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Sumi Tonooka: Now

By Dan McClenaghan
June 19, 2012
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Sumi Tonooka is a resourceful jazz pianist who, along with alto saxophonist

Christopher Burnett

saxophone, alto
b.1955

" data-original-title="" title="">Christopher Burnett and tenor saxophonist

" data-original-title="" title="">Erica Lindsay, started the Artists Recording Collective, offering up Initiation (2010), an excellent quartet outing which Tonooka co-led with Lindsay, and a more intimate Tonooka-led trio effort, Long Ago Today (2008). A former student of piano legend

Mary Lou Williams

piano
1910 - 1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Mary Lou Williams and an alum of drummer

Philly Joe Jones

drums
1923 - 1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Philly Joe Jones' band, the pianist knows how to work in an ensemble. But going it alone is the ultimate challenge, and Tonooka ups the ante on that risky bet by releasing the double-disc Now, documenting a complete live show.

The first disc showcases Tonooka's prowess as an interpreter, opening with the much-covered "I Hear a Rhapsody." Tonooka's version is bright, breezy, with a dancehall feel that slips into a quiet reverence on the segue into

Duke Ellington

piano
1899 - 1974

" data-original-title="" title="">Duke Ellington's "Heaven," a tune—lovely and profound, with a shading of the ground-bound blues—for which solo piano seems a perfect vehicle. The familiar "I'm Old Fashioned" gets an unfamiliar reshaping as the pianist takes things up-tempo with a rollicking rhythm.

The set's thirteen minute highlight, "Mary Lou Williams Medley," blends saxophonist

John Stubblefield

saxophone
1945 - 2005

" data-original-title="" title="">John Stubblefield's "Baby Man," often performed by the legendary pianist, with Williams' own "Waltz Boogie" and her earthy "Dirge Blues." If "I Hear a Rhapsody" is the dancehall—a sunrise of sorts—this is the barroom deep in the dark night. Then, another dawn, with pianist

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk's "Evidence," full of hope and wonder, gives way to the elegance of Cole Porter's "All of You."

The second disc features five of Tonooka's original compositions, opening with the haunting "Phantom Carousel," lifting the night into a concert hall vibe with its brooding and ethereal sound. "Sojourn 1 and Uganda" melds two tune inspired by Tonooka's tour through Africa. The music switches from a sense of tumultuous mystery to bright, splashing beauty, with the pianist at her virtuosic peak.

"Mingus Mood," with its mournful melody, plaintive rhythm and restrained anguish, is reminiscent of its namesake, iconic bassist

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus' "Good Bye Pork Pie Hat," leading into the gorgeous, light stepping "At Home" before Tonooka encores with Eubie Blake's timeless and playful "I'm Confessin.'"

Tonooka covers a lot of stylistic territory on these two discs, in a perfectly sequenced show, and plays with a rare spirituality and musical sagacity. A superb solo piano outing.

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Track Listing

CD1: I Hear A Rhapsody; Heaven; I'm Old Fashioned; Mary Lou Williams Medley (Baby Man/Waltz Boogie/Dirge Blues); Evidence; All of You. CD2: Phantom Carousel; Soujourn 1 and Uganda; Moroccan Daze; Mingus Mood; At Home; I'm Confessin'.

Personnel

Sumi Tonooka

piano

Sumi Tonooka: piano.

Album information

Title: NOW: Solo Live at the Howland Cultural Center | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: ARC - Artists Recording Collective

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