UMAMI

[Machine Translation] Chie Ayato, 68, made her debut at the age of 40, and now that she is approaching her 70th birthday, she has self-produced her latest work, "UMAMI". Which is my taste? I wonder if it's this one? The production of this album began with the question, "Which is my taste? The songs that are now ready to be released are Marvin Gaye and Tina Turner's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" with a band sound, Bacharach's "I Say A Little Prayer" with an organ, and again the chosen "Route 66" with a 68 year old version, which is even more jazzy. The result is even more jazzy as the 68 year old version of "Route 66". Hallelujah," which I heard on the street and wanted to sing again, is a deep prayer. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes", a well-known musical song, features magnificent strings. And above all, "My Blue Heaven (My Blue Sky)," the first song with Japanese lyrics ever on a Tomoe Ayato CD, evokes nostalgia. In addition to jazz, blues, soul, and pops, the songs and performances are one after the other in a comfortable and soothing manner. The sound of the band was entrusted to old acquaintance bassist Toru Nishijima, with Masaki Hayashi on piano, Kiyotsugu Amano on guitar, Jun Miyagawa on organ, and Koji Oshima (aka Yasshi) from BBBB on trombone, all Ayato fan families, All of them are groovy, fresh and jittery. On the other hand, the inner cover of the triple-folded paper jacket is filled with Ayato's pressure-written self-liner notes. And what a surprise! The inner jacket is filled with self-illustrated notes by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, known as one of the creators of "Gundam". Family portraits have often appeared in the inner pages of Ayato Chie's past works. Ayato learned about Gundam from her son through raising him, and she herself became a fan of Yasuhiko's works, so Ayato personally ordered Mr. Yasuhiko to create the work for her. UMAMI" is full of highlights that are worth listening to. It is full of the "umami" of Tomoe Ayato, which has been squeezed out of her as she has grown older.

綾戸智恵、68歳。40歳でデビューし古希が覗けてきた今、セルフ・プロデュースする今作「UMAMI」。「私の味ってどれ? これかなぁ!?」というところから始まったアルバム制作。満を持して登場する楽曲達は、マービン・ゲイやティナ・ターナーの「I Heard It Through The Grapevine」をバンドサウンドで、バカラックの「I Say A Little Prayer」をオルガンで、またしても選ばれし「Route 66」は68歳バージョンとして更にJazzyな仕上がり。街で耳にしてもう一度歌いたくなった「Hallelujah」で深い祈りを。ミュージカル曲として名高い「Smoke Gets In Your Eyes」では壮大なストリングスも。そして何といっても今作では、綾戸智恵CD史上初の日本語詞を歌唱「My Blue Heaven (私の青空)」が郷愁を誘う。そのほかにもジャズのみならず、ブルース、ソウル、ポップスと、沁み渡る歌と演奏が心地よく次から次へとやってくる。旧知のベーシスト西嶋徹にサウンド面を託し、間を奏でるピアノ林正樹、燻銀なギター天野清継、若き鍵盤野郎オルガンに宮川純、トロンボーンにヤッシーこと大嶋康司from BBBBといった綾戸ファンミリーとも言えるプレイヤーに加え、新進気鋭のドラム高橋直希での一発録りは、どれもグルービーで初々しくジワる。一方、三つ折り紙ジャケットのインナーには、綾戸の筆圧強めセルフライナーノーツがたっぷり。そしてなんと! 「ガンダム」の生みの親のひとりとして知られる安彦良和氏の描き下ろし作品が鎮座。綾戸智恵の過去作品のインナーには家族の肖像が度々登場している。子育てを通じて息子からガンダムを知り、そして綾戸自身も安彦作品のファンとなり、今回綾戸直々に安彦氏に発注し実現した。そんな聞きどころ見どころ満載の今作「UMAMI」。歳を重ねて絞りでた綾戸智恵の"うま味"がいっぱい!