Popular pianist Chihiro Yamanaka is visiting Japan with her latest album, Somethin' Blue. Her fellow performers are Benny Benack (trumpet), Jaleel Shaw (alto sax), Yoshi Waki (bass), and Kendrick Scott (drums). I was able to enjoy a fun and thrilling performance with her familiar New York friends. She is often seen playing in a piano trio, so it was refreshing to see her leading a two-horn quintet. Benack is a rising star who was praised by Wynton Marsalis in 2011 as "one of the jazz greats of the next generation." Although he still retains the appearance of a boy, his ability to freely play anything from a deep bass to a bursting high note is top-notch. Something Blue also commemorates the 75th anniversary of the founding of the prestigious Blue Note Records. In the former, Jaleel plays alto sax, while drummer Kendrick adds further momentum to the band with a variety of beats. The audience was thrilled by Yamanaka's incorporation of glissandos to get the crowd excited, and Kendrick's cymbal legato, reminiscent of Billy Higgins, one of the house drummers of Blue Note in the '60s. ~ Extract by Kazunori Harada, bluenote.co.jp.
Blue
Note Records, none, 2014
Recorded
26th September, 2014 at The Blue Note Tokyo, Japan
Musicians:
Chihiro
Yamanaka - Piano, Keyboards
Benny
Benack III - Trumpet
Jaleel
Shaw - Saxophone
Yoshi
Waki - Bass
Kendrick
Scott - Drums
Tracks:
1.
For Real {Yamanaka} (11:55)
2.
Funiculi Funicula {Traditional} (9:40)
3.
Pinhole Camera {Yamanaka} (9:21)
4.
Somethin' Blue {Yamanaka} (2:11)
5.
Yagibushi {Traditional} (11:17)
Total Time: 44:24
N.B.
This
rip is converted from DSD64 > WAV > FLAC [DR16]
Applause
has been edited for improved listening pleasure.
Artwork
taken from DVD [Blue Note UCBJ-1007]
Credits:
Producer
- Chihiro Yamanaka, Arranger
Executive-Producer
- Hirokazu Tanaka, Yoshihisa Saito
Recording
& Mixing - Atsushi Fujita
A&R
- Hajime Isogai
Art
Direction, Design - Kanako Okajima
Photography
- Asami Hoshino
