LIGHT'N UP

From the preceding MONOCHROME, Yoshida had begun working with a fixed band. Alongside Tsunehide Matsuki on guitar, Kenji Takamizu on bass and Shuichi Murakami on drums, she drew in Kiyomi Shimizu on saxophone and Takayuki Hijikata on guitar from the young experimental fusion band Players. They collided and fused through touring and recording, reaching a rare creative peak. The controlled beat, mellow space and beautifully coordinated ensemble seem to carve a brilliant advantage out of the heights, leaving us helplessly drawn in.

Driven by the beat, A1 builds tension with Leon Pendarvis's strings and David Sanborn's New York horns until it reaches a peak. The medium-mellow A2 lets her passionately engaged voice lead us with a softness like silk. A3 is a compact, lovely tune that wakes an appetite surrendered to pleasure. And A4, a slow ballad finely portraying both longing and the view beyond it, escapes into solemn beauty. Shuichi Murakami and Kiyomi Shimizu's mellow duet gives way to a leisurely but assured flow. The album moves ever deeper into our hearts. Before one knows it, one has become a resident of Yoshida's full musical world.