Yuko Mabuchi Plays Miles Davis

It is such fun to announce the completion of Yuko Mabuchi plays Miles Davis. Tom Caulfield completed the DSD mastering for you in the past few days, and we’re grateful to release this recording ahead of schedule. Yuko is thriving, with important recent and upcoming concerts at

Segerstrom Center for the Arts this past January, Washington DC’s Cherry Blossom Festival at Blues Alley on April 15^th and at The Jazz Bakery at Moss Theater on April 26th in Santa Monica, California.

Many thanks to Randy Bellous and Toyota Motor North America for underwriting.

Here’s a video snippet of the Miles Davis album, and here is So What.

Before I tell you a little more about Yuko and Miles Davis, here’s a sneak peek at Yarlung’s upcoming release on NativeDSD. We recorded Lifeline: Music of the Underground Railroad in Samueli Theater, a beautiful concert hall you know from our prior recordings with Sibelius Piano Trio volumes One and Two, and James Matheson. Here is the main YouTube video.

You know Yuko Mabuchi Trio well, including thanks to our very own Brian Moura at NativeDSD, who honored Yuko Mabuchi Trio with a coveted listener’s choice award at PFO in November. Joining the Trio for this concert and recording was JJ Kirkpatrick, the trumpet virtuoso from Sophisticated Lady jazz quartet, also beloved on NativeDSD.

Sophisticated Lady Jazz Quartet album overview

Yuko chose several Miles Davis favorites for her latest release, including Nardis, So What and Blue & Green.  With underwriting support from Steven A. Block, Raulee Marcus and Leslie Lassiter, Yarlung commissioned Missing Miles, which Yuko created in honor of Miles himself.  Missing Miles concluded the concert and we end with it on this album.  Ann Mulally underwrote Ikumi’s Lullaby, an original composition by Yuko.  Ikumi’s Lullaby opened our concert, but it comes as the fourth track on our release. Here is the album booklet.

Thanks to a warm invitation from Dr. Antonio Damasio, we returned to Cammilleri Hall at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC to give this concert and make this recording.

Neville Roberts (The UK’s HiFi Choice) writes “As anticipated, it is superb!  The Lullaby gently relaxes you into the environment of… Cammilleri Hall.  Yuko’s sympathetic rendition of ‘So What’ … was true to him, but with a freshness and energy that Yuko and her team imparted to the performance – wonderful…  a real homage to Miles Davis, but with Yuko’s individuality imprinted on her super compositions.”

Toyota Motor North America joined executive producer Randy Bellous in underwriting this project.  Read more about Yuko’s and Yarlung’s connections with Toyota in our Producer’s Notes.

It is a thrill to work with Yuko, JJ, Del and Bobby.  I look forward to hearing what these young virtuosi create next.

Enjoy!

Yuko Mabuchi, Del Atkins, Bobby Breton, JJ Kirkpatrick—Cooper Bates photography