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Kimiko Kasai - Butterfly (1979/2005) [Vocal Jazz]; FLAC (tracks+.cue)

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Mike1985
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Kimiko Kasai - Butterfly (1979/2005) [Vocal Jazz]; FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Unread postby Mike1985 » 08 Feb 2019, 16:10


Artist: Kimiko Kasai
Album: Butterfly
Genre: Vocal Jazz
Label: Sony Music Japan
Released: 1979/2005
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
  1. I Thought It Was You (Hancock-Ragin-Cohen) - 7:10
  2. Tell Me a Bedtime Story (Hancock-Hancock) - 5:11
  3. Head in the Clouds (Graselli-Malanet) - 3:44
  4. Maiden Voyage (Hancock-Hancock) - 7:25
  5. Harvest Time (Hancock-Hancock) - 4:56
  6. Sunlight (Hancock) - 6:15
  7. Butterfly (Hancock-Burvick) - 6:16
  8. As (Wonder) - 6:17

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BUTTERFLY is an unusual 1979 pairing of Japanese jazz vocalist Kimiko Kasai with jazz legend Herbie Hancock. By unusual I mean that this isn't your typical jazz singer + acoustic jazz combo + pop standards program, as one might expect just because that format is very popular, even to this day. Keep in mind that in 1979 Herbie Hancock's solo albums (e.g., FEETS DON'T FAIL ME NOW) were downplaying his jazz-based keyboard talents in favor of trendy disco-funk grooves. The results were arguably decent attempts to make his mark on the dance floor but mostly forgettable in the long run (although such cuts as "Stars In Your Eyes" have held up surprisingly well). Well, on BUTTERFLY Herbie doesn't exactly duplicate that formula, but he's in the ballpark. Fortunately, Hancock brings along his electric arsensal of instruments plus sidemen mostly from his Headhunters-era recordings. The personnel includes bassist Paul Jackson, percussionist Bill Summers, reedman Bennie Maupin, drummer Alphonse Mouzon, second keyboardist Webster Lewis, and guitarist Ray Obiedo.

Although the musical results don't quite reach the heights of Herbie's outstanding mid-1970s fusion-meets-funk period, the more prominent incorporation of jazz elements not only makes for a considerably more rewarding listening experience than Hancock's disco-era albums, but is also generally compatible with Kimiko's vocal style. At times she reminds me a bit of such vocalists as Phyllis Hyman and Minnie Riperton, yet displaying more of an overt jazz background than those two musical legends. Where all of the above elevates BUTTERFLY over Herbie's own 1977-1982 recordings I would say points to two factors: 1) Herbie's jazz-based keyboards are more prominent in the mix (including acoustic piano at times), and 2) there's a bona-fide jazz-based vocalist to sing the tunes, rather than Herbie sounding like a robot singing via a vocoder as on his own albums.

Kimiko generally sounds impressive on the tunes, strongest on the ballads (e.g., "Maiden Voyage," "Harvest Time"), but also quite impressive on several re-recordings of Herbie's vocoder-sung cuts ("Sunlight," "I Thought It Was You"). Other songs include Hancock's "Tell Me A Bedtime Story," the title cut, "Head In The Clouds," and Stevie Wonder's "As." Even if BUTTERFLY isn't a perfect album, I admire Kasai's eclectic approach, mixing her more traditional jazz background with Hancock's electric sounds of the 1970s. Although on the surface BUTTERFLY might seem like an attempt to win friends in the pop marketplace -- forget for a moment that this album was not ever issued in the USA -- if you think about it this approach carries quite a bit of risk since she's attempting to bridge genres that often aren't on speaking terms. Yet on BUTTERFLY the potentially disparate elements consistently find themselves on the same musical page.
By J. Lund "jazzbrat"

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