Despite controlling a vast music market, the Japanese music industry craves one thing more than any amount of number one singles and albums – a singer with international appeal, someone who will be just as popular in London, Chicago, or New Orleans as they are in Saitama or Sapporo.
In Chie Ayado, there is a tremulous hope that they may finally have found the singer to take on the world, although somewhat late as she was already over 40 when she made her professional debut.
Her powerful voice and scat singing on her latest release Love put her in a class of her own, and displays her rich background in Jazz and Gospel. Performing classic jazz standards in English, she shows her versatile range and style, especially on her rendition of The Rose. What Aretha Franklin is to soul (the Godmother) Chie Ayado is to Japanese Jazz. But will she ever be much more?
Her powerful voice and scat singing on her latest release Love put her in a class of her own, and displays her rich background in Jazz and Gospel. Performing classic jazz standards in English, she shows her versatile range and style, especially on her rendition of The Rose. What Aretha Franklin is to soul (the Godmother) Chie Ayado is to Japanese Jazz. But will she ever be much more?
Tokyo Journal
June, 2000
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