Emily Yap Chua - Piano Odyssey - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Takashi Yoshimatsu's wide-ranging musical influences often combine jazz and rock elements with classical, folk and world music. This album focuses on a unique series of three solo piano works for the left hand, inspired by his great friend Izumi Tateno. These lyric and beautiful miniatures are saturated in nature and birdsong, as can be heard in the evocative Tapiola Visions and in the seven bouquets that form Ainola Lyrical Ballads which are dedicated to Sibelius. In Gauche Dances, we hear a sequence that includes the tango and boogie woogie, displaying how eagerly and ebulliently Yoshimatsu breaks boundaries.

Kevin Morby writes (and records, and imagines) at an almostincomparable clip, and his most recent album, This Is A Photograph,studies life, time and mortality through myriad lenses. It's a dynamic,buoyant record on big, heavy themes, so it only makes sense that Morbyfound he wasn't quite done with it on it's completion. More Photographs(A Continuum) finds new nooks, corners and vantage points. InchIf This IsA Photograph is a house that you have been living inside of,Inch says Morby,Inchthen More Photographs is, perhaps, the same home just experienceddifferently. As if you, it's inhabitant, have taken a tab of somethingpsychedelic and now, suddenly, you've replaced your eyeglasses withkaleidoscopes.Inch Here, Morby returns to his landmark album's bottomless themeswith new wisdom, new imagination, and the winking, looping callbacksthat tie his full body of work together in uniquely special ways.InchEverything you once thought was familiar,Inch he continues, Inchsuddenlyappears differently, shifting shapes, color and sonic landscapes.Inch InchFiveEasy Pieces RevisitedInch captures the same moment from Bobby's pointof view; InchThis Is A Photograph IIInch takes a similar tact, revisiting it'spredecessor from a different angle. InchTriumphInch explores more of themyths and deaths that surround Memphis, TN, this time inspired by BigStar's Chris Bell. And InchKingdom Of HeartsInch arrives as an origin story toboth This Is A Photograph and it's new companion. InchWith every collection of songs,Inch says Morby, InchI feel I must cast themout of me before moving onto the next project, and here I knew thatwhat I had begun with This Is A Photograph was not finished. Releasingthis collection is my tying a bow on that time and place in my creativelife.Inch With a luxurious nine tracks - three re-imaginings and six brandnew songs - More Photographs (A Continuum) is prequel, sequel a

It is a journey that the pianist invites the listener to embark on, writes Alain Drouot, jazz journalist from Chicago. Revealing a panorama of uncharted territories, the opener InchYumeInch suggests that it will be well worth the trip. Swiss pianist Stefan Aeby's first solo piano recording is the product of three and a half years of incubation and shows an understanding of what can be accomplished when taking advantage of a studio setting. Whether composed or improvised, the pieces all have a common denominator. All sounds come from the acoustic piano, but they can be distorted or modified through preparation, inserting all kinds of materials inside the instrument, and/or some processing via various electronic devices. This brings out one of Aeby's main traits his attention to detail. If making a distinctive statement and being forward-looking are at the forefront of Aeby's concerns, he does not forget the tradition as witnessed by his thoughtful re-harmonization of Erroll Garner's InchMistyInch that he complements with unobtrusive electronic flourishes.