CD review: Yoko Miwa Trio – Songs of Joy 2021: Video, CD cover

Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the signing of internationally acclaimed pianist/composer Yoko Miwa, to release her forthcoming album late this year.Yoko is one of the most powerful and compelling performers on the scene today. Her trio, with its remarkable telepathy and infectious energy, has brought audiences to their feet worldwide.

Their latest album, 2019’s Keep Talkin’, showcases Miwa’s fine playing and artful compositions and the trio’s uncanny musical camaraderie. DownBeat gave this recording four stars, calling it “a beautifully constructed album” and noting “the drive and lyricism of a pianist and composer at home in bebop, gospel, pop, and classical.” USA’s JazzTimes also reviewed the album favourably, praising Miwa’s “jaw-dropping degree of technique.” The album enjoyed seven weeks in the Top 10 on Jazz Week’s charts, much like its predecessor, Miwa’s 2017 release Pathways, which also made Jazz Week’s top 10 for a number of weeks. In a 2017 feature article on Miwa, DownBeat noted her “impressive technique and a tuneful lyricism that combines an Oscar Peterson-ish hard swing with Bill Evans-like introspection.”For the past decade Miwa’s trio has played regularly at major jazz clubs in their home city of Boston, as well as venues around the world. A favourite of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Miwa was chosen to play on “Marian McPartland & Friends”, part of the Coca-Cola Generations in Jazz Festival. She was also chosen to perform at Lincoln Center’s annual Jazz and Leadership Workshop for The National Urban League’s Youth Summit. Miwa also appears regularly at New York’s famed Blue Note Jazz Club and Birdland, and has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of jazz greats including Sheila Jordan, Slide Hampton, Arturo Sandoval, George Garzone, Jon Faddis, Jerry Bergonzi, Esperanza Spalding, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kevin Mahogany, John Lockwood and Johnathan Blake among others.

1. Freedom (6:19)
2. Largo Desolato (6:43)
3. Song of Joy (6:33)
4. Small Talk (4:23)
5. The Lonely Hours (5:16)
6. No Problem (6:13)
7. The Rainbirds (6:36)
8. Think of One (8:03)
9. Inside A Dream (6:02)
10. Tony’s Blues (6:23)
11. Babe I’m Gonna Leave You (8:26)

Yoko Miwa: piano;
Will Slater: bass;
Scott Goulding: drums;
Brad Barratt: acoustic bass (11)