In the blurb, no less a pianist than Ahmad Jamal is quoted as saying "Yoko Miwa has been gifted with both extraordinary skills and the pure spirit that is necessary for great art. We love her musical gifts and her beautiful spirit as well." Coming from one who has those skills himself the adage that it takes one to know one springs to mind and justifiably so.
Miwa, whose musical journey began in Japan, moved to America when she won first prize in a scholarship competition to attend Berklee. Today she is a professor at the college teaching and enriching the lives of piano students.
Like so many of the current crop of jazz pianists, she is equally at home in both the jazz and the classical field successfully merging the two genres albeit with a strong bias towards the jazz end of the spectrum. Probably the best example of this since André Previn.
The material features compositions by Richie Havens, Billy Preston, Duke Jordan, Thelonious Monk, Tony Germain, Anne Bredon and herself. The trio are a solidly integrated unit with Slater and Goulding providing the foundation for Miwa's creative flights.
On the final track, folk-singer Anne Bredon's Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You, Brad Barrett steps in to play bowed bass. Whilst well played, it didn't grab me quite as much as the rest of the album.
It's only January but I can't imagine hearing many better examples of jazz piano at its best.
Lance
Release date Feb. 21 - Ubuntu Music UBU057.
Freedom; Largo Desolato; Song of Joy; Small Talk; The Lonely Hours; No Problem; The Rainbirds; Think of One; Inside a Dream; Tony's Blues; Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You.
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