Album Notes

. My name is Reiko Aoki, and this album "Dreaming on a Carousel" is my first original songbook. For those who haven't yet heard my music, I'd like to introduce a bit of myself and my musical influences.
I was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, as the sixth child of my parents. My encounter with jazz goes all way back to my childhood. My father used to watch old Sinatra movies late at night and I would often join him. I guess I was too young to understand the storyline of those films, but I sort of enjoyed the swing-feel of the big band jazz. Those precious days came to an abrupt end one night when my mom forced me to go to bed earlier than usual because I had to attend kindergarten the next morning.
My family wasn't particularly musical, but as soon as I entered elementary school, my mother took me to classical piano lessons, just as she had done with her three other daughters. Although I liked the idea of becoming an accomplished pianist and being able to play pieces by composers like Debussy and Chopin, I have to admit that I never really was an enthusiastic piano student.
One day when I was in junior high, I found an LP (not a CD!) titled "Miwaku no Eiga'ongaku," or "Fascinating Soundtracks" in our living room. I still remember the sensation that I felt when I first heard songs like "The Apartment" (Deutsch), "So In　 Love" (Porter) and "One Eyed Jack" (Friedhofer) from that album. They sounded so sophisticated to me then and still do.
Not long after that I entered high school and again became a night person, often listening to late night broadcasts. One late summer night, I turned on the radio as usual, and heard a mysterious sounding trumpet playing. It was quiet but very energetic at the same time, and before I knew it, my room was filled with its prayerful sound. I immediately started recording the broadcast and listened intently until the end of the song when the DJ announced the name of the trumpeter, Mr. (Miles) Davis, and the tune was "Round (about) Midnight" (Monk). It was followed by "It Never Entered My Mind" (Rogers) with Red Garland's beautiful intro and Miles' whistle, and then "Bye Bye blackbird" (Dixon). I don't remember how many times I listened to that tape, but I still do remember that night and the music that lead me to the world of modern jazz.