By Beth Naji***Great jazz is rooted in conversation, and the collaboration between the Yoko Miwa Trio and guest vocalist Mikayla Shirley at Dizzy’s Club was a conversation well worth listening to. An unmistakable spark filled the room as Boston-based pianist Yoko
Miwa took the stage with an impressive rhythm section: bassist Will Slater and drummer Scott Goulding (Miwa’s husband). Born in Kobe, Japan, Miwa has developed a distinctive voice as a pianist and composer, blending fiery swing, delicate touch, sophisticated harmonic language, and an engaging, charming presence. The opening number, “I Want to Stay,” an original, began intimately, with the pianist alone at the keys. Then, almost as if picking up the conversation, bass and drums gradually slipped into the mix, settling into a cool, relaxed groove. Each musician listened closely to the others, leaving space while keeping the music in constant motion.
A charming backstory accompanied Miwa’s “Edamame,” a playful swing inspired by her cat of the same name. The tune seemed to capture the feline’s curious, mischievous spirit—darting, pouncing, and scampering through the music. Miwa’s extraordinary technique and seemingly effortless chops, came alive in an inventive 
arrangement that kept the music light on its feet, including a delightful musical quote from Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Águas de Março” (“Waters of March”) woven into one of Miwa’s improvised solos. The conversation continued with Wayne Shorter’s classic post-bop “Night Dreamer,” Miwa extracting the essence of Shorter’s melody while ensuring that the emotional warmth of the composition remained intact.
Vocalist Mikayla Shirley performed two songs. With Miwa, she recorded the recently released duo album The Midnight Hour, which grew out of the pair’s live performances during the Midnight Sessions at The Mad Monkfish in Cambridge, MA. Shirley offered two songs from the album, beginning with a lovely reimagining of the Beach Boys classic “God Only Knows.” The minimalist piano-and-vocal setting put Shirley’s beautiful voice front and center. Her pitch-perfect phrasing, nuanced delivery, and emotional vulnerability allowed every word and every note to resonate. “On the Street Where You Live,” (Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner) opened with Slater’s bass and Shirley’s voice alone, creating a moment that invited the audience to lean in even closer to her exquisite
sound. When the trio entered it opened up into a swinging exchange. Shirley launched into scat singing with remarkable precision and gorgeous, flute-like tones, demonstrating an impressive command of both melody and improvisation.
The penultimate selection was Miwa’s own arrangement of “Girl” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney), truly showcasing the depth of Miwa’s creative imagination. She completely transformed the familiar song through unique harmonic choices, revealing her classical influences alongside her formidable jazz vocabulary. The arrangement moved fluidly from a driving groove into an almost march-like New Orleans funeral feel, with Slater and Goulding constantly reshaping the rhythmic landscape. The trio came out swinging with closer, “If You’re Blue” (cleverly built over the chord changes of Berlin’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz”), bringing the set home, to a thrilling close, and putting a button on a beautiful testament to the art of musical conversation.
Photos by Beth Naji
