Junko Ohnishi
Baroque
Verve Records
www.universal-music.co
www.junkoonishi.com

Pianist Junko Ohnishi debuts her talents on this wide encompassing disc that his highly reminiscent of Charles Mingus on a good day. Teamed with all stars Nicholas Payton/tp, James Carter/sax, etc, Wycliffe Gordon/tb, Reginald Veal-Rodney Whitaker/b, and Herlin Riley/dr, Ohnishi goes from post bop to edge of free on her tunes like “Tutti” and “The Mother’s (Where Johnny Is).” A take of “Flamingo” is hauntingly similar to Mingus in is Tijuana Moods era, while Mingus’ “Meditations for a Pair of Wire Cutters” could be a channeling of Eric Dolphy. Her own link to tradition (a la Mingus) is evident during her Tatum-esque treatment of “Stardust” while she hits the bebop route convincingly on “52nd St Theme.” Solos abound with a lilt towards late period Blue Note, when McLean, and Monchur III ruled the kingdom. Fiery and fierce!