Alone, I would find myself improvising, sometimes about stories I imagined, sometimes to release my emotions.

'I played everything from film music to the works of Bartók and Ravel. She recalls improvising, almost from the beginning, in parallel with her studies. So I came to Norway to understand how this unique music evolved.'īorn in Wakayama, Japan, Ayumi Tanaka began her musical studies at the age of three, initially playing electronic organ. 'The first time I heard Norwegian jazz I felt that the musicians' expression was very personal,' she recalls, 'the quality of tones making the air feel alive. Tanaka met bassist Christian Meaas Svendsen and drummer Per Oddvar Johansen shortly after arriving in Oslo a decade ago and they have been developing their musical language together since then, exploring the implications of Ayumi's compositions, which draw inspiration from both eastern and western sources, from the sounds of nature and more.ĭeep interest in the work of Norwegian improvisers brought Tanaka to Scandinavia. No other contemporary piano trio sounds like this. Subaqueous Silence, Japanese pianist Ayumi Tanaka's leader debut for ECM – following two critically acclaimed releases with Thomas Strønen – is a strikingly original statement, conveying a musical atmosphere all its own, with its intensities and silences, its sense of mystery and dramatic tension. 'I am always seeking a music that comes from one's inner voice' - Ayumi Tanaka Ayumi Tanaka: piano Christian Meaas Svendsen: double bass Per Oddvar Johansen: drumsĮCM 2675 CD 6024 3842912 7 Release: 29.

He didn't get around to making his first solo album, Instant Vintage (2002), until after hits with D'Angelo ('Lady,' 'Untitled'), Lucy Pearl ('Dance Tonight'), and Bilal ('Soul Sista'). As the multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Tony! Toni! Toné! wound down in the mid-'90s, Saadiq eased into a second life as an all-purpose collaborator. In retrospect, that number one R&B/hip-hop hit - with its modern sound and clever incorporation of the melody from the spiritual 'Wade in the Water' - seems like a statement of intent that has guided the stylish retro-contemporary singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer throughout a discography of tremendous depth. Raphael Saadiq has continuously rejuvenated and reshaped aspects of traditional Black music since his breakthrough with Tony! Toni! Toné!'s 'Little Walter' (1988).

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