Chihiro Yamanaka - Somethin' Blue (2014)

Chihiro Yamanaka is an internationally renowned, hard-swinging jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader, whose fluid, athletic technique has drawn rave reviews and very favorable comparisons to legends such as Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum. She is based in New York. At age four she began formal piano studies. While she began with classical music and still practices it, she shifted her focus to jazz studies in high school. After graduation she attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She played with a wide range of musicians in Boston and in New York before heading back home to Japan after she graduated from Berklee in 2000 with honors. In 2014, Yamanaka moved from Verve to the Universal-owned Blue Note label just in time for its 75th anniversary. Her debut, Somethin' Blue, was a sextet offering, and in addition to originals offered striking renditions of Bud Powell's "Un Poco Loco" and Herbie Hancock's "I Have a Dream." It reached into the Top Five on the jazz charts. ~ Extract by Thom Jurek, AMG. 

I've always felt that Yamanaka's music is very aggressive. However, unlike aggressive musicians who tend to focus on technique or miss the mark, she tries to play the melody well, which I think that's why I never get tired of Yamanaka's music, even if I keep buying more of her albums. ~ kazukazu, Amazon.com. [Translated From Japanese] 

Blue Note Records, UCCQ-1016, 2014
Recorded 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd April, 2014 at Eastside Sound, New York City 

Musicians:
Chihiro Yamanaka - Piano, Keyboards
Benny Benack III - Trumpet
Jaleel Shaw - Saxophone
Lage Lund - Guitar
Yasushi Nakamura - Bass
Kendrick Scott - Drums
Mark Whitfield Jr. - Drums (#11) 

Tracks:
01. Somethin' Blue {Chihiro Yamanaka} (8:31)
02. Orleans {Chihiro Yamanaka} (4:32)
03. I Have A Dream {Herbie Hancock} (5:58)
04. Un Poco Loco {Bud Powell} (5:51)
05. Funiculi Funicula {Traditional} (6:29)
06. A Secret Code {Chihiro Yamanaka} (4:56)
07. Pinhole Camera {Chihiro Yamanaka} (5:44)
08. For Real {Chihiro Yamanaka} (5:30)
09. On The Shore {Chihiro Yamanaka} (6:43)
10. You're A Fool, Aren't You {Chihiro Yamanaka} (5:55)
11. Go Go Go {Chihiro Yamanaka} (4:41) 

Total Time: 64:54 

Credits:
Producer, Arranger - Chihiro Yamanaka
Recording & Mixing Engineer - Lou Holtzman
Recording, Mixing, Photography - Eric Elterman
Mastering Engineer - Greg Calbi
Photography - Kana Doi
Art Direction - Hibiki Tokiwa 

Pinhole Camera

Will Vinson - Live At Smalls (2013)

London born alto saxophonist Will Vinson has been making a name for himself in New York as an exploring, cutting edge musician. Noted for his work in Ari Hoenig's group Punkbop, Vinson has been defining his sound and his own working group. With guitarist Lage Lund (also a SmallsLIVE artist) and rising piano star Aaron Parks, Marcus Gilmore on drums and Matt Brewer on bass, this is a serious set of music that includes some shimmering originals. ~ Amazon.com. 

SmallsLIVE, SL-0035, 2013
Recorded 4th-5th December, 2012 at Small Jazz Club, Greenwich Village, New York 

Musicians:
Will Vinson - Alto Saxophone
Aaron Parks - Piano
Lage Lund - Guitar
Matt Brewer - Bass
Marcus Gilmore - Drums 

Tracks:
1. The Clock Killer {Will Vinson} (10:19)
2. Star Of Greece {Will Vinson} (7:47)
3. Swagger {Lage Lund} (11:58)
4. Stablemates {Benny Golson} (9:42)
5. Squeeze {Will Vinson} (7:14)
6. Morning Glory {Duke Ellington} (6:04)
7. Albemarle {Will Vinson} (10:39) 

Total Time: 63:48 

Credits:
Executive Producer, Producer - Spike Wilner
Producer, Mixing - Ben Rubin [House of Cha Cha]
Engineer - Jimmy Katz
Mastering - Gene Paul [G&J Audio]
Design, Photography - Michelle Watt 

Stablemates

Will Vinson - Promises (2008)

It's been five years since British expat Will Vinson released his debut as a leader, It's For You (2004), but the alto and soprano saxophonist has been anything but dormant. Promises, may have been a long time in coming, but it demonstrates Vinson's palpable growth as a player but also, and perhaps more importantly, as a writer. Vinson's playing continues down the road, his own voice is emerging more confidently on this quintet session that features other up-and-comers including Aaron Parks. Ever inventive, Parks solos with the kind of confident sense of construction that supports his increasing acclaim, while acting as an empathic rhythm section partner with bassist Orlando le Fleming and drummer Rodney Green (Ari Hoenig replaces Green on the staggered funk of "Philos O' Fur.") Vinson also enlists guitarist Lage Lund who represents the next wave of guitarists. Promises is a mainstream set of a decidedly modern bent, featuring eight Vinson compositions that lean largely to the acoustic and the complex. Lund isn't afraid to pull out the occasional electronic trick, including some looping and reverse attack throughout the ever-shifting "Adventures of Bagpuss". Even when Vinson moves into slower territory, it's hardly balladic, although it is lyrical in its own way. On "Rose Tint" he works again in tandem with Lund. Vinson's warm tone on alto, his main axe, smoothes out the occasional jagged edges of his improvised lines while le Fleming and Green, ever empathic, maintain a smooth as silk cushion that's augmented by Parks' atmospheric voicings. With increased confidence as a player and writer, hopefully Vinson won't have to wait another five years to follow up to this fine album of modernistic mainstream jazz. ~ Extract by John Kelman, AAJ. 

Nineteen-Eight Records, 19/8 1007, 2008
Recorded 22nd December, 2006 at Legacy Recording Studios, New York City 

Musicians:
Will Vinson - Alto & Soprano Saxophones
Lage Lund - Guitar
Aaron Parks - Piano
Orlando Le Fleming - Bass
Rodney Green - Drums (#1,2,4-8)
Ari Hoenig - Drums (#3) 

Tracks:
1. Albemarle (8:36)
2. Believer (6:16)
3. Philos O' Fur (5:44)
4. Rose Tint (6:37)
5. Adventures Of Bagpuss (8:31)
6. Promises (7:52)
7. Lagonic (5:44)
8. Leafy (7:02) 

All Compositions by Will Vinson 

Total Time: 56:22 

Credits:
Producer, Mixing - Will Vinson
Engineer, Mixing - Alex Venguer
Mastering - Michael Perez-Cisneros
Design - Rachel Gutek
Photography - Jessie Simmons
Photography [Inside] - Alexandros Lambrovasilis 

Will Vinson Promises Quartet @ Musig-Im-Ochsen