x

Yoko Miwa / Press

“Pianist Yoko Miwa displays unpretentious melodies, elegant phrasing, and the lyrical sensibility of a jazz poet… she’s a remarkably fluent mainstream player with a graceful touch and a self-assured notion of where each tune is headed.”

Jazziz Magazine

“Listening to Yoko Miwa play the piano is like listening to the stars that shine at night twinkle at various decibels as they frame the celestial bodies in the evening sky with sound waves of elation and startling beauty.”

JazzReview.com

“Yoko Miwa demonstrates a full command of the inner-directed, post-Bill Evans piano idiom, which also takes in the work of Keith ]arrett and, to lesser extents, Chick Corea and Steve Kuhn… displays her burgeoning talent as a writer of melodically inviting, impressionistic material, as well as introducing a technically assured soloist with a clean, singing sound and an occasional penchant for the blues in pastels.”

James Isaacs

“Another outstanding Japanese female jazz piano star is with us, hard on the heels of the phenomenal Hiromi (reviewed twice here last month). This is already the second album as leader for Ms. Miwa. . . All nine tracks here are her originals and each has a song-like sense about them that seem to perfectly fit the album's titled Fadeless Flower - which is also a waltz-tempo tune on the album. She observes, “I’m always trying to sing when I play a solo, I mean sing through my piano phrasing.” Her trio members support her effectively by avoiding overstating their parts - especially the tasteful drummer. Not all the tunes are so lyrical however; some are straight-ahead swingers with some active bluesy left-hand chording. Her clean and singing sound is beautifully transmitted by the high quality recording on this new-to-me Japanese label.”

Audiophile Audition

“The pianist has an engaging way of repeating a phrase, drawing the listener in before she lets the melodic flow go free again, telling stories full of concise and beautifully-rendered ideas…. The variety of styles Miwa commands, while maintaining a start-to-finish cohesion of sound on Fadeless Flower, is impressive. A gorgeous and unpretentious set of straight-ahead jazz.”

All About Jazz

“Young mainstream piano trio aim for clean sound, delicate balance, inconspicuous beauty.”

Village Voice

“Her second album as a leader is one of the warmest, most unapologetically lyrical jazz albums of the year… Miwa displays her facility with a variety of styles on this all-original program….what's consistently impressive is her ability to deliver complex and challenging musical ideas in a compelling and yet frequently gentle and inviting way.”

All Music Guide

“This is trio jazz worth listening to. There is fiber in its congeniality. Like those talks with Carl Sagan, or more aptly, Leonard Bernstein. True intelligence is never boring.”

Tucson Citizen