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LIVE
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KEIKO
MATSUI |
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Reviewed By
Donn Jehs
Mahaffey Theater
St. Petersburg, FL
9/17/98 |
Last year I was fortunate enough to get the
last ticket to Keiko's concert in Tampa. This time she was in
a larger venue (which she filled) and one more conducive to her
music. On the heels of her latest charting release, "Full
Moon And The Shrine," Keiko is touring the U.S., bringing
her wonderful jazz stylings to the public in person.
Along with her she brought the same musicians, including her
husband Kazu, with the exception of the saxophone player. Like
last year the sax player is featured prominently and this year
the guest player was the very talented Mike Acosta on the alto
sax. He wasted no time showing his skill as Keiko opened her
show with "Night Hawk's Dream." Keiko, in an irridescent
silver blue gown was the picture of beauty, but her playing was
even more so as she played "Safari" and "Dreamwalk,"
two of her most popular songs from earlier albums. |
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Balancing the show with equal amounts of new
and old, she returned to the new with "Spirit at the Corner"
and "Legend of The Trees," and even played a cut off
"Tribal Mozart," her husband Kazu's project on which
Keiko played the acoustic piano.
Keiko is becoming more and more comfortable talking to the crowd,
and told about the filming of the video special for the new album,
which is still playing on many public tv stations (keep an eye
out), describing the ancient temple and the mood it conveyed.
To put this in perspective, imagine having the opportunity to
play in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, or Notre Dame in France.
Her music at times is haunting, reverent and soulful, like the
title cut of the new album. |
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After a short intermission, Keiko returned
in a new gown of brilliant red sequins and proceed to warm up
the crowd with some more livelier music including "Bonfire
in the Piano" and "Forever, Forever." It was kind
of a step from cool jazz to warm jazz as signaled by her costume
change. She once again took the opportunity to strap on the portable
keyboard, and played a duet with Mike Acosta.
Like last year her husband, Kazu came out to join her, and has
a nice comedic touch as he bewailed the sales of her album versus
his album. In a nation where "face" is an important
cultural facet, he is willing to make gentle fun of himself and
his talents, which are no less than Keiko's.
A staple of their show is "The Cave," featuring Kazu
on the shakahachi (bamboo flute) which comes at the end of the
show, but this time Kazu asked us if we ever heard someone play
the blues on the bamboo flute, and then proceeded to knock off
a pretty good show of it. Then, as he left the stage, Keiko once
again took the portable keyboard, and also a electronic mouth
harp, and proceeded to give us her own rockin' blues rendition.
It was refreshing to see her expand the music she is willing
to play for the crowd and she certainly has the talent to do
so.
Keiko is now on the western leg of her tour, so if you have the
chance go to see her - you will not regret a moment. There is
nothing like the magic of Keiko under a "Full Moon."
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