Me and Jazz

I play mainly standard Jazz music. I think "Jazz is the standard after all." I also sing POPS and chanson, but the depth of Jazz has a different kind of impression.
I sing chansons that are ephemeral and free, and POPS that can be sung with an honest feeling, have a very familiarity and a sense of life, but JAZZ is different. What makes it different is that people who have never heard JAZZ well and people who have actually sung or played it are different. Also, people who play bass, saxophone, etc., and singers feel differently. What is good is good.

Those who take a step into the unknown world of Jazz, will be dragged into the unknown world with a mysterious taste that is not found in the world of Enka, and become completely addicted to it. It's scary, isn't it?
Thrills and suspense are always swirling around you. And when you wind up in the middle of it all together, how pleasant and enchanting it is. And you can look down from a high level (the hill). It's amazing.

Please listen to the Jazz CD. For your first time, start with vocal jazz. It is very nice and easy to listen to. Of course, I have also released a CD with "Heavens Four".

Newspaper in which Yumi Arai's column appeared (Saitama Shimbun)

About my JAZZ BAND "HEAVENS FOUR"

The Heavens Four is a jazz band that many people in the know have heard of. The band has been active here and there in detail, so I am sure that all jazz lovers have heard the name of the band somewhere. ......

The leader of the band is Yumi Arai on piano and vocals (that's me). The tenor saxophonist is Toshiyuki Ando (my right hand man) who has been playing for 25 years. The bass player is Hiroyuki Kimura, who is now one of the elders in this world (he played in the #&♭ band with Nobuo Hara). ), and Yoshinobu Yada on double-cast bass (a bassist who values precise sound more than classical music. Active mainly at the Roppongi "Pit Inn"). (He is a genius at keeping tempo, especially on songs that use brushes! The band consists of Sachio Miyaichi (who is a genius at keeping tempo, especially on the brush tunes! The band plays mainly standard jazz tunes that the audience is familiar with.

We have recently added the chorus group "Blue Sox" to our lineup, and we are enjoying a lively performance with a large group.

In the next issue, I would like to tell you more about Yasuo Arai. It will be interesting, so please look forward to it!

About "Yasuo Arai"

Let me introduce Yasuo Arai. He is a very interesting person. He is not my brother. He is my husband. He plays Jazz with me as "Yasuo Arai and the Heavens Four".

When we are on stage together, when we work together, we forget that we are a married couple. This is not something that either of us has initiated, but rather, based on an unspoken mutual understanding, we criticize each other harshly and reflect on each other's work. Every day at dinner, we spend two hours communicating about fun, work, and other topics.

I heard that Japanese couples don't talk much even when they are together 24 hours a day or when they are not busy with anything, but I decided from a young age that I would marry an "American" and ended up marrying "Yasuo Arai," who has lived in America since he was young and has American-like ideas.

He was a child singing folk songs (in boy soprano) on a yagura at festivals here and there with his uncle since he was a child. He was born in Chichibu and sang until he was in junior high school. Before he became a high school student and started singing in Tokyo, he was forced to accompany his uncle's band on the accordion. Basically, his experiences as a child were similar to mine. He lived in the U.S. for a number of years (where he studied guitar, apparently), and while he has established various companies since returning to Japan, I think he is happy to be able to play the music he has always loved to the fullest.

His speaking, or MCing, is a gift to make people laugh and delight them, thanks to his many years of "chatter" that came first from his mouth, and now he can make people laugh just by being on stage. It is a wonder. He says it's probably because of his long face. ...... I am the only one who knows that he is always researching his material in such a shadow.

I would like to share with you some of his interesting stories, but they are trade secrets, so you can listen to them when you come to see Yasuo Arai's live performance. When his stories are interspersed, Jazz live becomes very enjoyable and the performance comes alive. Of course, his fans are fascinated by his singing and chatting, and sometimes they send him bouquets of flowers. ・・・・ (Why do I sometimes receive cakes and cookies?).

He is just as interesting when he and his wife have a long meal together, or when the vocal girls from the Union make their professional debut together from time to time (about 3 days a week). It's always the same. He doesn't pose. He's such a funny guy, that's the only reason I'm glad I married him. I wish men in the world would live more humorously and tastefully.

Of course, there are times when I get very angry. When I was on an overseas expedition, I was treated so badly that I slammed my papers down on the airport counter with all my might and yelled at them in Japanese, "What are you doing? I yelled at them in Japanese and got away with it. I am sure that the negligent clerks over there were scared because they knew that there is a group called "893" in Japan, and they misunderstood the power of that group. Whenever I go abroad, I always think, "I am not afraid of many things with this person," and I rely on him. In fact, I don't remember being too angry with him myself, so I am fine with it.

Now, if you want to know more about him, take a look at the Cotton Cafe schedule and come on out. I'll be happy to talk with you.

We'll talk more later.

The newspaper (Saitama Shimbun) in which Yasuo Arai's column appeared.
The newspaper (Saitama Shimbun) in which Yasuo Arai's column appeared.