Description

Lead by pianist and vocalist Chie Ayado, EWE has become the largest independent jazz label in Asia, selling millions of records. Chie is a New York-trained international sensation, performing to dozens of packed houses a year. Her unique phrasing and soulful playing is adored by millions of fans.

These recordings are in the vein of Three Blind Mice, which is a great thing indeed. Up front, detailed and wonderfully ambient, EWE has pushed the TBM aesthetic into the new century.

To introduce their work to a larger international market, EWE pressed 180-gram LPs at RTI. Response in Asia was enormous and there are only a few hundred left. This is your one and only chance to pick up these fabulous new recordings.

Mastered by Kevin Gray at AcousTech Mastering.

Influenced by her parents hobbies, Chie has been surrounded by jazz and Hollywood movies from an early age. She first studied classical piano but soon began to swing, and grew up as a kid that always preferred gospel to psalms. When she was 17 years old, she scraped together all the money she had saved from part-time jobs and left for the land of dreams; the U.S. West Coast.

After marrying, giving birth then divorcing her husband, she moved back to Japan in 1991. She began to sing in a jazz club in Osaka. Thanks to rumors of her vocal performance she soon made a name for herself in the local jazz scene.

The June 1998 release For All We Know marked Chies debut as a professional jazz musician at the age of 40. Since then Chie has been touring regularly across Japan. With the help of fans spreading the word via the internet she managed to establish a reputation as an outstanding female singer. Soon her concerts were sold out as soon as they were announced.

Also, her third album, Life, became a big hit in 1999; this her standard album has sold over 250,000 copies.

In March 2001, Chie received the 51st Ministry of Education and Science Cultural Promotional Award. Harboring an aversion against settling for one thing, Chie has been exploring territories outside the realm of jazz. Her repertory extends to 20s swing jazz to the rock pop standards.