Keiko Lee - In Essence (2007)

Keiko Lee is now an unchallenged queen of vocal in the Japanese jazz scene. In 2005, she culminated her first ten years in her career with greatest hits album Voices Again, followed by an intensely swingy, jazz live album with the great pianist Hank Jones in 2006. At the same time, she is the woman 'brought up with Western music' to people in the know. With special guests such as David Sanborn and Randy Brecker, she covers a wide variety of Western hit songs that graced her bloom of youth, backed by her New Yorker friends whom she has related to throughout her career. Her signature deep voice, freewheeling improvisation, and the uncanny overdubs are something to listen to.