10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
pleasing and melodic, April 1, 2001
This review is from: Whisper From the Mirror (Audio CD)
A jazzy-pop-new age blend, this incredibly smooth recording defies being put into a category, which is a testament to Keiko's unique artistry. All the compositions are by Keiko, and are fresh and inventive. The melodies seem to flow from one piece to the next in an endless stream and her musicianship is superb. She's joined on this CD with Derek Nakamoto's "synthesizer and programming", Kazu Matsui on shakuhachi, and Bob James plays piano on track # 11, "Everafter", a piece for 4 hands.
It's a CD that would make great background music, but without ever becoming bland or in any way mediorce...this is exceedingly fine listening, and its subtle nuances become more appreciated with each hearing.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Soothing Piano, June 2, 2000
This review is from: Whisper From the Mirror (Audio CD)
I love this album. It is my favourite of Keiko's. It is delightful to hear the voice and emotion of the piano through Keiko's playing. I have listened to this CD many times and as with much of Keiko's work, the more I hear it the more it grows on me. It is easily as good as Full Moon and the Shrine although different in its content. It shows an evolution of Keiko's career and her strength to carve her own furrow rather than continue with more derivations on the smooth jazz theme. My favourite tracks are 5, 10 and 11. I am also grateful to Amazon and the Internet without which I could not have found this CD so easily in England.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More good stuff from a talented artist, June 14, 2000
This review is from: Whisper From the Mirror (Audio CD)
I'm a huge fan of Keiko Matsui, I own all her albums, and this is more of the same of what we got in Dreamwalk and The Full Moon and the Shrine. Those were both great, so what's not to like? She still has the talent for mixing modern jazz with Japanese themes and coming out with somthing that just sounds good - clean, soothing yet energetic, varied and engaging but never harsh, keeping the spirit of real improvisational jazz alive. I think it will appeal to people who, like myself, like the "classic" jazz of Dave Brubeck but also enjoy the recent run of extremely popular Celtic artists such as Loreena McKennit and Enya who draw heavily on traditional themes. Keiko Matsui certainly has elements of all these artists (although I doubt posterity will group her with Dave Brubeck - but we'll see :).
That having been said, I do have some mild reservations about the new albumn. Her style has definately migrated a bit from the old jazz/traditional fusion of No Borders and Sapphire, which are probably my favorite albumns of hers. Nothing wrong with that, mind you, as she is an obviously extremely talented artist either way. Still, I found her earlier albumns to be more expressive and varied than her more recent recordings, which to my mind have wandered somewhat more towards pop-ish; ler latest three albums have become somewhat more of a sameness. I liked the variety of sax, her husband's Japanese flute, and vocal leads which have faded recently into more pure keyboard. She is a keyboard artist, fair enough; but the earlier albums had more of an ensemble feel which I find somewhat harder to find in Whisper from the Mirror.
None of this is to say that Whisper from the Mirror isn't quite good, which it is, and I think will have a somewhat broader appeal than her earlier music; it's certainly more accessible than A Drop of Water, which took me a while to really like. If you liked Dreamwalk and The Full Moon and the Shrine, odds are you'll like this one also. To my mind, though, her earlier albums (Sapphire, No Borders, A Drop of Water) are her best stuff, absolutely top-of-the-line, and this isn't quite up to those standards. If you don't have Sapphire, I'd pick up that first.
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