Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Kayo Hiraki: I Wish You Love

Kayo Hiraki: I Wish You Love

By C. Michael Bailey
June 30, 2011
View read count

Track review of "Ceora"

Japanese pianist Kayo Hiraki is in search of her audience. She has self-released a smart set of standards in the trio format that is garnering attention from all quarters of the jazz writing world. A ballad specialist, to be sure, Hiraki resists the modern impulse to deconstruct, keeping the tunes intact and in congress with the composers' intentions.

To have been composed by a horn player, Lee Morgan's balladic "Ceora" translates well to the standard jazz piano trio format. Pianist Kayo Hiraki has a light-as-a-feather feel for the piece, presenting it in a straight-ahead fashion, eschewing Thelonious Monk and Horace Silver allusions in favor of her own dependable harmonic ear. Her approach is a light samba, kept mostly in Pat O'Leary's bass and Matthew Crawford's light Latin drumming. Hard bop never was so soft.

Track Listing

You And The Night And The Music; It's You Or No One; So In Love; Autumn In New York; Ceora; You Don't Know What Love Is; I Wish You Love; What Is This Thing Called Love; Day By Day; The Night Has A Thousand Eyes; Crazeology; Dream.

Personnel

Kayo Hiraki

piano

Kayo Hiraki: piano, Pat O'Leary: bass; Matthew Crawford: drums.

Album information

Title: I Wish You Love | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: Self Produced

PREVIOUS / NEXT

DC Jazz Festival: June 1-13, 2011
< Previous

Ottawa Jazz Festival, Days 4-6: June...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.