错认黑人爵士 绫户智绘

Selection, HIFI / September 15, 2018

第一次听到这歌声时还错以为是哪位黑人爵士的歌苓在演唱。沙哑附磁性的声音，唱着熟悉的爵士经典，让人一听就爱上，无法对这把声音忘怀。

在找寻这把声音来自何许歌手时，却惊人的发现，这把纯厚的声音竟然是来自亚洲日本的歌手——绫户智绘 Chie Ayado。她歌声的表现，如果看其真身，相信不会有人猜到是亚洲声音，真把人吓着。

作为一位日本歌手，这样的唱法和声音绝非不会是一般的日本歌手。她的嗓音相当独特，而且唱起英文歌曲，几乎没有日本人的特殊口音，反倒是有点像美国的黑人女乐手。如果是喜爱爵士音乐的人，这把声音绝对是值得推荐的。

爵士乐诠释得好或不好，大半在于歌手的歌声和伴奏下能不能让听的人跟着音乐一起“打拍子”。绫户极其符有这些特色，而在日本录音大师的录音后，完全让绫户 智绘所演唱爵士乐的活生感、感情生生的让回放下能完全再现，不论是现场和录音室中的作品，每一张都是上上之作，非常成功。

许多有实力的录音师来为绫户智绘录制专辑，每张专辑都是发烧片，这是为什么呢？其实是因为她的歌声非常适合音响迷们习惯性的「过瘾」。虽然绫户的声线较为低沉，却在高吭处消退时却带着极佳的抖音层次感；除了抖音之外，各种转音的技巧都让人折服。

最后推荐的专辑时 Fifty 这张，这里推荐的5张都是SACD专辑。

Chie Ayado appeared in the jazz scene seemingly out of nowhere. Being a very short (147cm) and thin (40kg) house keeper in her 40’s, she released her 1st Album “For All We Know” in 1998 .

After only 4 months, she released her 2nd album, entitled “Your Song”. Her performances at jazz clubs became a hot topic among jazz fans. “LIFE”, released a year later in 1999, had a huge impact not only among jazz fans but also across the music world. It was the first album featuring only her voice with her own piano accompaniment. Even though it was a simplistic album, “LIFE” crossed many genres like jazz, blues, pop, rock and all of her other musical influences. Moreover, “LIFE” was inspired by Chie Ayado’s own life experiences. At that time, she rose to become one of the top artists in Japan.

In 2000, she released her 4th album, “Natural”, which featured her most popular original song, “Get into My Life”. In 2003, her 5th album, “To You”, was another solo album which she again accompanied herself on piano. On her 6th album “Shine”, she collaborated with the top musicians from America and Cuba. In 2004, she released her 7th and 8th albums called “TIME” and “SEVEN” respectively.

Tickets for her concerts have been called “the hottest selling tickets” among many hundreds of concerts all around Japan. Her singing along with how she engages audiences has made for countless joy and laughter-filled performances filled. Today, her unique shows still engage audience’s hearts and minds with her wide repertoire spanning across jazz, gospel, soul, rock , pop and J-pop.

In 2014, she decided to leave her management office and record company and establish her own label called “MYDO”. She released the album “Picture in a Frame” which was inspired by a return to her deep roots of her own life . In 2015, with the album ”DO JAZZ”, she bravely challenged her jazz roots. She visited L.A. for the first time in 40 years which is where she started her American life and recorded this album.

In 2017, to celebrate her 60th birthday and 20 years of her career as a jazz singer, she released her 23rd Album “DO JAZZ Gokko”. She held a memorial concert at Tokyo International Forum. Today, without missing a beat, she continues to perform and entertain audiences with her own brand of energetic and enjoyable jazz singing. (English Script Source: Official Website)