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Jazz Articles about Yasushi Nakamura
Veronica Swift: This Bitter Earth
by Mike Jurkovic
Borrowing music from Broadway (Oliver!, South Pacific, Bye Bye Birdie), alt-rock (The Dresden Dolls' “Sing!"), the great American Songbook, ("Getting To Know You"), R&B, and beyond, it takes an artist of sure and rising stature to curate one hell of a coherent protest album. Veronica Swift is that artist and, most declaratively, This Bitter Earth is that album. Since there is not a standard of any bearing that Swift doesn't defy and stamp as her very own, it ...
Continue ReadingVeronica Swift: This Bitter Earth
by C. Michael Bailey
It seems jazz vocalist Veronica Swift has been in the music business all of her life, and for good reason: There is the well documented fact that she is the daughter of jazz pianist Hod O'Brien and singer Stephanie Nakasian, and she debuted on record at nine years old with Veronica's House of Jazz (SNOB, 2004). Since that time, Swift has recorded in a variety of settings, including on the uniformly excellent The Birdland Big Band Live (CD Baby, 2018), ...
Continue ReadingRina: RINA
by Hrayr Attarian
Japanese pianist Rina's eponymous debut is intelligent, graceful and passionate, and showcases the young artist's multiple talents. A protegee of renowned pianist Makoto Ozone, who also produced the release, Rina received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music as well as other accolades, including third place in the 2018 edition of the international 7 Virtual Jazz Club's Contest. On Rina she also proves to be an exciting composer, as she penned all nine of its tracks. The ...
Continue ReadingChristian Sands: Be Water
by Mike Jurkovic
A small opus which rises from within, “Intro," unassuming title and all, begins Be Water, a true wealth of music which pianist Christian Sands has designed to flow not only like the awe-inspiring, fear-inducing title element, but like mercy, freely and without boundary. And so it does. For next is “Sonar," a romping festival of feisty performances from Sands and his core trio of bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Clarence Penn which is meant to assure each other ...
Continue ReadingAmina Figarova: Persistence
by Edward Blanco
Veteran jazz pianist Amina Figarova embarks on a bold new step with her genre-bending Persistence, creating a new sound for the pianist with music that produces an electric-influenced groove mixing funk-jazz, jazz fusion, hip-hop, classical and R&B rhythms found on this new exploratory album. After two decades leading an acoustic sextet, her new quintet ensemble, Edition 113 (named after the block where she and her and husband, flautist Bart Platteau make their home) was assembled specifically to perform the eclectic ...
Continue ReadingGene Ess: Apotheosis
by Chris Mosey
The inspiration for Apotheosis, Japanese-American guitarist Gene Ess's fourth album, is taken from mythologist James Campbell's book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces," first published in 1949. In this Campbell describes apotheosis as “the expansion of consciousness a hero experiences when defeating his foe." His theories concerning fictional heroes have been used as a template by many modern writers and artists, including George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars films. Now Ess is applying them to jazz. ...
Continue ReadingTessa Souter: Picture in Black and White
by Victor L. Schermer
New York-based vocalist Tessa Souter is becoming treasured among jazz fans and musicians alike. Equally effective in clubs, in concert and on her several fine recordings, she combines the sonority, vocal range and discipline of a classical contralto with subtle and sultry jazz inflections. Everything she sings is well thought out and in good taste. She works with the best instrumentalists and has a consummate grasp of both swing and the modern jazz idiom, as well as folk and world ...
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