Somethin' Blue Chihiro Yamanaka

• 1 Somethin' Blue 08:31
• 2 Orleans 04:32
• 3 I Have A Dream 05:59
• 4 Un Poco Loco 05:52
• 5 Funiculi Funicula 06:29
• 6 A Secret Code 04:56
• 7 Pinhole Camera 05:44
• 8 For Real 05:31
• 9 On The Shore 06:44
• 10 You're A Fool, Aren't You 05:56
• 11 Go Go Go 04:46
• Total Runtime 01:05:00

Info for Somethin' Blue

Chihiro’s music pivots between her strikingly original compositions and her unique arrangements in which she accomplishes the impressive feat of introducing the element of surprise into some of the most famous songs in the jazz repertoire, contemporary popular music, and even the works of classical composers.

Chihiro takes this approach to yet another level with her Beatles tribute, the new CD Because, a groundbreaking disc that features some of the most creative reworkings of Beatles classics ever recorded. Along with the title track, "Because" (from Abbey Road), Chihiro transforms such great songs as "Yesterday" and "Michelle" into glittering vistas of her musical imagination.

Chihiro does all of her studio recording in New York City, working with some of the greatest talent in jazz, including bassist Ben Williams and drummer John Davis on her CD Molto Cantabile, a brilliant recording project in which Chihiro applies her imaginative arranging techniques to create an amazing fusion of jazz and classical music, featuring her own compositions and her arrangements of great works by such composers as Beethoven, Mozart and Liszt.

The year 2014 has already featured a milestone for Chihiro: Universal Music celebrated the 75th anniversary of Blue Note Records by releasing a CD compiled by Chihiro, My Favorite Blue Note, Chihiro's selection of classic Blue Note Records tracks by Monk, Blakey and many more great artists, with 2 new tracks by Chihiro herself. As a newly minted Blue Note recording artist, she appeared in the 75th anniversary celebration concert, "Blue Note Plays The Blue Note," at the Blue Note Tokyo, performing with an all-star cast that included bassist Ron Carter. Chihiro's relationship with Universal has flourished for several years, with her CDs released primarily on Universal/Verve until her recent switch to Universal's famous Blue Note imprint.

Chihiro performs regularly on 3 continents. Her recent U.S. concerts have included the Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, recorded for broadcast on National Public Radio's "JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater." In New York City, Chihiro's home base, her performances have included Iridium Jazz Club, the Blue Note, Carnegie Hall and Dizzy's at Jazz At Lincoln Center. Chihiro is active on the west coast (with repeat appearances at Yoshi's San Francisco, where her debut concert was a near-sellout at the 350-seat venue, and Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Dizzy's San Diego and the Blue Whale), in Boston (Café 939, Regattabar), where her popularity is influenced by her status as a Berklee graduate, and the Washington/Baltimore area (Blues Alley, Kennedy Center, An die Musik, Warner Theater).

In Japan, Chihiro routinely sells out the top jazz clubs such as the Blue Note Tokyo, she has topped the jazz charts with each of her Universal CDs, and as a classical pianist she has performed Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" with major symphony orchestras. She has become a multi-media celebrity in Japan, hosting her own radio show, making TV appearances, and authoring a book, "The Landscape With Jazz." She is a multiple winner of the JazzJapan Awards and the Swing Journal Reader's Poll, and she appears on the cover of JazzJapan Magazine with regularity. Jazz Life Magazine called Chihiro "one of the greatest jazz talents in decades."

The Chihiro Yamanaka "European Trio" makes 3 tours of Europe per year, and the band is especially popular in Italy, where its most celebrated concerts have included opening for Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Marcus Miller in the "Tribute to Miles" concert at the Umbria Jazz Festival. Elsewhere in Europe and the Mideast, Chihiro is a frequent visitor to Paris (performing at Duc des Lombards, Sunset-Sunside), Berlin (A-Trane), the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival, and many other destinations.

Keeping pace with Chihiro's whirlwind touring schedule is her prolific international recording career with Universal. In the past 2 years she has had four CD releases. Besides Because and Molto Cantabile, they include After Hours 2 and the U.S. release of Reminiscence. In the same period Chihiro and Universal also have released an EP, Still Working, and a DVD, Live In New York, videotaped at Iridium Jazz Club. The Live In New York DVD gives Chihiro's fans the opportunity to experience on video the spectacular visual presentation that has been seen by anyone who has witnessed the fireball of energy and virtuosity on display at a live Chihiro concert appearance.

In JazzTimes Magazine, Giovanni Russonello wrote a glowing review of Chihiro's set at the 2011 Umbria Jazz Festival opening for Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Marcus Miller. "The biggest surprise of the night (other than, maybe, seeing Miller lead a band that included Shorter and Hancock) was Chihiro Yamanaka. Opening for the Tribute to Miles band with her trio, the Japanese pianist tore into two originals at the top of her set, sounding a bit like Mulgrew Miller on classically trained steroids, and with a progressive bent. When she announced 'Take Five,' the crowd let out a gleeful 'ahh'—but they weren’t ready for the voracious re-harmonization, full of upward-creeping basslines and chromatic descents, or her mid-song interpolation of 'In Your Own Sweet Way,' retrofitted in 5/4 time. Right and left, jaws were dropping."

Chihiro Yamanaka, piano
Lage Lund, guitar
Jaleel Shaw, saxophone
Benny Benack III, trumpet
Yasushi Nakamura, bass
Kendrick Scott, drums
Mark Whitfield Jr., drums (on track 11)

Recorded April 19,20,21,22 2014 at Eastside Sound, NYC, New York
Recorded and mixed by Eric Elterman, Lou Holtzman

Chihiro Yamanaka
has been a Universal Music/Verve recording artist since 2005, the same year in which she was named Swing Journal’s “Best New Artist.” On the occasion of Universal's recent acquisition of Blue Note Records – in time for Blue Note’s 75th anniversary – Chihiro made the move to Blue Note. As a newly minted Blue Note artist, she has been a big part of the 75th anniversary celebrations, including a concert at the Blue Note Tokyo in which she performed with all-stars including bassist Ron Carter.

Chihiro, who most often performs and records in trio format, assembled a sextet for the Somethin' Blue sessions and created a new compositional universe that places this 2014 album in the lineage of classic Blue Note recordings. Her impressive technical mastery of the piano combines with her improvisational command to make her a member of the pantheon of great pianists who have recorded for Blue Note throughout its history.

Chihiro’s music pivots between her strikingly original compositions and her unique arrangements in which she accomplishes the impressive feat of introducing the element of surprise into some of the most famous songs in the jazz repertoire, contemporary popular music, and even the works of classical composers.

On Chihiro's 2013 CD, Molto Cantabile, she lovingly fractures classical gems, including one that has become a staple of her live shows, Beethoven's “Für Elise,” which is exposed to an improbable series of kaleidoscopic variations which could withstand the involvement of knuckles and which let loose a torrent of effects that could lead the listener to wonder whether it's the music of Beethoven or of Thelonious Monk. As this unusual music unfolds, one could easily imagine both Beethoven and Monk looking on with astonishment and, ultimately, complete approval.

Chihiro took this concept in a different direction with her Beatles tribute, the 2012 CD Because, a groundbreaking disc that features some of the most creative reworkings of Beatles classics ever recorded. Along with the title track, “Because” (from Abbey Road), Chihiro transforms such great songs as “Yesterday” and “Michelle” into glittering vistas of her musical imagination.

Chihiro does all of her studio recording in New York City, working with some of the greatest talent in jazz. Her recordings have featured prominent artists such as Jaleel Shaw, Ben Williams, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard, Kendrick Scott, Gene Jackson, Vicente Archer, Robert Hurst, Yasushi Nakamura, Yoshi Waki, John Davis and Bernard “Pretty” Purdie.

Chihiro performs regularly on three continents. In New York City, Chihiro’s home base, her latest appearance was a spectacular March, 2015 concert with her trio at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where she played to a sellout crowd. Her New York appearances in recent years have also included Iridium Jazz Club, the Blue Note and Carnegie Hall.

Chihiro is active on the west coast (with repeat appearances at Yoshi’s San Francisco, Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, and Dizzy's in San Diego), in Boston (Café 939, Regattabar), where her popularity is influenced by her status as a Berklee graduate, and in the Washington/Baltimore area (Blues Alley, Kennedy Center, An die Musik, Warner Theater). Among the highlights was her concert that opened the Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, a set that was selected for broadcast on National Public Radio's “JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater.”

In Japan, Chihiro performs to sellout audiences at large venues across the country, and all of her Universal CDs have topped the Japanese jazz charts. As a classical pianist, she has performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue with major symphony orchestras. She has become a multimedia celebrity in Japan, hosting her own radio show, making TV appearances, and authoring a book, The Landscape With Jazz.

Europe is fertile ground for Chihiro’s tours, which have included the Umbria Jazz Festival, Bologna Jazz Festival, Sunset-Sunside in Paris, Blue Note Milan, A-Trane in Berlin, the major venues and festivals in Rome including Auditorium Parco Della Musica, Roma Jazz Festival and Alexanderplatz, and a recent weeklong engagement at Marians Jazzroom in Bern, Switzerland.

Keeping pace with Chihiro’s whirlwind touring schedule is her prolific international recording career with Universal Music and Blue Note Records. In the past three years she has had six CD releases. Besides Somethin' Blue, Molto Cantabile and Because, they include After Hours 2, the U.S. release of Reminiscence, and a compilation, My Favorite Blue Note, on which Chihiro served as producer and contributed original music. In the same period Chihiro and Universal also have released an EP, Still Working, and two DVDs, Live In New York, videotaped at Iridium Jazz Club, and Live at Blue Note Tokyo. A Chihiro Yamanaka DVD gives her fans the opportunity to experience on video the spectacular visual presentation that has been seen by anyone who has witnessed the fireball of energy and virtuosity on display at a live Chihiro concert appearance.

Chihiro has received numerous awards, including Jazz Japan’s “Album of the Year” and the Japan Gold Disc Award for best-selling jazz record of the year, along with acknowledgments from critics, fans and musicians for her recordings and live performances. Jazz Life Magazine called Chihiro “one of the greatest jazz talents in decades,” and the late George Russell hailed her as “a very gifted and imaginative musician.”

In JazzTimes Magazine, Giovanni Russonello wrote an enthusiastic review of Chihiro's set at the 2011 Umbria Jazz Festival, opening for Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Marcus Miller. “Opening for the Tribute to Miles band with her trio, the Japanese pianist tore into two originals at the top of her set…When she announced ‘Take Five,’ the crowd let out a gleeful 'ahh'—but they weren’t ready for the voracious reharmonization, full of upward-creeping bass lines and chromatic descents, or her mid-song interpolation of 'In Your Own Sweet Way,' retrofitted in 5/4 time. Right and left, jaws were dropping.” (Courtesy of SF Media)

This album contains no booklet.