The Things In The Past
by Ikumi Koyama
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Digital Album
Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card -
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumComes in four panel digipack
Includes unlimited streaming of The Things In The Past via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 7 days£10 GBP or more
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1. |
Don't Know Why
03:59
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2. |
The Things In The Past
05:03
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3. |
Fly Me To The Moon
03:39
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4. |
The Name Of Life
05:05
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5. |
Merry Go Round Of Life
03:27
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6. |
Wives And Lovers
03:58
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7. |
That Old Feeling
03:31
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8. |
Will You Still Be Mine
05:17
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9. |
Hopeful
03:38
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10. |
Blue Moon
03:13
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about
"Ikumi ... has a most attractive voice and a piano style which should find her ideally suited to some of the upmarket venues in the capital... One thing that struck me when I started playing this CD was the clarity of the sound. The engineer, Greg Dowling, who also owns the Elsden Music label has done a great job in recording Koyama and her trio. "
Mike Farmer - Bebop Spoken Here
The Things In The Past is the impressive debut album from Japanese jazz singer and pianist, Ikumi Koyama, and introduces a highly accomplished young musician who has a clear idea of her own identity coupled with a time-honoured and deep respect for her chosen idiom.
Ikumi arrived in London in February 2020 at a difficult time. Despite Lockdown restrictions, however, she was able to squeeze in some gigs in London, and in March 2021, she assembled an impressive cast of musicians and brought her own fresh and inventive ideas to the session. Her rapport with guitarist, Alban Claret is a joy to hear throughout.
Amongst her vibrant take on some well-known standards, her rendition of Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodger’s ‘Blue Moon’ is a knockout performance, Ikumi is keen to bring the diversity of the traditional and the contemporary. It should therefore come as no surprise that the singer/pianist also turns to her homeland with two compositions from Japanese composer, Joe Hisaishi. Hisaishi is best known for his Studio Ghibli film soundtracks, and Ikumi perfectly captures the composer’s intent in her arrangements of the optimistically funky ‘The Name Of Life’ (from the film, 'Spirited Away') and the lilting melody of ‘Merry Go Round Of Life’ from Howls Moving Castle.
Not to be outdone, Ikumi brings two of her own pieces with the title track that she describes as having “a groove that reminds me of ‘80s jazz funk and soul” and the delicate intricacies of ‘Hopeful’ that incorporate Oriental melodies to “create a healing texture”.
Throughout this impressive and warm recording, Ikumi reveals a herself to be a young artist steeped in jazz past and present with an eye on her own place in the future of the music.
Mike Farmer - Bebop Spoken Here
The Things In The Past is the impressive debut album from Japanese jazz singer and pianist, Ikumi Koyama, and introduces a highly accomplished young musician who has a clear idea of her own identity coupled with a time-honoured and deep respect for her chosen idiom.
Ikumi arrived in London in February 2020 at a difficult time. Despite Lockdown restrictions, however, she was able to squeeze in some gigs in London, and in March 2021, she assembled an impressive cast of musicians and brought her own fresh and inventive ideas to the session. Her rapport with guitarist, Alban Claret is a joy to hear throughout.
Amongst her vibrant take on some well-known standards, her rendition of Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodger’s ‘Blue Moon’ is a knockout performance, Ikumi is keen to bring the diversity of the traditional and the contemporary. It should therefore come as no surprise that the singer/pianist also turns to her homeland with two compositions from Japanese composer, Joe Hisaishi. Hisaishi is best known for his Studio Ghibli film soundtracks, and Ikumi perfectly captures the composer’s intent in her arrangements of the optimistically funky ‘The Name Of Life’ (from the film, 'Spirited Away') and the lilting melody of ‘Merry Go Round Of Life’ from Howls Moving Castle.
Not to be outdone, Ikumi brings two of her own pieces with the title track that she describes as having “a groove that reminds me of ‘80s jazz funk and soul” and the delicate intricacies of ‘Hopeful’ that incorporate Oriental melodies to “create a healing texture”.
Throughout this impressive and warm recording, Ikumi reveals a herself to be a young artist steeped in jazz past and present with an eye on her own place in the future of the music.
credits
released February 25, 2022
Ikumi Koyama: Vocals, Piano, Rhodes
Alban Claret: Guitar
Tom Mason: Double Bass, Electric Bass
Kuba Miazga: Drums
Ikumi Koyama: Vocals, Piano, Rhodes
Alban Claret: Guitar
Tom Mason: Double Bass, Electric Bass
Kuba Miazga: Drums
license
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tags
about
Ikumi Koyama Tokyo, Japan
Born in Yokohama, Ikumi began her musical journey on the piano at the age of two. She went on to study jazz piano at Shobi
University.
Since graduating Ikumi has toured and performed in Australia, Taiwan and her native Japan, arriving in London in February 2020 where she recorded her first album.
She is now back in Japan performing regularly at jazz clubs in and around Tokyo.
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