Boston-based pianist Yoko Miwa has released a great new album called “Songs of Joy” on Ubuntu records. Official release date was last Friday, February 12.

A native of Kobe, Japan, Miwa studied with Minoru Ozone, a popular television organist and nightclub owner. Miwa worked at Ozone’s club until the great Kobe earthquake of 1995 destroyed it. She won first prize in a scholarship competition to attend Berklee and began quickly playing with students and teachers, including vocalist Kevin Mahogany, who chose the pianist to serve as accompanist in his classes and on his gigs.

On “Songs of Joy” she is accompanied by Will Slater and Brad Barett on acoustic bass and Scott Goulding on drums.

The album contains five originals which are the result of Yoko’s decision to start composing every day when the pandemic started. The six other songs have been carefully selected to match with the overall spirit of this recording.

The album starts with “Freedom” by Richie Havens, a powerful song and a powerful version by Yoko Miwa, the dense groove by bass and drums and the heavy-McCoy Tyner like chords create a great energy. Excellent and fantastic opener.

The album continues with “Largo Desolato” the first original by Yoko Miwa, the odd and modal groove in the A-part and the more conventional harmonies in the B-part of the song are in nice contrast and give this tune an interesting mixture. Yoko Miwa’s solo is again powerful and precise. As an encore of this song we hear a drum solo by Scott Goulding. One of my highlights on the album.

“Song of Joy”, somehow the title song of this album Billy Preston comes next. This beautiful ballad indulges in the great and simple harmonies and melody of this song. I wished this song would never end and just continue forever. Outstanding.

“Small Talk” is the next composition by Yoko Miwa and it is a nice and easy swinging tune in good contrast to the song we heard before. Nevertheless her solo is again impressive. A jam-style 4 x 4 exchange with drums finishes the solos.

“The Lonely Hours” another original by Yoko features Will Slater on bass. This soft and melodic song is in best modern European jazz piano trio tradition.

“No problem” by Duke Jordan increases the pace again. This medium-up jazz tune presents again a brave and hard swinging Yoko Miwa.

“The Rainbirds” is the next composition by Yoko. The piano lays out the latin groove and feel of this song. Will Slater gets another chance for a nice bass solo.

The album continues wit the Thelonious Monk composition “Think of One” . Yoko plays an interesting left hand with the simple melody. The solo starts and finishes as a dialog with the bass player and sounds quite Monk-ish. Will Slater on bass takes over seamlessly for his bass solo. A drums solo closes this very sophisticated version of Monk’s tune.

“Inside a Dream” is the last original on the album. Again, great melody and beautiful harmonies are the main characteristics of this easy song.

“Tony’s Blues” by Tony Germain is the next song. This minor standard blues is in a nice medium tempo allowing the band again to swing hard. Impressive block chords in Yoko Miwa’s piano solo.

The album closes with “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” by Anne Bredon. Brad Barett plays the melody on his bowed bass with soft drums and piano arpeggios. In the second half of this song Yoko Miwa and her powerful piano playing push this song significantly.

Yoko Miwa’s ninth album convinces with its great selection of originals and songs by other jazz, pop and folk musicians. Her piano playing is powerful and precise and always incredibly musical. Her fellow musicians on this album know how to support a pianist perfectly. So please listen to this album and enjoy the energy and the positive spirit of “Songs of Joy”.

Yoko has produced a lovely teaser video for this album which I would like to share with you:

More information is found on her website:
http://www.yokomiwa.com/

And here comes the album as playlist on Spotify:

Sinne Eeg – We’ve Just Begun

https://sinnemusic.com/

Danish jazz vocalist Sinne Eeg has released a new album together with the Danish Radio Big Band where she sings standards and original compositions with her as composer and/or lyricist. Excellent  arrangements, a hard swinging big band and a fabulous Sinne Eeg are the ingredients for an outstanding big band album.

RJ and the Assignment – Hybrid Harmony

http://rjandtheassignment.com/

RJ (Reginald Johnson) is a pianist from Las Vegas. Together with his band “The Assignment” he produced a great album that combines R&B and Jazz elements in a way which I haven’t heard since Al Jarreau or Chaka Khan in the ’80s. This album was my company for some weeks in the CD player in my car.

John Di Martino – Passion Flower

https://johndimartino.com/

John Di Martino is a composer, arranger, jazz pianist, producer and educator, based in New York City. His album “Passion Flower” features the music of Billy Strayhorn. He and his all-star quartet with tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Boris Kozlov, and drummer Lewis Nash swing their way through 14 of Strayhorn’s most significant compositions. Timeless jazz music played straight and very tastefully.

Clairdee – A Love Letter To Lena

https://clairdee.com/

Clairdee is a Jazz singer from San Francisco and she turned her long-time admiration for singer, actress, and civil rights activist Lena Horne into a beautiful album, that captivates with a relaxed and grooving band, great background vocals and an elegant and soulful Clairdee.

Finally a complete playlist with all songs from the four albums

German composer and pianist Florian Ross has released a new album “Reason & Temptation” on April 6 on his own label Toy Piano Records. This time it is with his quartet featuring

• Florian Ross: Steinway D Grand Piano
• Sebastian Gille: Tenor & Soprano Sax
• David Helm: Bass
• Fabian Arends: Drums

The quartet was in the Deutschlandfunk studio in Cologne to record Florian Ross’ latest large ensemble project “ARCHITEXTURE” involving 7 woodwinds and a Jazz quartet when it turned out that the last day of the production wasn’t needed. After a week of hard work of bringing very structured and detailed music to life (Reason), the quartet spontaneously decided that they wanted to use the extra time in the studio to ‘just play’ in quartet (Temptation). Florian Ross knocked together some of his favorite unreleased pieces as well as an old Ralph Towner favorite and the band went for it. The album is a fantastic collection of seven group improvisation pieces and six songs.

The album starts with “Progress Report”, the first of those originals from Florian. The solos by saxophone and piano are free and both soloists get excellent support by drums and bass to increase their dynamics during the improvisation. Rather special and very “wooden” is the saxophone sound, but I like it very much.

The next two songs “Dandelion” and “Ignorance is Bliss” are group improvisations. “Dandelion”, dominated by piano and saxophone, starts in a very ambiguous mood, but has a beautiful and atmospheric ending. “Ignorance is Bliss” is a dialog between saxophone and bowed bass with some soft support by piano and drums.

“Rondo #4″ is the next original by Florian and this song is my absolute favorite. A superb melody and a gentle swinging band make it also the most conventional song on the album. Nice solos by piano and bass.

The album continues with two more group improvisations titled “Shallow” and “Teriyaki Terrier”. “Shallow” begins as a dialog between piano arpeggios and bass. Calm drumming and just a little bit of long saxophone notes are added. “Teriyaki Terrier” features Sebastian Gille on saxophone, an interesting dialog between bass and saxophone develops which is extended by drums and later piano.

“Reckoning” is the next song, another original by Florian Ross, played very straight with a neat melody and beautiful solos by  Sebastian Gille on saxophone, Florian Ross on piano and David Helm on bass.

“Celeste” by Ralph Towner comes next. This gorgeous ballad is played very sensitive and gentle. Another highlight on the album.

“Make a Swish”, another group improvisation is the next tune. The piano starts as a fugue and stays rhythmically in that mood. Dynamics increase and the tune becomes darker to the end.

“Broomstick” is the next composition by Florian Ross. A heavy modulating theme and a groove that switches between Second Line and Latin for the saxophone solo and Swing and Latin for Florian Ross on piano. Great piano solo where Florian shows that he masters his tune and allows himself room for rhythmic freedom.

“U.A.F.” is the next group improvisation, the bass takes the lead here and piano and drums support him. The tune ends in a dialog between a steady bass and saxophone with little drums support.

“Reckoning” is coming next, we heard a  straight version before and this alternate version is much more open and free. Very interesting to compare the two versions.

The album ends with “Fever Dream”, a group improvisation that begins with a piano in ambiguous impressionistic style and natural sounds like birds singing. The mood changes but at the end the piano returns to the impressionistic sound and the album ends in this ambiguity.

“Reason & Temptation” is an an intensive album, 65 minutes of demanding music. The main characteristic is the variation between composed and improvised tunes which makes the album scenic, rich in contrast and diversified. With excellent compositions and outstanding musicians you have a perfect album in your hands. Please take your time and let this music in your ears, your mind and your soul.

An album teaser has been published on youtube:

More information about Florian Ross can be found on his website:
http://www.florianross.de/

And finally the complete album on Spotify:

Today’s album comes from Greek drummer Billy Prim and is called “Thalassa” which is the Greek word for sea. Billy lives and works in Budapest and he recorded this album with some great musicians from Hungary. The line-up is:

• Attila Blaho – Piano
• Andor Horváth – Double Bass
• Júlia Csillag – Voice
• Áron Turcsányi – Electric Bass
• Billy Prim – Drums

Billy explained to me the creation-process of this album:  “The whole album is a first take, we did not record any song a second time. At that given moment in my life I had the chance to realize and see the collateral beauty of effortlessness. Each song is not perfectly rehearsed, I wanted to give to every song a real feeling of pure energy and pleasure in our playing.”

The album starts with “Enlightenment” a very impressionistic song with the piano playing steady arpeggios and the drums producing the sound of waves and little stones at the beach.

“Waves of Emotion” is the next song and it stays initially in this impressionistic and melancholic mood, Andor Horváth on double bass enjoys a lot of freedom in his playing. The band increases the intensity and the dynamics at around 5 minutes and reduces volume for a very special bass solo.

Billy produced a nice video for this song:

“Keep the Child Alive in You” picks up much faster after the piano introduction before it switches to a very slow ballad. Áron Turcsányi on electric bass caters for the distinct sound in this song. This song is my personal highlight on the album, it shows perfectly the dynamic range which this band is able to master and you can feel the energy and the pleasure in the playing, which Billy explained.

“Én Felkelék” features singer Júlia Csillag. The melody she sings is a traditional Christian folk-song accompanied by drums and electronic keyboard, a complete different sound and mood but also very atmospheric, not in contrast but in addition to the other songs on the album.

The album closes with “Midnight Sea” returning to the classical piano trio line-up with Andor Horváth on double bass. He is also featured in his song. Piano and some soft drumming prepare the layer on which Andor Horváth improvises rather freely.

Billy Prim with the great support from an outstanding Attila Blaho on piano created a beautiful album that shows all the elements of contemporary European jazz music where a line is drawn from traditional and classical music into improvisational music. Especially Hungary seems to be the place where all those elements are easily accessible and where jazz musicians take advantage of them.

The reaction on the live performances are according to Billy Prim all very positive, even excited. So when being asked if the album shows the same level of spontaneity as the concert it is easy for him to answer with a simple “Yes” because the circumstances of the recording and the live situation during a concert are not really different. Congratulations on this album.

For more information about Billy Prim check out his website:

http://www.billyprim.com/

And here is the complete album on Spotify:

Pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton is back with a new album called “Dream a Little…”. The album is a duet with alto sax player Cory Weeds from Vancouver, BC, Canada. It was recorded live at Norah’s, which is a house in North Vancouver where Norah hosts intimate music events with an audience of about 40 people.

Champian has more details about Cory: “Cory and I made a record together in 2014, and we have wanted to make another one because we really enjoy playing together. Usually when we do a Canadian tour, we play one or two duo shows and it’s always one of our favorite gigs, because the duo setting is so loose and freeing”. Cory Weeds may be best known as the founder and owner of Cory Weeds’ Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver, which he successfully ran for more than 14 years. Weeds built the Cellar to become one of North America’s best Jazz clubs. He is also an excellent saxophonist with an endless number of great musicians he was able to play with.

Champian is very proud of this album, because it highlights her piano playing and singing more than any other album she has made.

The selection of tunes comes from fan requests and features some of the most popular tunes from the Great American Songbook.

The album starts with the title song “Dream A Little Dream Of Me” which sets the stage for the whole album, easy and relaxed playing, perfectly swinging with a well-adjusted balance between saxophone voice and piano.

“Fly Me To The Moon” comes next and even if this song is played and heard so many times the open interpretation of Champian and the excellent sax solo by Cory gave me great pleasure.

“Lullaby Of Art” from Champian’s “Speechless” album is the next song. This instrumental song gives Cory and Champian the opportunity for a longer and more expressive solo and both musicians make use of it. One of my highlights on the album.

The beautiful ballad “Darn That Dream” comes next. An open beginning with Champian singing and playing the piano , the second verse with saxophone fillings and then a very expressive sax solo  followed by an inventive piano solo which results in more than seven minutes of multi-colored entertainment.

“Pennies From Heaven” is then more steady with a walking piano bass line setting the foundation for Cory’s and Champian’s honky-tonk piano solo.

“Once I Had A Secret Love” increases the pace one more time and Cory Weeds gets another great moment to show his versatility and mastery with an excellent solo. Champian Fulton also plays a nice solo but she stays much cooler then Cory does.

The next song is “I Thought About You” and this is somehow the most important song on the album. More than nine minutes of rolling and growling of Champian on the piano and Cory Weeds in a bluesy mood give this song it’s character.

The album continues with a swinging “Tangerine” in nice contrast after the earthy and heavy song before.

“I’d Give A Dollar For A Dime” comes next and the duo returns to their open and soft ballad music with Cory using the space this setup gives him.

The album closes with “Save Your Love For Me” and this song shows one more time the fun both musicians have and how much they enjoy the freedom in a duo.

This is just a nice album, recorded in an intimate live session with no extra effects, so it is music pure where two great artists show how much fun musicians and audience can have playing and listening to these popular songs. If you want to bring this spirit in your living or dining room then order this album and you have Champian Fulton and Cory Weeds playing exclusively for you. Enjoy, you will not regret it.

Champian Fulton is permanently on tour, she will be in Germany and Scandinavia in November and she is quite often performing in New York City.  I saw here some years ago in Estavayer in Switzerland which was great fun and she promised to be back in Bern hopefully next year.

More details and tour dates of Champian Fulton are found on her website:
http://www.champian.net/

And finally a playlist of this album on Spotify: