Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Toru Dodo: Dodo 3

212

Toru Dodo: Dodo 3

Toru Dodo: Dodo 3
Pianist and composer Toru Dodo was born in Tokyo in 1972 and has been living in New York for the past eleven years. Dodo3 is, as you'd suspect, his third release on the Japanese label Jazz City. This album was originally released in Japan in 2006 and was made available in the U.S. in 2007. As in the past, he records in a piano trio format, although I've previously heard him as the pianist for drummer Peter Zimmer's band.

Toru Dodo's band mates for this session are bassist Joseph Lepore and drummer Rodney Green. His presentation of mostly original material provides a good showcase of his compositional abilities. The two exceptions are Cedar Walton's "Bolivia" and a sparkling solo performance of Rodgers and Hart's "My Romance." The opening "R or B" is a busy and appropriate tune which somehow displays his apparently classical techniques. On "Arabesque," taken at a more relaxed tempo, Dodo brings the touch of Debussy into play.

I rather liked the infectious "Boneless & Skinless," while "NYUCS (New York Underground Car Service)" samples a subway conductor's announcements during a brief transit ride. "Giacomo Swing" is titled for classical composer Puccini and Lepore provides some tasty arco work. "For Mr. M (Sazao's Theme)" is named in reference to a Japanese animated character and is quite likeable.

Track Listing

R or B; Bolivia; Boneless & Skinless; Inside Bubbles; NYUCS (New York Underground Car Service); A Spiral Escalator; Arabesuque; Giacomo Swing; Brush Pitch; My Romance; For Mr. M (Sazae's Theme); T. Dog's Theme.

Personnel

Toru Dodo
piano

Toru Dodo: piano; Joseph Lepore: bass; Rodney Green: drums.

Album information

Title: Dodo 3 | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: JazzCity Productions

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter 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.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.