Description
Randy Bellous, executive producer
Los Angeles City Commendation for “Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis”
Yuko chose several Miles Davis favorites for this concert and recording, including Nardis, So What and Blue & Green. With underwriting support from Steven A. Block, Raulee Marcus and Leslie Lassiter, Yarlung commissioned Missing Miles, which Yuko created in honor of Miles himself. Missing Miles concluded the concert and we end with it on this album. Ann Mulally underwrote Ikumi’s Lullaby, an original composition by Yuko. Ikumi’s Lullaby opened our concert, but it comes as the fourth track on this CD.
Thanks to a welcoming invitation from Dr. Antonio Damasio, we returned to Cammilleri Hall at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC to give this concert and make this recording.
Neville Roberts (The UK’s HiFi Choice) writes “As anticipated, it is superb! The Lullaby gently relaxes you into the environment of… Cammilleri Hall. Yuko’s sympathetic rendition of ‘So What’ … was true to him, but with a freshness and energy that Yuko and her team imparted to the performance – wonderful… a real homage to Miles Davis, but with Yuko’s individuality imprinted on her super compositions.”
Toyota Motor North America joined executive producer Randy Bellous in underwriting this project. Read more about Yuko’s and Yarlung’s connections with Toyota in our Producer’s Notes link above.
After hearing Yuko perform in this concert, Aaron Egigian from Segerstrom Center for the Arts asked Yuko to open for Branford Marsalis in January, 2019. Billy Mitchell Productions made a small-camera video of the concert which you can enjoy on the Yarlung Channel. Yuko performs some of her repertoire from her Miles Davis album, but notice how differently she improvises classics like So What. Rick Brown reviewed the performance for Yarlung News and for The Absolute Sound.
It is a thrill to work with Yuko, JJ, Del and Bobby. I look forward to hearing what these young virtuosi create next.
–Bob Attiyeh, producer
Alan Bubitz –
Listened to it this morning and thought it was terrific. The recording was outstanding. Sounded very dynamic on my system. Keep up the great work you are doing.
Bob Attiyeh –
Thank you Alan! Much appreciated. We are so proud of Yuko, JJ, Del and Bobby. And we’re pleased they sound so good in your listening room.
Thanks and sincerely,
Bob Attiyeh, producer
Bob Levi –
Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! Mabuchi, Breton, and Atkins, oh my! Behind the curtain is the wonderful wizard, himself, Bob Attiyeh, and with JJ Kirkpatrick, the wicked internationally acclaimed trumpet player…. Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis is just like that…much better than superb. It is historic!
I listened to this concert performance over and over. It is compelling. It is lively. It is at times explosive. It is always original and filled with intensely new musical ideas from many old Miles favorites. Yuko Mabuchi plays so powerfully and rhythmically, like she owns this music, feels this music, believes this music. I could go cut by cut, but you understand if you like extraordinary jazz. This is the real deal.
Del Atkins’ bass is extreme, melodious, and new. He nails it over and over. When he solos you hear experience and love come together in the strings and explode. This is his best-recorded performance I know of. This is Ray Brown and more. I am very, very impressed and you will be too.
Bobby Breton finally cuts loose on Yarlung Records, at least the way I like it. He kicks it up and makes it happen. Finesse, power, and slam, it is all here, and great fun. This trio played at the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society Gala last December, and I sat a few feet away from them. Breton played exquisitely and rhythmically like a real pro, but here he makes the sun shine and the moon rise. What an artist and musician!
JJ Kirkpatric has matured and bloomed into a world-class trumpeter. His interpretations are 100% his. It is not Miles warmed over, not for a minute. I am a fan. I listened carefully and I buy into his thoughts and personal, heartfelt techniques. This is new, modern, exciting stuff and it will win your head and heart. When you hear these musicians and new interpretations just let it happen and flow.
With Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis do not look for the old—think new and fresh ideas. Think “Amadeus,” not Mozart….
Lean forward from your perfect listening position and lean into the recording venue. I kid you not. Textural layers have weight, authority, and drive. The… source rings true and lifelike. At a certain volume, try a bit louder or softer than usual, and the performers will pop into your listening space. The imaging is rounded and beyond precise. It is spot on mellifluous. This is Attiyeh’s best jazz recording effort to date. Van Gelder would have approved. It snuggles closely into an analog place, though it is a digital download. The warmth and weight of the instruments are so real, so right, Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis has become an audiophile jazz lover’s reference as far as I am concerned. It is audiophile gold.
Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis is a winner. I declare it a reference for audiophile performance and musical entertainment. It is a must-own and necessary addition for your library of great recordings and system demonstrations.
Please see my entire article here.
Robert H. Levi, Positive Feedback