Much better known in her native Japan (where she regularly tops the jazz charts), pianist Chihiro Yamanaka makes a strong claim to neo-bop mastery with Forever Begins, played with her trio, also featuring Ben Williams on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums.
Yamanaka takes a playful tone on the original opener, ironically called "So Long," establishing that she will play lightning runs, sometimes taking up the whole keyboard, to sinuous rhythms.
She acknowledges a major influence with Bud Powell's "Blue Pearl." Her "Cherokee" is a multi-part reinvention of the old swing standard, and she invests "Good Morning, Heartache" with unusual liveliness.
Not surprisingly, given her energy, she particularly enjoys Latin rhythms on "Saudade e Carinho" and "The Moon Was Yellow." And she moves toward post-bop with her nearly nine-minute take on Russell Ferrante's "Avance." American mainstream jazz fans who may not be aware of Chihiro Yamanaka (even though she is based in the U.S.) would do well to seek out this album and some of the pianist's earlier work.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | So LongChihiro Yamanaka | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 05:36 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 2 | Blue PearlBud Powell | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 05:43 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 3 | Summer WaveKyohei Tsutsumi | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 06:00 | 13 MB | 45 MB |
| 4 | CherokeeRay Noble | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 06:36 | 15 MB | 47 MB |
| 5 | W.W.W.Koichi Matsukaze | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 05:49 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 6 | Good Morning, HeartacheErvin Drake, Dan Fisher, Irene Higginbotham | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 06:30 | 14 MB | 36 MB |
| 7 | Saudade E CarinhoVerinha Falcão, Renan França, Renato França | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 04:45 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 8 | Forever BeginsChihiro Yamanaka | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 06:31 | 14 MB | 46 MB |
| 9 | The Moon Was YellowFred E. Ahlert, Edgar Leslie | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 04:55 | 11 MB | 36 MB |
| 10 | AvanceRussell Ferrante | Chihiro Yamanaka | Play | 08:50 | 20 MB | 59 MB |
| 61 mins | 140 MB | |||||
| 61 mins | 427 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fred E. Ahlert | Composer |
| 2 | Yasuhiko Asada | Design |
| 3 | Greg Calbi | Mastering |
| 4 | Tim Conklin | Engineer, Mixing |
| 5 | Ervin Drake | Composer |
| 6 | Verinha Falcão | Composer |
| 7 | Russell Ferrante | Composer |
| 8 | Dan Fisher | Composer |
| 9 | Renan França | Composer |
| 10 | Renato França | Composer |
| 11 | Irene Higginbotham | Composer |
| 12 | Hazime Horiuchi | Art Direction, Design |
| 13 | Katsuhiro Ichikawa | Photography |
| 14 | Kaoru Inoue | Design |
| 15 | Hajime Isogai | A&R |
| 16 | Kimitaka Kato | Executive Producer |
| 17 | Hiroko Kawachi | Executive Producer |
| 18 | Edgar Leslie | Composer |
| 19 | Howard Mandel | Liner Notes |
| 20 | Koichi Matsukaze | Composer |
| 21 | Kaoru Nakamura | Stylist |
| 22 | Ray Noble | Composer |
| 23 | Bud Powell | Composer |
| 24 | Yoshihisa Saito | Executive Producer |
| 25 | Hitoshi Sakaguchi | Hair Stylist, Make-Up |
| 26 | Kendrick Scott | Drums |
| 27 | Kyohei Tsutsumi | Composer |
| 28 | Ben Williams | Bass |
| 29 | Chihiro Yamanaka | Arranger, Composer, Piano, Primary Artist, Producer |
Chihiro Yamanaka
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |