photo credit Enid Farber
Reservation Advised $18 cover/$20 minimum Tickets & Info New CD 
DownBeat Magazine April 2018  |
 |
 Track listing w/ track time
1. Evening Glow 6:23 Takaaki Otomo
2. New Kid In Town 5:00 Bernard Hofer
3. Django 5:13 John Lewis, arr. Bernard Hofer
4. LullWater 6:06 Noriko Ueda
5. Repetition 5:22 Neil Hefti, trans. Bernard Hofer
6. People 5:01 Jule Styne/Bob Merrill, arr. Bernard Hofer
7. Mars 5:57 Gustav Holst, arr. Bernard Hofer
8. Grandma’s Song 4:09 Takaaki Otomo
9. In Your Own Sweet Way 7:03 Dave Brubeck
10. To You 6:01 Thad Jones, trans. Bernard Hofer
11. Rush Hour 3:31 Bernard Hofer
12. Venus 5:09 Gustav Holst, arr. Bernard Hofer
Musicians
Takaaki Otomo-Piano
Noriko Ueda-Bass,
Jared Schonig-Drums
Composer Bernard Hoffer first heard jazz pianist Takaaki Otomo at a restaurant in New York and was impressed by his musicality, dynamic sensitivity, and beautiful harmonic sense. With bass player Noriko Ueda and drummer Jared Schonig, Takaaki
Born and raised in Kobe, Japan, Takaaki Otomo started the classical piano at the age of five.When he was 15 years old, he changed to jazz music, listening to the music of Oscar Peterson. He was taught by the pianist, Tadao Kitano, who is a famous music teacher in Kobe. In 2007, he won first prize in a jazz competition in Kobe. He belongs to the group Gingerbread Boys, which plays at a number of venues in Kansai area. In 2014, he moved to New York City. He has released a number of CDs as a leader and sideman as well. In 2008 his first CD Nightmare was released with Otomo as leader. During his career in Japan, he has performed with Kiyoshi Kitagawa and Lewis Nash. He has been influenced by Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Fred Hersch and Brad Mehldau. A pianist friend commented that only in New York can you find a local restaurant that serves elegant food and elegant jazz. It was in that venue that I first heard Takaaki play. Even on his abbreviated keyboard I could sense his musicality, his dynamic sensitivity, and beautiful harmonic sense. That first night I thought this could make a fine trio recording with Noriko Ueda on bass. What I learned later, when he was on a grand piano, was his technical proficiency. To complete the trio Noriko introduced me to Jared Schonig, who as it turned out attended the same school (Eastman) as I did. We selected five originals, four jazz standards, plus one Broadway show tune (Takaaki’s suggestion) and two Novelties from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. The originals include two exquisite tunes by Takaaki, a beautiful LullWater by Noriko, and two of my tunes written for this project. I first heard them play Brubeck’s Your Own Sweet Way in the club and loved the way they played it. For an up tempo, Neil Hefti’s Repetition though we miss Charlie Parker’s great solo. I thought John Lewis’s Django deserved another hearing, and, because we needed something languid, Thad Jones’s lovely To You, which works quite well as a trio, though sans Thad’s beautiful orchestral textures. At the time of putting this project together the film The Martian was a big hit in theaters, which gave me the idea to use Holst. What was interesting, was that Holst’s harmonies gave us a fresh aspect when used to play jazz upon them. —Bernard Hoffer
www.facebook.com/takaaki.
www.youtube.com/watch?v= Available From: Amazon • iTunes
NATIONAL PRESS CAMPAIGN:
JIM EIGO, JAZZ PROMO SERVICES, 272 State Route 94 South #1, Warwick, NY 10990-3363
Ph: 845-986-1677 / Fax: 845-986-1699 Cell / text: 917-755-8960 Skype: jazzpr omo
“Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”
NATIONAL RADIO CAMPAIGN
MICHAEL J. HURZON- THE TRACKING STATION
|
