Jazz Articles about Tomoko Omura

About Tomoko Omura

Album Review

Aubrey Johnson: The Lively Air

Read "The Lively Air" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
August 17, 2026

Dopo il notevole debutto di Unraveled (Outside in Music, 2020), penalizzato nella diffusione dalla tempesta pandemica, Aubrey Johnson ritorna alla testa di un proprio ensemble, in cui va oltre il ruolo di cantante accompagnata ma è parte integrante delle dinamiche strumentali, nonché autrice di metà del repertorio. Dal passato organico ritroviamo solo il violinista Tomoko Omura che è anche autrice e arrangiatrice di un brano. Aubrey Johnson è un soprano di eccelse doti tecniche ed espressive, le cui ...

Album Review

Tomoko Omura: Branches Vol. 1

Read "Branches Vol. 1" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann

by Friedrich Kunzmann
January 7, 2021

Violinists come in many shapes, colors and sizes. In jazz, there are those who bridge the gap between classical music and a more improvised repertoire seamlessly, as seen with pioneers such as American avant-gardist Mark Feldman. There are others who go about their craft with a more rootsy approach to the improvised music tradition—as heard with virtuosos like Regina Carter. And then of course there's everything in between, from old guard veterans like Stephane Grappelli (also known as ...

Album Review

Tomoko Omura: Branches Vol. 1

Read "Branches Vol. 1" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
September 10, 2020

With Branches Vol. 1, award-winning violinist Tomoro Omura dives deep into exploring textures and melodic invention drawn from Japanese folklore. This effort is a contemporized display which validates Omura's vast instrumental abilities and also channels Japanese folklore as a launch-point for her superior composition skills. The recording is seductive, deeply emotional and meditative, and, simultaneously, elegantly refined. The album offers six tracks, each a fascinating voyage. “Moonlight in Vermont" gets such a re-imagined, polyrhythmic treatment that one ...

Album Review

Tomoko Omura: Branches Vol. 1

Read "Branches Vol. 1" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
August 28, 2020

If, as you start to yield willingly to the sumptuous, hypnotic Branches, Vol. 1, you should need to walk away and attend to other home/bunker business, try to keep at least one ear on the music. From any point in any room you might hear a gypsy laugh, a lover cry, a Celtic reel. A marvelous new touch on a centuries old instrument, bringing the ages together, gathering all the ley lines into one bustling hub. A rising ...

Album Review

Aubrey Johnson: Unraveled

Read "Unraveled" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
June 14, 2020

What does it take to move music from the strictly aural to revealing the more tactile elements like texture and consistency? Vocal artist, composer and arranger Aubrey Johnson, with her scoring hat on, demonstrates that intelligent instrument choice and subtle arrangement of notes in time coupled with sensitive sound engineering can produce music with a palpable touch and feel. On her debut recording Unraveled, Johnson curates a delicate collection of original and originally-arranged standards with an authentic organic finish and ...

Album Review

Aubrey Johnson: Unraveled

Read "Unraveled" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 27, 2020

Serving as a statement of elucidation, exploration and emotional reasoning, Unraveled lays bare a unique soul while presenting a clear-headed means of disentangling complex artistic threads. It's an album that's as sophisticated as it is accessible and as personal as it is universal in its line(s) of thought. In short, it's a debut destined to stand out from the pack. Over the past decade, give or take, vocalist Aubrey Johnson has carved out a unique niche with ...

Album Review

Annie Chen: Secret Treetop

Read "Secret Treetop" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
February 4, 2020

Nel suo secondo album la cantante cinese Annie Chen compie un bel passo avanti, imboccando un percorso più complesso ed eclettico, anche se meno accattivante rispetto all'esordio di Pisces The Dreamer. Se in quel disco del 2014 esprimeva la sua adesione ai classici modelli del canto jazz qui Annie sperimenta una sintesi tra jazz moderno e modelli vocali e strumentali di provenienza orientale. Scelte condivise da un organico culturalmente eterogeneo, comprendente il chitarrista polacco Rafal Sarnecki, il violinista giapponese Tomoko ...