Thursday, January 5, 2012

Yoko Miwa Trio, Live at Scullers Jazz Club


Yoko Miwa has come out with her fifth CD, which is a trio date Live at Scullers Jazz Club (self-released). It's a swinging affair, with Scott Goulding driving behind the drums and Greg Loughman walking and styling on the bass. Yoko manages to remind me in her block chords and left hand comps of Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal and the Milesian pianists Red Garland, Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly. But she does that so well and bubbles up a frothy head on the thing so who is complaining? The trio as a whole has that attention to detail that puts them near the top of the bop-and-after groups doing it today.

On this one the live ambiance clearly gets them cooking. They rip through a nice set of standards and less-standards, along with a couple of Yoko originals, and they do an excellent job throughout.

It may not be the music that revamps the piano trio for the future, but it swings, man, and Yoko's facility and imagination make it a delight.

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