Sumi Tonooka, Rufus Reid, Akira Tana - With An Open Heart (1984) [vinyl]

'With An Open Heart' represents Sumi Tonooka's first exposure on record, and there's going to be excited talk about her upon its release. The tracks that show her off to best advantage are those that catch fire from her fulgurous phrasing - horn-like in its linearity and melodic signification, percussive in its density and spring. "Piano is a percussion instrument," she says, and not surprisingly she lists among her influences a number of pianists of like mind, including Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Ahmad Jamal, and Nina Simone. But she's also been influenced by horn players. She says "I went through a period of listening to nothing but Dexter Gordon, admiring the way he swings so hard, and without overstatement. The composer Tonooka most admires is Duke Ellington, and writing music often becomes a synesthetic experience for her, as it was for him. Even with jazz suffering from a virtual mass-media blackout, it is easy for new recordings from unfamiliar artists to get lost in the shuffle. But 'With An Open Heart' is one album worth taking a gamble on. A gamble with a sure payoff, for Sumi Tonooka is an artist likely to be with us for years to come. ~ Extract from Liner Notes by Francis Davis. 

Radiant Records, RR5601, 1986
Recorded 8th & 9th August, 1984 at Classic Sound, New York 

Musicians:
Sumi Tonooka - Piano, Solo (#A5)
Rufus Reid - Bass
Akira Tana - Drums 

Tracks:
A1. Subterranean Dream (6:28)
A2. It's About Time (5:34)
A3. Now That I Know (4:13)
A4. Spur Of The Moment (4:01)
A5. Phantom Carousel (2:57)
B1. Sweet And Bitter Suite: Bittersweet (5:28)
B2. Sweet And Bitter Suite: Without You (4:49)
B3. Sweet And Bitter Suite: With An Open Heart (4:01)
B4. How Can This Be (6:29) 

All Compositions by Sumi Tonooka 

Total Time: 44:00

Credits:
Co-producer - Sumi Tonooka
Executive-Producer - Gei Zantzinger
Engineer - David Baker
Art Direction, Layout, Design - Harry Bates
Photography [Front] - Rich Dunoff
Photography [Back] - Corky Lee
Liner Notes - Francis Davis 

Rufus: "What impresses me the most about Sumi is that she knows what she wants to hear, and has taken the time to learn the roots of jazz and has synthesized it with her heritage, which gives her playing and music a different flair.” 

Akira: "The material on this album, composed by sumi reveals her inner strength, soul and beauty. Her playing is a personal statement of the highest order. Sumi Tonooka plays and composes 'with an open heart'.”