One of the Top 10 CD's of 2007

Chances Are made two of CODA Magazine's critic's top ten lists for 2007
Both John Norris and Steve Vickery included Chances Are among their favourite CDs of the year.

Jane is a trailblazer and a true original in Canadian jazz. She has always played with elegance and grace. Every phrase she plays comes from the heart. I hope this recording sets Jane Fair in her rightful place in the Canadian modern jazz history. She was there from the beginning, slugging it out, doing what I thought wasn't possible as a woman instrumentalist. She was my inspiration, teacher, and is one of my musical heroes.
- Jane Bunnett

It is my opinion that Jane Fair has been an under-appreciated and an under-utilized voice in the Canadian jazz scene for far too long. I have always been a big fan of her great saxophone playing and her honesty and integrity to the music and her commitment to the cause of jazz education. It is my sincere hope that Jane's wonderful new release Chances Are will go a long way towards exposing Jane to a wide new audience. This recording, simply left on its own, really can't help but bring her more of the recognition she so rightly deserves.
- Campbell Ryga

Jane Fair, both as a saxophonist and as a composer, has been a seriously under-exposed and under-valued Canadian talent. This recording finds her at The Cellar in Vancouver, with a trio of that city's finest. In lieu of saying "What took so long?", let's say "Hallelujah" for a disc which captures Fair and comrades revelling in the night's playing.
- Nancy Walker

.. her idiomatic versatility and her melodic strength as a soloist are greatly admired.
- Mark Miller

Reviews:

Tenor saxophonist/composer Fair is no "Jane-Come-Lately" to the Canadian jazz scene: CBC Records released her first and, to this point only, album way back in 1975. But while she's long been a musical polestar to the likes of Jane Bunnett, she's not widely known outside of Toronto. One hopes that this excellent CD — recorded live at the Jazz Cellar in March 2003 — will help to change that.

Fair has chops to burn. However as is clear from the CD opener — an up-tempo original entitled Fu's Feast — she prefers to take an almost leisurely, investigative approach to the music; she mulls over short phrases and spins them into intricate musical statements artfully punctuated with silence. She has a rich throaty tone and a languid way of phrasing that she puts to excellent use on the ballad Lazy Afternoon, one of two non-originals on the CD. Her quartet for this date was composed of Dave Robbins on drums, Jodi Proznick on bass and guitarist Bill Coon. While all are deeply involved in the music on this CD, Coon, who met Fair for the first time one day prior to this performance, deserves special mention. His ability here to support and enhance Fair's flights of fancy as well as his own highly melodic soloing, lifts him far beyond the role of sideman and into the realm of creative co-conspirator with Fair; rarefied company to be sure.
- Ron Forbes-Roberts (CODA Magazine - Issue 336, Nov/Dec 2007)

Tenor saxophonist Fair . . . is a major talent and an extremely under-recorded Canadian. This new release of a live session at the Cellar in Vancouver in 2003 has her joined over five tracks by Bill Coon, Jodi Proznick and Dave Robbins. Don’t miss her look at Strayhorn’s “Johnny Come Lately.”
- Len Dobbin (Montreal Mirror) 9/10 stars [link]

Jazz saxophonist Jane Fair is one of this country's great unknown musicians. A professional for more than three decades, she's divided her time between family, teaching and music, so her recording output has been minimal. This disc, recorded in 2003 at Vancouver jazz club The Cellar, is only the second she's put out under her own name, and lots of luck trying to find that first CD.

With an able supporting cast of guitarist Bill Coon, upright bassist Jodi Proznick and drummer Dave Robbins, tenor saxophonist Fair runs through three originals and two standards. On the opener, "Fu's Feast", she uses all parts of the horn, and utilizes space to great effect. The title track features a unison line with sax and guitar, and nimble brushwork by Robbins. Highlight of the set is the ballad "Lazy Afternoon", where Fair captures the poetic sensibility of the composition, holding notes and crafting phrases.
- Marke Andrews (Vancouver Sun) 3½/4 stars. [link]

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts which last year invested $26.3 million in music throughout Canada.
Nous remercions de son soutien le Conseil des Arts du Canada, qui a investi 26,3 millions de dollars l'an dernier dans la musique à travers le Canada.