Ikumi Koyama

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Cat No: EM02

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Release Date: 19 December 2025

Label: Elsden Music

Packaging Type: Digipak

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 643157451198

Genres: Jazz

Description

'The Things In The Past' is the impressive debut album from Japanese jazz singer and pianist, Ikumi Koyama, and introduces a highly accomplished young musician who has a clear idea of her own identity coupled with a time-honoured and deep respect for her chosen idiom.
Ikumi arrived in London in February 2020 at a difficult time. Despite Lockdown restrictions, however, she was able to squeeze in some gigs in London, and in March 2021, she assembled an impressive cast of musicians and brought her own fresh and inventive ideas to the session. Her rapport with guitarist, Alban Claret is a joy to hear throughout.
Amongst her vibrant take on some well-known standards, her rendition of Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodger's 'Blue Moon' is a knockout performance, Ikumi is keen to bring the diversity of the traditional and the contemporary. It should therefore come as no surprise that the singer/pianist also turns to her homeland with two compositions from Japanese composer, Joe Hisaishi. Hisaishi is best known for his Studio Ghibli film soundtracks, and Ikumi perfectly captures the composer's intent in her arrangements of the optimistically funky 'The Name Of Life' (from the film, 'Spirited Away') and the lilting melody of 'Merry Go Round Of Life' from Howls Moving Castle.
Not to be outdone, Ikumi brings two of her own pieces with the title track that she describes as having "a groove that reminds me of '80s jazz funk and soul" and the delicate intricacies of 'Hopeful' that incorporate Oriental melodies to "create a healing texture".
Throughout this impressive and warm recording, Ikumi reveals a herself to be a young artist steeped in jazz past and present with an eye on her own place in the future of the music.
"Ikumi has a most attractive voice and a piano style which should find her ideally suited to some of the upmarket venues in the capital...One thing that struck me when I started playing this CD was the clarity of the sound. The engineer, Greg Dowling, who also owns the Elsden Music label has done a great job in recording Koyama and her trio. " - Mike Farmer, Bebop Spoken Here
Ikumi Koyama: vocals, piano, rhodes
Alban Claret: guitar
Tom Mason: double bass, electric bass
Kuba Miazga: drums
Tracklisting