbauer) is another plus, crisscrossing the Bay Area's indie-rock and cutting-edge jazz scenes.
