May Okita - Art of Life - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Mai-Liis has an ability to take life experiences familiar to all and tell them in a musically fresh and honest way, resulting in uniquely crafted songs brought to life by a great set of players. - Greta Matassa. With many years working between Seattle & Vancouver, BC as a performer, sommelier, and equestrian, it was through her return to writing over the last 4 years that led Mai-Liis ('My-Lease') to her complete musical voice. Working with Seattle pianist & arranger, Darin Clendenin, her words found their musical context, and with the production help of her friend and mentor, jazz vocalist Greta Matassa, Mai-Liis now presents her debut as a songwriter and vocalist. With her lyrics and voice offering an honesty and intimacy to life experiences, her songs such as the grooving InchDistance Man,Inch the haunting bolero-esque ballad InchFait Accompli,Inch or the blues, InchCarnage in Your Wake (A Love Song),Inch all create a world we can identify with. Featured on InchMai-Liis On LifeInch are trumpeter Charlie Porter, saxophonist Cory Weeds, guitarist Brian Monroney, and the rhythm section of Clendenin, bassist Clipper Anderson and drummer Mark Ivester.

Arts For Life - My Life Is Bold [COMPACT DISCS] Digipack Packaging date 09/25/2012

Digitally remixed and remastered edition. Originally recorded in September 1998 at legendary Ginza (Tokyo) studio Onkio Haus and released on CD only for the Japan market in 1999, Tree of Life is Midori Takada's best kept secret, a lost gem of minimalism and percussive ambient. The album is separated in two parts, the first one finds Takada exploring her trademark environmental soundscapes with precise mastery of marimba, drums, and bells, notably on the magnificent fan-favorite InchLove Song Of UrfaInch. The second half is a collaboration with Chinese virtuoso Erhu player Jiang Jian Hua, allowing Midori Takada to unveil new layers of her artistic mind with a slightly more theatrical approach and a beautiful crystallization of complex simplicity. The entire album was given a fresh new audiophile mix by Midori Takada herself and was mastered at Emil Berliner Studios, with half speed cutting for the vinyl version, to ensure an audio presentation aligned with the Japanese pioneer's vision.