Keiko Lee Who's Screamin'

Taking a stroll through Keiko Matsui's musical hypnotherapy session Dream Walk is like entering a funhouse where all previous definitions of contemporary jazz are strikingly distorted, and invention walks on the wild side of East meets West. Crisp melodies have always been at the heart of the keyboardist's best work, only here they come at you as part of the mood, rather than the central theme. Only a handful of the keyboardist's tunes follow conventional linear melodic patterns throughout, and even these are so beautifully enhanced by sweeping orchestral and percussive invention that atmosphere and throbbing, raw twists ultimately win out over predictability…

Keiko Matsui is usually classified as a jazz musician, which tends to mean that she doesn't get very good reviews, since she is reviewed by jazz critics, while her music actually is best described as a hybrid consisting of equal parts pop, jazz, and new age. Matsui can be an impressive keyboard soloist at times, but her recordings consist of textured tracks that find her featured playing set within a soundscape characterized by synthesized drums and strings. Whisper From the Mirror, her 11th album, is typical of her work, consisting of a series of four- and five-minute instrumental pieces full of shimmering, sustained sounds that pillow Matsui's delicate single-note runs and stately chord patterns. Derek Nakamoto's arrangements are occasionally stirring, but never frantic, and usually they emphasize flow over rhythm, just as the keyboardist shows more interest in sustaining moods than demonstrating her chops…

If there's such a thing as poetic music, Matsui continues her discovery of it on this effort. For all its beauty ad more aggressive touches, this collection doesn't quite measure up to her previous collection No Borders, but there are moments of fusion in her work here which cook like never before, thanks to Eric Marienthal, Gerald Albright and guitarist Ron Komie. While husband/producer Kazu Matsui adds his mysterious shakuhachi wind to "Grey Cliffs," Matsui spends her time creating soundscapes which range from mainly acoustic to punchy electric pieces like "Hope." Clay Jenkins' flugelhorn is a plus. The two vocals here don't give Greg Walker enough excitement to play with; instead they seem too ambitious. Don't let the flowers on the cover fool you because this disc is anything but fluffy and pastoral in nature.

Fusion/new age keyboard player Keiko Matsui grew up in Tokyo and took her first piano lesson at the age of five. Influenced by Stevie Wonder and Rachmaninov as well as early fusion masters Maurice Jarre and Chick Corea, Matsui began composing while in junior high but studied children's culture at the Japan Women's University (Nihon Joshidaigaku). She moved to the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo after graduation and formed Cosmos, recording four albums with the new age group. Her first album as a leader, 1987's A Drop of Water, was released in the U.S. two years after the fact on Passport.

The spiritual and charitable-minded Japanese keyboardist, who blends ethereal new age textures with a rich soul-jazz sensibility better than anyone, is in top form on her 14th studio release. Like its recent predecessors on Narada Jazz, the CD features songs that are all about the landscape between subtlety and drama, elegant piano melodies and improvisations, dramatic flute and sax harmonies, and rich ambiences dense with percussion. Tying in perfectly with her current humanitarian work with United Nations World Food Program (WFP) efforts in Africa (most of her recent albums have tied into some charitable or health cause), the collection features subtle worldbeat threads throughout. "Flashback" features a gentle, classical-flavored piano melody over a gently throbbing bassline, before Matsui does some dramatic improvisations over dense, exotic percussion textures…

Stone Crazy is a latter-day album from Screamin' Jay Hawkins, recorded with his touring band the Chickenhawks. Musically, the album sounds surprisingly good, since the Chickenhawks are a tight little backing band, but Hawkins' schtick gets a little tiresome after a while, and there aren't many great songs on the album. Only the tribute to the Twin Peaks vixen "Sherilyn Fenn" really hits home, but dedicated fans will be pleased that the record does have sporadic fits of energetic playing.

If we're talking Keiko Matsui, we can expect another impressionistic album cover which belies the often explosive music on the disc. Matsui draws a little more from her heritage this time but textures it with soulful excursions ("Walking on the Bridge"). She once again gives radio a seductive earful while continuing her heightened exploration into more challenging orchestral sounds and several impressive, wildly percussive Latin journeys (e.g. "Sail South"). Making perfect use of Lenny Castro's spicy percussion and Clay Jenkins' punchy trumpet flavors, Matsui lets loose. The gospel vocal by Arnold McCuller is a strong one. Other newcomers to the fold are guitarist Jorge Strunz, Jon Clark (recorder) and Sam Riney on sax.