Thursday, December 11, 2008

"Footprints in New York" by Kaoru Azuma (Jazz Artist from Japan)

RadioIndy is pleased to present Kaoru Azuma with a GrIndie Award for the CD "Footprints in New York"

"Footprints in New York" by Kaoru Azuma is a fantastic modern jazz album brought to life by a talented jazz vocalist. Kaoru, though born in Osaka, Japan, has honed her craft as an American singer and will leave you feeling musically satisfied and pleasantly soothed. She has certainly made her way around the New York jazz scene and her experience and poise shines through on her smooth, graceful vocal performances. The musicians behind her are certainly no slouches either. The performances are solid and the arrangements are creative, lively, well-layered, and compliment the vocals well. The album is well-produced, reflecting a perfect balance of instrumentation and vocals, and illuminates a sound that is very crisp and smooth. "High Wire" opens things up with a haunting vocal intro and evolves into an upbeat performance, both in the arrangement and in the vocal performance. "Footprints" invokes images of a smoky, low-lit room and features a great tandem between Kaoru's voice and the trombone. This track is fantastically heavy on the mood. "Turn Out The Stars" wraps things up with nice piano progressions that gives the hint of closure and an intimate vocal performance from Kaoru. This album will leave any lover of crafty and soul-filled modern jazz wanting more.-William
Check out Kaoru Azuma's music on RadioIndy.com with link to purchase and links to popular sites