Naoko Sakata

Kaleidoscope, Atelier Sawano***

Japanese pianist Naoko Sawata, a pupil of Bobo Stenson, led one of the best groups at this year's 12 Points! festival in Stavanger, Norway. This debut recording of her trio with Anton Blomgren (bass) and Johan Birgenius (drums) was made just after it. Regardless of any mentor's influence, she has a very personal harmonic sense; an aural painter's feel for colour, reinforced by the closely wrought dialogue with her partners. Impressionism, embraced with increasing freedom on a programme of arresting originals, invigorates the intense, adventurous and flexible interplay of Daybreak, Lineand Butterfly in the Circle. Though colour is sometimes pursued at the cost of resolving a performance – Der Walis the longest and most completely realised one here – this tight and cohesive trio already has a character of its own. See jazz-sawano.com