The album starts with eight tracks performed and recorded in concert. This live portion features the a capella quintet using their voices in beautiful harmony with charming arrangements from their repertoire including the classic jazz standard “My Favorite Things”, some jazzy soul and pop selections, and three well-known Japanese songs.

The three songs “Nada Sousou”, “Ookina Furudokei”, and “Furusato” are well known in Japan and are especially heartwarming album highlights. Despite any language barrier, the textured voices and words convey a sense of nostalgia, sadness, and memories, immersing listeners in steeping emotions.

Following the eight live tracks, four studio-recorded songs include two finely-tuned pop songs and two Christmas classics, ending the album sweetly with a lush “White Christmas” and a serene caroling of “Silent Night” sung in both Japanese and English.

Audio and Video

• “Take Five”:

• “A Night in Tunisia”:

• Almost Like Being in Love:

• Nada Sousou:

• Ookina Furudokei:

• Furusato:

• Excerpt from track #1: “My Favorite Things”

Whether singing in English on four tracks or Japanese on five tracks, Ishikawa’s voice is crystal clear and up front in the mix, directly conveying her skill and emotional power storytelling through song. The album works to maintain interest with arrangements and compositions influenced by jazz, pop, rock, Latin, musicals, and classic songwriters such as Stevie Wonder and Freddie Mercury.

As for jazz covers, the album opens with the refreshing “It Might as Well Be Spring” and the ballad “Angel Eyes”, performed here with an enticingly sultry nightclub vibe. The cute throwback “Goody-Goody” takes the role of a traditional swing jazz tune embellished with Japanese bamboo flute, and the exciting title track “Fever” is played with uptempo verve and abandon. The Japanese pop hit “Hanamizuki” is also covered, a well-known 2004 song from Japan used in an acclaimed movie by the same name and popular in karaoke rooms.

In addition to jazz, Trigraph also features five of their well-crafted original compositions: the sweetly tender “Appreciation”, the passionate “Akanegumo”, the restful “Etude for Shakuhachi and Guitar”, the ballad “Eternal Snow”, and the grand and swelling “Barau”.

Audio and Video

• Trigraph performing the title track “Fever” live:

• Trigraph performing the Cyndi Lauper hit “Time After Time”, opening with a live-looped shakuhachi intro:

• Excerpt from track #1: “It Might As Well Be Spring”

Happy and hopeful, the album’s jazz numbers include swinging tunes “Over the Rainbow”, “Take Five”, “Almost Like Being in Love”, and “Night in Tunisia”, performed with lush arrangements and nice decorations like vocal bass lines, beats, and horn imitations, used tastefully and not overdone. One can imagine the members’ uplifting smiles and movements as they work together to resonate voices in position.

In addition to the jazz tunes, other genres perfectly suited to Baby Brothers include R&B, spiritual and traditional music, including Al Jarreau’s “Could You Believe”, the reverent “Lamb of God”, and the folk song “The Water is Wide”, working together to raise the inspirational quality of the album. All songs are performed in English, save the last tune “Furusato”, a wistfully beautiful reminiscence about home and the love remaining there.

Audio and Video

• Baby Brothers singing “My Favorite Things” live:

• Baby Brothers singing “Furusato” live:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Over The Rainbow”

The first track on Grown-up Christmas Gift is the main show, a thirteen-minute “Christmas Medley” featuring Ishikawa’s resonant voice gracing seven classic holiday tunes and popular songs. Stops on the musical tour include “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let it Snow!”, “Silent Night”, “Jingle Bells”, “Winter Wonderland”, “The Christmas Song”, and “Happy Xmas”. As the singer moves from song to song, the mood, rhythm, and instrumentation change as well, where jazz piano, organ, guitar, and choirs result in a charming holiday medley.

Track two features Ishikawa with “Soft Voice”, a four-part vocal group singing “Sutekina Holiday” in Japanese, and the final track presents her intimate duo of vocal and guitar performing the Billboard pop hit “Grown-up Christmas List”.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for Sanae Ishikawa’s “Everything”:

• Excerpt from track #1: “クリスマス・メドレー (Christmas Medley)”

Her beautiful, crystal-clear delivery resonates with an easy joyfulness and charm, yet can also reflect depths of dramatic emotion to moving effect. Building on the strength of her veteran backup musicians, her innate jazz timing elevates the performance and welcomes the listener straight into the music.

Her self-described “juicy voice” is powerful with natural buoyancy and shimmering vibrations, and her impressively clear pronunciation adds another level of quality to this enjoyable session.

This 12-track album is well-rounded and arranged like a live performance, with five standard jazz swing numbers (including “Cheek to Cheek”, “Our Love Is Here To Stay”, “All Of Me”), Latin/bossa songs (“How Insensitive”, “Antonio’s Song”, …), slower ballads (“Blame It On My Youth”, …), and the title song done in a groovy, soulful style.

Audio and Video

• “Tea For Two” from the album release performance:

• “So Many Stars” from the album release performance:

• “Day In, Day Out” from the album release performance:

• “Cheek To Cheek” from the album release performance:

• Excerpt from track #7: “チーク・トゥ・チーク (Cheek To Cheek)”