Michiko Yoshino
May 19, 2009Jazz Bar Klavier, AsagayaMichiko Yoshino – vocalsToshiyuki Daitoku – pianoMark Tourian – bassShuichiro Ise - trumpet
Michiko Yoshino and band fit perfectly into the space of Jazz Club Klavier. Both band and bar are warm, sensitive and intimate. Yoshino’s vocals were as beautiful as ever, though her most recent CD is now several years ago. Listening to this evening’s performance to a full, friendly audience, it would seem clear her next recording should not be too far away.
The slightly unusual voicing of piano, bass and trumpet also fit with her vocals quite well. Yoshino’s singing is as much instrument-like as it is female singer-like. She is not in front of the band so much as deeply integrated into it. The band interplays with her well, and she is the kind of singer whose ego does not demand anything from them, but interacts with them as equals.On tunes like “Stolen Moments,” she sings right along with the trumpet, as if forming a two-horn front. That deep connection with the other band members also worked to connect her to the audience. The feeling is less of being performed to and more of being drawn into a lovely, spirited conversation.Yoshino sings in Portuguese easily and confidently. The two Jobim numbers she sang in excellent Portuguese really wowed the audience. And yet, Yoshino sounds just as authentic in the language of the blues, as on “The Meaning of the Blues” and “You Don’t Know What Love 
Is,” both delivered with heartbreaking sincerity. Whether bopping into modal tunes, like their version of “Footprints,” or on standards, Yoshino sounds fresh and into the lyrics. The tunes that opened space for her unique style of vocalese really shone. The way she solos on voice is striking and very original.Yet, she also enjoys delivering a fun pop tune like Joni Mitchell’s “Twisted,” or the tender, lovely “Fragile” from Sting. Like those songs, Yoshino is easy to like. The best singers always do so much more than sing. They tell stories, dredge up memories, and help us reconsider feelings. Yoshino’s vocals connect in all those ways. Don’t miss her!