REVIEWE
Eri Yamamoto Trio
Up & Coming
(Jane Street)
How long does it take to become a great jazz musician? Would you believe five and a half years? That would seem to be the case with Eri Yamamoto, a 32-year-old Japanese pianist who abandoned a budding classical career half a decade ago to pursue jazz studies at the New School. Yamamoto had no jazz background whatsoever when she arrived in New York from Kyoto—something I can personally attest to, having heard her stumble through standards some years back at the Loisaida bar that is now Manitoba’s. Saloon din tended to drown out Yamamoto’s trio until she started pulling out her originals; the attentive silence that greeted them clued me in that fresh ideas were on the way. Yamamoto’s maturity is instantly evident on the title cut/opener of Up & Coming, her self-produced debut. The deceptively simple melody line demands perfect timing, and Yamamoto raises the degree of difficulty by upending it with a bridge in modified waltz-time. The way this impacts her solo is particularly breathtaking: On one chorus, she applies single-note lines reminiscent of Lennie Tristano; next, she alternates running trills with off-kilter phrases; and finally just before a bass solo by John Graham Davis—she slides back and forth across drummer Ikuo Takeichi’s supple pulse.
And yet that’s only a small sampling of the pianist’s breadth and economy. The five originals included here are demonstrate an extraordinarily rich compositional sensibility—to say nothing of a delicate touch—and what’s most impressive is how they outpace Yamamoto’s takes on classics like Miles Davis’s “All Blues” and Vincent Youmans’s “Without a Song.” I haven’t caught Yamamoto’s trio since it took up residence in the Village at Arthur’s Tavern two years ago, but if the album is any indication, the time she’s spent at the rambunctious watering hole has taught her how familiarity combined with subtlety can move a crowd. That understanding is crucial for any musician hoping to become a great player as quickly as she has. Available at [email protected].

—K. Leander Williams

rankie Paris & Cold Sweat:    Here's a taste of what the music world says about Frankie Paris: “Frankie Paris has a talent that cannot be denied. His hard driving vocals present a dialogue that touches the many aspects of blues and R&B,” - Sherman Holmes, The Holmes Brothers;    “He's funky and funny and swings like crazy,” - “Blue” Lou Marini, Blues Brothers.   Frankie Parish has been singing the blues and R&B to New York City audiences since 1962.  He has played with the greats:  Bo Diddley, Kenny Neal, Jimmy Johnson, and The Holmes Brothers;  he has  performed at the top: for James Earl Jones, Paul Newman and others; and he has traveled the world, headlining gigs across the United States, Switzerland and Germany.   Frankie Parish formed and lead the house band on ABC television's Dana Carvey Show, and has performed at New York City's top venues including Birdland and Manny's Car Wash.  His voice can be heard on ad spots for the Nickelodeon TV channel and on various radio advertisements.   Frankie's energy, the unique style of his voice and his dynamic delivery, combined with the solid class of his musicians, creates an exciting experience for audiences everywhere he performs.   Frankie Parish is at Arthur's Tavern with his band Cold Sweat, who recently released a top notch recording, “Right Around the Corner,” on the Bahoomba blues music label.

Singer-songwriter guitarist Raul Midon is the "spiritually and socially conscious, optimistic" (Miami Herald) new voice for our times. His compelling lyrics and melodies are captivating audiences everywhere and filling them with a sense of hope and healing in a shaken post September 11th world. "I like to celebrate the possible," says Midon, "the highest, the best of possibilities for human beings. Collectively, we create an enormously powerful force that can change the world and overcome any obstacle." His original works "Everyday" and "Freedom" echo these sentiments and can be heard along with eight more standout originals on his new, self-produced CD "Blind To Reality," (available only at midon.com).

Beating the odds and overcoming obstacles is something Midon knows about first hand. Born premature but healthy twins in rural New Mexico, he and brother Marco were blinded after being placed in incubators with high oxygen levels, destroying their retinas. Soon after they turned four, their mother died suddenly from an aneurysm. By age five, they were boarding students at a school for the blind where they distinguished themselves academically. An unknown benefactor enabled them to enroll in the prestigious Santa Fe Prep for high school, which necessitated a daily fifty mile drive each way from home by their devoted Dad. Despite the rigorous schedule, they graduated with honors. A perfect SAT score in English landed Raul in the University of Miami, graduating with honors and a degree in music and jazz guitar. His brother is now an engineer with NASA and Raul has been named Best Musician and Best Acoustic Performer consecutively in Miami's "New Times."

Midon has now emerged with his own group and original material as a sellout artist on Miami's Pop scene after several years as the first call background vocalist for Enrique Iglesias, Christina Aguilara, Shakira, Alejandro Sans, Ricky Martin, Julio Iglesias and Jose Feliciano, among others. He has just returned from The Santa Fe Jazz & International Music Festival where his crossover solo performance was sold out two weeks in advance, playing to a 'standing room only' crowd bolstered by heavy rotation of his new CD with interviews on radio stations from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. He accompanied Latin turned Pop diva Shakira on background vocals, guitar and mandolin for a media blitz that took him from New York to L.A. and included stints on Leno, Regis & Kelly, Rosie and MTV's TRL. He is currently writing and recording for renowned underground d. j. Little Louie Vega on his latest project.

Local press has covered every one of his rare solo performances with rave reviews.. ."the most musical artist working the scene"... "music oozes out of every one of his pores" "a mix between Seal and Stevie Wonder, amazingly melodic and fluid with songwriting that is solid and crafty" (Miami Herald). Midon, recently took the plunge and moved to New York City to further his career. "Anything worth anything starts with an idea, an `invisible' thing," says Raul. "You build your universe with your ideas. Like I said, I like to celebrate the possible!"