Artist................... Keiko Matsui
Album.....................Walls of Akendora
Label.....................Emi
Genre.....................Jazz
Release...................01/21/2006
Street....................04/05/2005
Encoder...................LAME 3.97 beta
Quality...................--aps 44.1kHz/joint
# NAME TiME
01. Overture for the City 04:14
02. Crystal Shadow 04:06
03. Mountain Shakedown 04:09
04. Canvas 04:35
05. Akendora's Clock 04:58
06. Walking Through it 04:38
07. Blue Butterfly 04:35
08. Gentle Sands 04:36
09. Walls of Akendora 03:58
10. Bay of Destiny 04:09
Although her press materials since 2000 have trumpeted
her two wins as "Best Female Artist" at the National
Smooth Jazz Awards, the brilliant Japanese-born
keyboardist and composer is secure enough in her
genius, spirituality, and vast popularity (1.2 million
units sold to date) that she never limits herself to
one genre. Her recent Narada albums have been a happily
unpredictable mixed bag, with 2002's The Ring exploring
her new age and classical influences and 2004's
Wildflower going in a worldbeat direction, no doubt in
connection with her charitable efforts on behalf of the
U.N.'s World Food Program in Africa. Matsui fanatics
will no doubt be jumping all over maps of her homeland
looking for a place called "Akendora," but it's a place
of her own creation, where she runs to spend
contemplative moments and find peace. Wherever it is,
fans of her jazzier side are going to love this
collection. It includes trademark moments of lush piano
amidst big, booming percussive and orchestral drama
("Akendora's Clock"), but focuses more on spirited,
even swinging jazz, both free-form (as on the busy,
trumpet-laced, scratch-heavy, urban-flavored jam
"Overture for the City") and ultra-smooth (the
laid-back, catchy, and hooky midtempo ballad "Gentle
Sands"; the fun and playful "Canvas"). Unlike most
releases categorized as smooth jazz, this is infused
throughout with Matsui's unexpected creative textures.
"Blue Butterfly" starts out like a typical new age
number before evolving into a spacy, ambient jazz
exercise complete with wild piano runs and distant horn
calls. Husband and producer Kazu Matsui's unique,
bass-bubbling production textures on "Crystal Shadow"
turn its mainstream melody into a hypnotic,
thought-provoking piece. And her early genre classic
"Mountain Shakedown" is given a post-millennial
spruce-up, complete with trip-hop production textures,
a sped-up bassline, and some extra piano improvisation.
One could literally go on for days trying to verbally
capture the hundreds of surprises that fill a 44-minute
Matsui project. She's hard to categorize but always an
innovative delight to listen to.
We use LAME 3.97 now, which is approved.
43:58 min
60,7 Mb
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