Eri Yamamoto: Fly With the Wings

MAHAKALA MUSIC 079. (RECORDED MAY 2024)

For her first quartet outing in a recording career that began in 2000, Eri Yamamoto
has assembled a group she calls Quadraphonic. The band’s name refers to the sounds of saxophonist/flutist Chad Fowler, bassist Kevin Thomas, drummer Ikuo Takeuchi and pianist/vocalist Yamamoto coming together to as one on Fly With the Wings. Yamamoto’s vocals/piano playing and Fowler’s Memphis-soul soaked alto kick off the session with the bluesy “What Do They Mean.” Fowler switches to flute for the title track with Thomas’ strong bass line and Yamamoto’s ascending and flowing lines giving it a bright and breezy feel (as if she is indeed flying with wings). Fowler’s plaintive alto work and Thomas’ lyrical solo add depth to “Peach,” a beautiful ballad Yamamoto dedicated to an uncle who recently passed away. The mood changes with “Cheer Me Up” as Yamamoto and Fowler slip in and out of the bouncy beat delivered by Thomas and Takeuchi. Yamamoto delivers the brooding “Where To Go” on vocals and piano with Fowler echoing the cries of her lyrics. The session concludes with the boisterous R&B shuffle of “Let’s Do it,” as Yamamoto, on melodica, battles Fowler’s alto (much like the famous tenor battles of years gone by). Fly With the Wings has it all — bluesy, bright and breezy, beautiful, bouncy, brooding and boisterous — delivered by a group of outstanding musicians who come together as one.

BOTTOM LINE: Having just toured with Sparks, a group whose modus operandi is free improvisation, Fly with the Wings showcases Yamamoto’s compositional skills as well as her ability to lead a quartet of saxophonist Chad Fowler, bassist Kevin Thomas and drummer Ikuo Takeuchi through a varied program of everything from blues to funk,
ballads to burners.