Japanese Latin jazz Chieko Honda –
AQUARELLE: Sometimes the connections never “hit” until you read the promo sheets, or the album liners… Ms. Honda does some scintillating Japanese Latin jazz vocal work on this new release, but it’s hot on the heels of her work with “Os Clavelitos“; too cool!
This is Chieko’s debut release, and in addition to three cover tunes, you also get nine original compositions featuring her beautiful and breezy Latin-flavored vocals. As you listen to “Amanha“, you’ll hear that she has a true zest for creating and performing music that’s truly alive (I’m not a dancer, by any stretch of the imagination, lol, but this one had me up and strolling my little office floor with all kinds of flourishes, ha ha!).
The piano/guitar combination on “Bloom” (another original), helps to enhance Chieko’s already oh-so-sweet vocal… in fact, if you listen closely to this song, you’ll realize that she has created her own “style”, with a multi-cultural jazz beauty that can’t be imitated… she’s her own singer, to be sure – I loved this tune!
Of the twelve songs offered up, though, it is Chieko’s “Esquece” that is my pick for personal favorite on the album… one thing I can tell you – if you’re a lover of high-spirit, high-energy Latin jazz vocal work with true class, you’ll be hearing much more from this beautiful young singer in the coming months & years. I give her a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) rating of 4.98. Get more information about Chieko and her projects on the Chieko Honda website. Rotcod Zzaj
#japanese #Latin #jazz
