Hiroe Kobayashi

On Banquet, pianist and composer Sayaka Kishi’s latest album from 2024, her piano trio brightens things up with a banquet of delights. Kishi has long been a musician who loves to explore and mix genres with a sense of fun and dedication, and she is often found playing in Latin, Afro-Cuban, flamenco, fusion, and other groups. While the genres are many, Kishi consistently pulls from her knowledge of jazz standards, pop, classical, and other roots, bound together with swing and Latin beats and ad-libbed improvisation. ...

While leading and participating in different groups through the years, musicians Hiroe Kobayashi and Sayaka Kishi have also played together on various projects incorporating standard jazz, pop, and Latin genres, and even Disney and movie songs. In 2022, the duo released their first full-length album entitled Luar under the band name Sul Madrugada. This name, Portuguese for “southern dawn”, together with the title Luar for “moonlight” beautifully describes the atmospheric direction the pair gravitates towards with this Latin jazz project. On this release, the duo is devoted to creating South American music in a package that embraces nature through the icons of the sun and moon. ...