Artist description Imagine Nina Simone 30 years younger, Japanese, married to jazz pianist Herman Foster and still singing heartfelt jazz standards.

Music Style Traditional Jazz Vocals

Musical Influences Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone

Similar Artists Cleo Laine, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Diana Krall, Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta Jones

Artist History I was born and raised on a flower farm in northern Japan. In New York in 1992, using my maiden name Hisayo Tominaga, I recorded my first CD "Now and Yesterdays." It was nominated for the Japan Jazz Vocalist Prize by the Japanese jazz magazine Swing Journal. I moved to New York in 1996 to marry jazz pianist Herman Foster. We met in New York in 1995 when he accompanied me on my second album "Yahan Utagoe" ("Blues Blue"). In addition to being a vocalist, I am also a watercolor artist specializing in paintings of flowers and abstract designs. To view a selection, please click on the link "Go to the artist's web site" to the left.

Group Members Hisayo Foster: Vocals

Instruments Vocals, piano, bass, drums, tenor sax, alto sax, trumpet, flute

Press Reviews Here is my translation of part of the "Blues Blue" liner notes by the famous Japanese music critic Hiraku Aoki: "When I first heard her voice a long time ago, I thought it was very unusual. I found it mysterious and charming. Now she has become famous, but I still have the same feeling, only more so. Her voice is remarkable. The low-to-middle range is smoky rather than husky, while the high notes are mellow and sexy. She uses her voice very well. Especially when ending a phrase, her natural vibrato feels so good. Her voice, phrasing and mood are like the English singer Cleo Laine's. But I don't want to say she is a Japanese Cleo Laine, because Hisayo definitely has her own unique style. Now that she has had a long career and is a veteran performer in Japan, her impressive voice is more mature, which is very wonderful. In 1974 in Tokyo, she studied with [the "mother" of Japanese jazz vocalists] Sanae Mizushima. Hisayo went to San Francisco in 1975 to study with bassist Vernon Alley. She recorded a track on guitarist Gregory James' first album "Alicia" in 1977. (On his 1994 album "Amanda," he dedicated one song to her, entitling it "Hisayo.") In Tokyo in 1980, she started teaching at [the Muse and the Mate] music school[s] and began singing at jazz clubs, hotels and concerts. In 1992 in New York . . . she recorded her first album "Now and Yesterdays," which was highly praised. . . . If a vocalist has a unique, creative and original style and makes good use of it, then it is not necessary for her to use scat and ad libs to make cool jazz. Hisayo is that kind of jazz singer. ["Blues Blues"] is her second album. She chose interesting jazz standards and her interpretation does not complicate them too much. Her approach is beautiful, fresh and sophisticated. This CD is a pleasure to listen to."

Location New York, NY - USA

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