Layla Tomomi Sakai on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory https://www.jazzofjapan.com/tags/layla-tomomi-sakai/ Recent content in Layla Tomomi Sakai on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory Hugo en-us Sat, 03 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Layla Tomomi Sakai: Stolen Moments https://www.jazzofjapan.com/layla-tomomi-sakai-stolen-moments/ Sat, 03 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.jazzofjapan.com/layla-tomomi-sakai-stolen-moments/ <p>Singer Layla Tomomi Sakai’s <em>Stolen Moments</em> is a 27-minute album from 2019, a follow-up to her two previous releases from 2016 and 2018 with a consistently pleasing and familiar core sound. That sound of Sakai, introduced on her debut album <em><a href="https://www.jazzofjapan.com/layla-tomomi-sakai-whisper-not/">Whisper Not</a></em>, is based on her intimate vocal/guitar/trumpet trio with Yuichiro Hiraoka on guitar and Ryuichi Takase on trumpet. Her second album <em><a href="https://www.jazzofjapan.com/layla-tomomi-sakai-island/">The Island</a></em> expanded the trio with more accompanying players, a pattern which continues here on <em>Stolen Moments</em> as her guest musicians create forms from duos to sextets on the different songs.</p> Singer Layla Tomomi Sakai’s Stolen Moments is a 27-minute album from 2019, a follow-up to her two previous releases from 2016 and 2018 with a consistently pleasing and familiar core sound. That sound of Sakai, introduced on her debut album Whisper Not, is based on her intimate vocal/guitar/trumpet trio with Yuichiro Hiraoka on guitar and Ryuichi Takase on trumpet. Her second album The Island expanded the trio with more accompanying players, a pattern which continues here on Stolen Moments as her guest musicians create forms from duos to sextets on the different songs.

It’s a simple and sweet affair, a short set of four-to-five-minute songs based around Sakai’s classy, low-key, and easy-to-love delivery. A five-piece band starts strong with track #1 “Stolen Moments”, a combo sound that reappears on the attention-getting track #4 “I’ve Got Just About Everything”. Starting with a rubato vocal/guitar intro, this take then races along and includes a dynamic three-player solo section in the middle, bracketed by Sakai singing in her attractively laid-back, confident yet understated style.

The full band sound is balanced with small duo and trio moments such as on the brisk and good-feeling #2 “You’re My Everything”, where guitarist Hiraoka’s walking bass and chords fingerstyle shines. Elegantly powerful in their quiet simplicity are the romantic ballads #3 “I’ve Got a Crush On You” and the closer #6 “That’s All”, reminding us that sometimes all you need is uncomplicated jazz for a good feeling and a nice atmosphere delivered by great musicians and soothing vocals… that’s all.

(On a tangent, I noticed that Stolen Moments includes some song titles with mild wordplay-adjacent connections for a relatively short album: The two middle song titles start with the same words I’ve Got with #3 “I’ve Got a Crush on You” and #4 “I’ve Got Just About Everything”. Additionally, a different pair of song titles contains the word Everything with #2 “You’re My Everything” and #4 “I’ve Got Just About Everything”. Pure chance, most likely, but I wondered if adding other songs with similar titles could create an interesting concept. Add the standards “I’ve Got the World on a String”, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm”, “I’ve Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)”, and “I Got Rhythm”. Then for Everything, consider “Everything Happens to Me”, “Everything I Have Is Yours”, “Everything I’ve Got (Belongs to You)”, “Everything I Love”, and Chick Corea’s “You’ve Everything” with its song title already incredibly similar to #2 “You’re My Everything”. Maybe a title for the resulting concept album such as Everything I’ve Got, or I’ve Got Everything, would be the perfect wrapping. But I digress…)

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]]> Layla Tomomi Sakai: Whisper Not https://www.jazzofjapan.com/layla-tomomi-sakai-whisper-not/ Mon, 08 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.jazzofjapan.com/layla-tomomi-sakai-whisper-not/ <p><em>Whisper Not</em> is vocalist Layla Tomomi Sakai’s debut release from 2016. Performing here with an intimate guitar and trumpet combo, the striking singer chooses comfortable jazz standards such as “Black Coffee”, “I Can’t Get Started”, and “There Will Never Be Another You” to introduce new listeners to her smooth, husky voice and relaxing style. Six songs are included, and tempos settle at midtempo swing, bluesy groove, or slow sultry ballads, with energy peaking on the quick and exciting “Devil May Care”.</p> Whisper Not is vocalist Layla Tomomi Sakai’s debut release from 2016. Performing here with an intimate guitar and trumpet combo, the striking singer chooses comfortable jazz standards such as “Black Coffee”, “I Can’t Get Started”, and “There Will Never Be Another You” to introduce new listeners to her smooth, husky voice and relaxing style. Six songs are included, and tempos settle at midtempo swing, bluesy groove, or slow sultry ballads, with energy peaking on the quick and exciting “Devil May Care”.

Buoyed by guitar chords and trumpet improvisation, Sakai’s voice emotes cleanly with a strong, whispering texture. She delivers lyrics with a romantic sincerity and gentle confidence, enticing with subtle mystery like a sly wink given with a sweet smile. Each of the songs clocks in at under five minutes and the album is a quick 25-minute play, a pleasurable coffeehouse break or dreamy escape.

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]]> Layla Tomomi Sakai: The Island https://www.jazzofjapan.com/layla-tomomi-sakai-island/ Tue, 23 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.jazzofjapan.com/layla-tomomi-sakai-island/ <p>Easy and breezy, as if dozing in a hammock between palm trees, Layla Tomomi Sakai’s <em>The Island</em> stirs up visions of vacationing and relaxing in sultry lands as music floats softly by.</p> <figure><a href="L1220603-1024.jpg"> <img loading="lazy" src="L1220603-1024.jpg"/> </a> </figure> <p>Sakai’s deep voice embraces the listener, dancing lightly through bossa novas and Latin-tinged music. The music is comforting, the musicians performing pieces that come and go in an uncomplicated manner, lulling the listener into a state of reassuring comfort. Sakai uses her voice gently yet confidently, producing an effect of sweet directness with an affectionate touch.</p> Easy and breezy, as if dozing in a hammock between palm trees, Layla Tomomi Sakai’s The Island stirs up visions of vacationing and relaxing in sultry lands as music floats softly by.

Sakai’s deep voice embraces the listener, dancing lightly through bossa novas and Latin-tinged music. The music is comforting, the musicians performing pieces that come and go in an uncomplicated manner, lulling the listener into a state of reassuring comfort. Sakai uses her voice gently yet confidently, producing an effect of sweet directness with an affectionate touch.

Suppressing tense energy and favoring intimacy, the album features vocal/guitar duo arrangements in traditional bossa nova fashion, with additional instruments (piano, saxophone, harmonica) sprinkled in lightly. Several songs feature Sakai singing simply with a guitar and one other instrument: Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Desafinado” and “Once I Loved”, as well as “Negaeri”, a ballad sung in Japanese as a gentle album closer.

While maintaining the calm atmosphere, three songs also feature Sakai singing with a jazz quintet: “Only Trust Your Heart”, “I Remember You”, and “The Island” all feature piano, guitar, horn, bass, and drums, coming together to create a wonderfully pleasant sound, like an island breeze drifting softly by.

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