Dessert First

15Jun10

My dear friend Aiko Shimada invited me to go to a house concert with her. It’d been a while since we’d last spent time together. She’s always been very inspiring to me, as a singer/songwriter and human. And her invitation came when I was up to my eyelashes in unpacked boxes after recently moving. My head would’ve had me pass on the concert and instead finish unpacking. You know, be practical, responsible. Eat my vegetables. My heart, though, wanted dessert first.

So, we met at a house nestled in the Fremont area of Seattle. I was greeted at the door by Richard, the host of the house concert. Come to find out during the course of the evening that he hosts house concerts failry regularly at his home. A most generous host. There was a tasty spread of food and beverages. Chairs were circled around a grand piano in his living room. There was Aiko close to the entrance. She’d saved me a seat next to her. It’d been a while and somehow it was like we’d just seen each other the day before. We chatted a bit and there was pianist Jessica Williams. Jessica was why we’d come.

Aiko and Jessica are friends. Jessica asks Aiko to sing a song with her. Aiko says yes. Aiko introduces Jessica and me. To my surprise, having just met and having never heard me sing, Jessica asks me to sing a song with her as well. It happened that quickly. Amazing! I’d come to hear Jessica play and now here I’d get to hear Jessica play and hear Aiko sing and sing myself.

Once everyone was settled, the music began. I’d heard of Jessica, but this night would be my introduction to her music. From the first note I was in. Her sound was undeniable to my ears. Aiko joined her near the end of the first set. It was a traditional Japanese song they played together. The name of it I don’t recall and the words I didn’t understand since I don’t speack Japanese. No matter. The magic of their performance together came through. Talking about music, a lot of times I find, lots gets lost in translation. So, if you’re not already familiar with Aiko’s work, you might best understand by checking out her music first hand. We in the audience understood. It was magic hearing their musical lines intertwine. You could feel people listening.

A little into the second set, Jessica called me to sing with her. I’d chosen the song Nature Boy. I knew the song, but figured I’d jot the lyrics down in case I had an out of body experience and spaced them. We decided we’d feel through the song, see what happens. Jessia starts to play and sure enough I lift off, tethered to the moment seemingly only by deep breaths. Interestingly enough, what I remember most about performing with her were two things – 1. The feeling of the profound space she creates with her sound, this otherworldly sea of sound that is at once deeply soulful and playful and 2. Witnessing her listening. At the end of the song she hit a note on the upper register of the piano and then held her hands quietly hovering above the keys in the middle register as if she were listening, sensing whether or not there was more to play. And then she rested her hands as if her musical muse had whispered to her that last high note was it.

Again, talking about music, a lot of times I find, lots gets lost in translation. So, if you’re not already familiar with Jessica’s work, you might best understand by checking out her music first hand. I hope you enjoy her work and Aiko’s as much as I do. What an inspiring night of music!

Aiko Shimada: www.aikoshimada.com [Note: Aiko is not currently performing live. So, if you like what you hear, I encourage you to contact her via her website and tell her so. Together perhaps we can convince her to play out for us in the near future!]

Jessica Williams: www.jessicawilliams.com [Note: Jessica has a CD release concert scheduled for Saturday, September 4, 2010 at The Triple Door in Seattle. Two shows: 8pm & 10pm. www.thetripledoor.net]

Truly,

JR

© 2010 JR Rhodes

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Tags: African-American, Aiko Shimada, Artist, Composer, Female, Jazz, Jessica Williams, Music, Musician, Seattle, Singer, Singer-Songwriter