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Yoko Miwa: Songs of Joy
Ubuntu Music

Like many an artist, jazz pianist Yoko Miwa has seen her life turned upside down by the pandemic. Her trio's longtime home base, Les Zygomates in Boston, permanently closed, the recording she'd planned on making had to be postponed, and her father died after battling Alzheimer's. Performance opportunities evaporated, and Miwa found herself in limbo with no visible end to the pandemic in sight. Yet when she finally did reenter the studio, the music she and bassist Will Slater and drummer Scott Goulding produced wasn't lugubrious. On the contrary, Songs of Joy lives up to its title with performances redolent of resilience, optimism, and, yes, joy.

A native of Kobe, Japan, the classically trained Miwa enrolled in 1997 at Boston's Berklee College of Music after winning first prize in a scholarship competition; she intended to stay for a year, but things turned out otherwise: now a long-time Boston resident, she's an associate professor in Berklee's piano department and her trio (under normal circumstances) a club fixture. Since 2000, she's released nine CDs, including Songs of Joy. She's a versatile and technically accomplished pianist, a player comfortable and conversant in classical, blues, gospel, r&b, and, of course, jazz. Sensitive during an introspective ballad, she can thunder for a hard-bop anthem elsewhere.

Though a four-month break preceded the trio's July 2020 studio session, the three have performed together for a decade and a half and so were able to re-connect instantly in the studio. In addition to the Saturday night residency at Les Zygomates, the trio also has performed on Friday nights at the Cambridge sushi bar The Mad Monkfish, where the three are joined at least once a year by singer Sheila Jordan, and it was she, in fact, who brought Billy Preston's “Song of Joy” to Miwa's attention. Purposefully conceived to offer solace and comfort to listeners seeking a respite from lockdown gloom, Songs of Joy combines five originals with covers that have helped the pianist survive this period with her spirit intact.

Chemistry in abundance marks the trio's playing, and energy pours forth. A McCoy Tyner influence is evident in the opening flourish with which her inspired cover of Richie Havens' “Freedom” begins. Her powerful block chords and rippling patterns join with her partners' responsive swing to open the album on a grand spiritual-jazz note. Elsewhere, other influences emerge, among them Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, and Benny Green, but Miwa's no clone. She's subsumed their styles into her own engaging, embracing attack.

While there is a ponderous quality to her “Largo Desolato,” the tune's effervescent swing, infectious melodies, and soulful inflections prove uplifting. Soul and lyricism are as key to the trio's reverent rendering of the Preston tune, the album highlight memorable for the rousing, at times funky blues-gospel feel that infuses her playing. Songs of Joy takes an understandably sombre turn for the lament “The Lonely Hours,” dedicated to Miwa's father. Her lyrical “Inside a Dream” is so Evans-like, it could pass for a veritable homage to his seminal trio with LaFaro and Motian.

Sparked by a frothy intro reminiscent of Miles's “Milestones,” Duke Jordan's “No Problem” is treated to a propulsive, dynamic reading by the trio. Her thoughtful take on Monk's “Think of One” is commendable for the way she subtly reinvents it without losing the essence of the original. Two covers close the album, the first “Tony's Blues,” a rollicking shuffle written for her by her now-retired Berklee colleague, Tony Germain, and the second a semi-plangent treatment of Anne Bredon's “Babe I'm Gonna Leave You.”

While the album's tone is generally upbeat, its greatest expression of joy comes from the performances. Miwa operates at a high level throughout, but Slater and Goulding are with her every step of the way. One imagines that once the three convened in the studio, all external concerns faded away when the playing began, with the joy of the title embodied in the rewards musicians get from communing in real-time. It's a feeling that transmits clearly to the listener, whose spirit is in turn summarily buoyed by the recording.

February 2021


	Yoko Miwa: Songs of Joy Ubuntu Music Like many an artist, jazz pianist Yoko Miwa has seen her life turned upside down by the pandemic. Her trio's longtime home base, Les Zygomates in Boston, permanently closed, the recording she'd planned on making had to be postponed, and her father died after battling Alzheimer's. Performance opportunities evaporated, and Miwa found herself in limbo with no visible end to the pandemic in sight. Yet when she finally did reenter the studio, the music she and bassist Will Slater and drummer Scott Goulding produced wasn't lugubrious. On the contrary, Songs of Joy lives up to its title with performances redolent of resilience, optimism, and, yes, joy. A native of Kobe, Japan, the classically trained Miwa enrolled in 1997 at Boston's Berklee College of Music after winning first prize in a scholarship competition; she intended to stay for a year, but things turned out otherwise: now a long-time Boston resident, she's an associate professor in Berklee's piano department and her trio (under normal circumstances) a club fixture. Since 2000, she's released nine CDs, including Songs of Joy. She's a versatile and technically accomplished pianist, a player comfortable and conversant in classical, blues, gospel, r&b, and, of course, jazz. Sensitive during an introspective ballad, she can thunder for a hard-bop anthem elsewhere. Though a four-month break preceded the trio's July 2020 studio session, the three have performed together for a decade and a half and so were able to re-connect instantly in the studio. In addition to the Saturday night residency at Les Zygomates, the trio also has performed on Friday nights at the Cambridge sushi bar The Mad Monkfish, where the three are joined at least once a year by singer Sheila Jordan, and it was she, in fact, who brought Billy Preston's “Song of Joy” to Miwa's attention. Purposefully conceived to offer solace and comfort to listeners seeking a respite from lockdown gloom, Songs of Joy combines five originals with covers that have helped the pianist survive this period with her spirit intact. Chemistry in abundance marks the trio's playing, and energy pours forth. A McCoy Tyner influence is evident in the opening flourish with which her inspired cover of Richie Havens' “Freedom” begins. Her powerful block chords and rippling patterns join with her partners' responsive swing to open the album on a grand spiritual-jazz note. Elsewhere, other influences emerge, among them Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, and Benny Green, but Miwa's no clone. She's subsumed their styles into her own engaging, embracing attack. While there is a ponderous quality to her “Largo Desolato,” the tune's effervescent swing, infectious melodies, and soulful inflections prove uplifting. Soul and lyricism are as key to the trio's reverent rendering of the Preston tune, the album highlight memorable for the rousing, at times funky blues-gospel feel that infuses her playing. Songs of Joy takes an understandably sombre turn for the lament “The Lonely Hours,” dedicated to Miwa's father. Her lyrical “Inside a Dream” is so Evans-like, it could pass for a veritable homage to his seminal trio with LaFaro and Motian. Sparked by a frothy intro reminiscent of Miles's “Milestones,” Duke Jordan's “No Problem” is treated to a propulsive, dynamic reading by the trio. Her thoughtful take on Monk's “Think of One” is commendable for the way she subtly reinvents it without losing the essence of the original. Two covers close the album, the first “Tony's Blues,” a rollicking shuffle written for her by her now-retired Berklee colleague, Tony Germain, and the second a semi-plangent treatment of Anne Bredon's “Babe I'm Gonna Leave You.” While the album's tone is generally upbeat, its greatest expression of joy comes from the performances. Miwa operates at a high level throughout, but Slater and Goulding are with her every step of the way. One imagines that once the three convened in the studio, all external concerns faded away when the playing began, with the joy of the title embodied in the rewards musicians get from communing in real-time. It's a feeling that transmits clearly to the listener, whose spirit is in turn summarily buoyed by the recording. February 2021