Label: Sunnyside Records, 2022
Personnel - Megumi Yonezawa: piano; Mike McGuirk: bass; Mark Ferber: drums.
Japanese-born, New York-based pianist Megumi Yonezawa releases her sophomore album on the consistently assiduous Sunnyside label. Resonance, a 10-song session recorded with her regular trio - bassist Mike McGuirk and drummer Mark Ferber - includes four interpretations of indelible standards, whose highlights are Coltrane’s “Countdown”, revisited with different flavors and displaying a classical innuendo in its inception, and the soulfully-brushed “Body and Soul”, whose main melody is elegantly stated in conjunction with McGuirk.
Although these readings will likely facilitate the connection with a wider audience, I was more impressed with the originals, starting with the title track, a waltz with a light, bright touch and silky harmonic roads where melody grows effortlessly. “Valley in Deep Sea” is another favorite, a springy, fully-improvised invention delivered with mystery and a deeper sense of awe.
The versatile tom-tom language offered by Ferber opens and closes “Lone Winds Blow”, an impressionistic exercise that doesn’t abstain from enjoyable modal bluesy, classical and Latin feels, which reflect more the trio’s intimate footing than any dynamic combustion. Yonezawa’s lines and phrasing are creative but her tunes eschew overstated tension, remaining temperate and fluid. That’s the case with the opener “Before the Wind”, which balances softness and straightforwardness with an asymmetric additive meter of 11/8. The trio works with a firmly articulated rhythmic premise that goes even further on “It’s All That Matters”. The sliding bass figure that introduces this piece morphs into a swinging walk that underpins creative piano storytelling. After McGuirk takes a solo himself, there’s a concluding vamp for the drummer.
“Yet Again at Will” keeps the momentum going with a waltzing cadence, and the session comes to a conclusion with a harmonically astute reading of Arthur Altman’s classic “All or Nothing at All”. Yonezawa and her trio mates make serious music, and by continuing playing together, they could open up exciting new horizons in the future. This is especially true if they loose discipline a bit to embrace wider portions of adventure.
Favorite Tracks:
02 - The Radiance ► 04 - Valley in Deep Sea ► 05 - Lone Winds Blow