Keyboardist/vocalist Hiroe Sekine caught a lot of people by surprise back in 2010 with her impressive debut disc A-me, including yours truly. This time around, she’s enlisted some of LA’s best guys, Bob Sheppard/winds, Larry Koonse/g, Darek Oles-Jimmy Johnson/b, and Peter Erskine/dr to mix her melodic originals with intriguing covers. She demonstrates her assertiveness on a fusion-styled take of Monk’s “Evidence” as well as her own “Spoon Key” which features some nice guitar work by Koonse. As with her debut disc, she leans towards gentle bossa nova, with her angular take of “Aqui O” and Jobims “Inutil Paisagem” as subtle as a silk tapestry. She duets on vocals with Arnold McCuller on a pastoral reading of The Beatles tune “In My Life” that gracefully glistens. This lady has a nice and creative touch, and something to add to the jazz lexicon.
Sekai Music