Michiyo Matsushita

Free is the third album from the Michiyo Matsushita Trio. With the members active in their individual recording and playing schedules in Japan and internationally, they have continued to play together regularly as the Michiyo Matsushita Trio. Still, it had been 13 years since their previous 2011 release Prayer for Peace (and half that since Matsushita’s 2018 solo album Sally Gardens), so fans of the trio were pleasantly surprised to hear of this new offering coming out last year. As with the previous trio albums, old friends and long-running members Show Kudo on bass and Ryo Saito on drums join pianist Michiyo “Michiyon” Matsushita. ...

Pianist Michiyo Matsushita’s Sally Gardens is a lively solo piano album featuring original compositions set against a few Irish folk songs and jazz standards. Through the rich, evocative style of folk music (“Sally Gardens”, “Paddy Ryan’s Dream”), Matsushita’s playing is sweet and comforting, enhanced with fascinating reharmonizations and arrangements. The two jazz standards (“Liza”, “Segment”) impressively show various sides of Matsushita’s jazz playing, with elements of classical, bebop, stride, and other facets of piano surfacing in exciting contrasts. ...