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3x3: Piano Trios: August 2019
Yoko Miwa Trio Keep Talkin' Ocean Blue Tear Music 2019 When Yoko Miwa and her trio-mates get to talking, it's no wonder they only want to keep going and going. Their playful bantering elevates everything on offer here, from a couple venerable standards through a handful of playful originals showing the same jaunty swing. The leader's style shows a fine mix of steadily catchy rhythms at the low end and smooth ear-pleasing leads on top. ...
read moreYoko Miwa Trio: Keep Talkin'
Pianist Yoko Miwa was born in Japan, but she has set up shop in Boston, where she teaches at Berklee College of Music. She has also—beginning in 2003 with Fadeless Flower (Polystar Records)—previously released seven CDs. The superb Keep Talkin' brings that number of recorded offerings from Miwa to eight. The music of Keep Talkin' says that Miwa has fully embraced an American state of mind, beginning with the title tune, a Miwa original that sounds like something ...
read moreYoko Miwa Trio at Scullers
Yoko Miwa Trio Scullers Jazz Club Boston, MA October 26, 2017 Inside Scullers' new smaller jazz nightclub downstairs, with its dark wood interior and low light, it would be quiet except for the wonderfully energized and spirited enthusiasm that internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Yoko Miwa brings to the stage. Exuding confidence--or more like pride without ego--Ms. Miwa brought her audience into the conversation about her life, her music and her passion for jazz. ...
read moreYoko Miwa Trio: Pathways
Yoko Miwa is a pianist operating in the Boston area whose stylistic reach touches on funky gospel, bluesy bebop and dramatic pomp. She and her long time trio jump out nicely from the first track, the surging gospel rhythms of Marc Johnson's “Log O'Rhythm," drummer Scott Goulding providing a solid shuffle foundation to Miwa's pounding. They also have fun cascading up and down on another Johnson tune, “After All" later on the disc.Miwa's original melodies on this disc ...
read moreYoko Miwa Trio: Pathways
It sounds like Boston-based pianist Yoko Miwa gathered her trio mates--bassist Will Slater and drummer Scott Goulding--outside the studio door and said: “Let's have some fun!" The result is Pathways, her seventh release as a leader, in a discography that includes Fadeless Flower (Self Produced, 2004), Canopy Of Stars (Self Produced, 2007, and Live At Sculler's Jazz Club (Self Produced, 2011). If ever there was a studio recording with the freshness and vitality of a live set, this ...
read moreMind
For Yoko MiwaShe knocked me out for a yeartook me to the tombsof Egypt, where she embalmedthe brains of the first tribeof jazz... with kindest careshe put them in their jarslabeled calligraphicallywith multi-colored lettersindicating Duke and 'Tranein a quicksand of sadness they reign,under her sash of silkin all her sweet milk,nursing it all in ...
read moreNovember (for Yoko Miwa)
On the ebony off-keys, your hands,your head in a veil of black mist, tonicto your turquoise evening gown. Poised as a turtle dove on an eave,you press an index finger on the ivory,liberating a passel of scales zooming down like falcons in a swarm,your colony and command,to a Japanese baseball diamond playing field for a perfect game,blossoming cherries shaking
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Portraits featuring Adalia... by Portraits Jazz Project
Contest Giveaway
ELIGIBLE WINNERS: 1 | DAYS REMAINING: 24
Prize: GroundUP Music Festival Tickets
Enjoy Three Days on the Beach with Snarky Puppy, Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Lettuce, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Lila Downs, Michael McDonald Acoustic Quartet, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Flor de Toloache and more—February 14-16, 2020 at the North Beach Bandshell in Miami, FL.
The winner receives a 3-day pass for two. Excludes travel or lodging.
Acclaimed by the New York Times as one of the “Top 10 Definitive Moments of the Decade in Jazz Music,” GroundUP goes beyond the typical festival experience, breaking down the barriers between audience and artists...
