Ikumi Koyama, a jazz singer/pianist from Japan, studied jazz piano in Japan and New York and is currently gigging in the London area. This recording features a mixture of well-known and lesser known standards plus two of her own compositions.
She has a most attractive voice and a piano style which should find her ideally suited to some of the upmarket venues in the capital that have good pianos. Ronnie Scott’s, Pizza Express, 606 etc.
One thing that struck me when I started playing this CD was the clarity of the sound. The engineer, Greg Dowling, who also owns the Elsden Music label has done a great job in recording Koyama and her trio. Also it’s good to see some care has been devoted to the design and production of the CD cover.
I was pleased to see Alban Claret in the backing trio. The guitarist impressed me when I reviewed the album The Collection way back in February 2021.
Tom Mason does an excellent job on both basses and the drummer Kuba Miazga, a new name to me, does all that is required in this type of band.
I think there are quite a lot of people who would like to see this lady and her trio on stage and I hope that she keeps on doing what she’s doing here in the UK and the rest of the world.
The tunes I enjoyed most were That Old Feeling and Wives and Lovers but all the others were interesting interpretations. Mike Farmer.
Available on Elsden Music.
Don’t Know
Why; The Things in the Past; Fly me to the Moon; The Name of Life; Merry Go Round
of Life; Wives and Lovers; That Old Feeling; Will You Still Be Mine; Hopeful;
Blue Moon.
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