The Real Me

Artist Profile

• Yuko Shigeno

  Profile Yuko Shigeno, vocalist Yuko Shigeno was born in Osaka, Japan. She started learning classical piano at the age of four. Later on, she studied jazz vocal and jazz piano during high school. During her Japanese university years, she also studied cross cultural studies at UCLA in California, U.S.A. After graduation, she went abroad many times to study jazz and learn voicetraining. Although she started singing jazz in 2002, her musical career had begun much earlier. She debuted as a rock singer in 1990 so her voice is emotional, warm and exciting. In 2006, Yuko released her soul music CD, 'Black Or White' in both the USA and Japan. She composed most of the music for this CD. Her next album came in October 2008. 'Old Devil Moon' is a straight ahead jazz album. It was recorded with four horns: a trumpet, an alto saxophone, a tenor saxophone and a trombone. The following album was recorded in New York City, in September 2011, with the Don Friedman quartet, one of the greatest jazz pianists. This album is so unique. Usually, most jazz vocalists sing musical and movie songs with their jazz style. But Yuko challenged herself to sing only 'Jazz compositions'. Jazz compositions are really difficult to sing because they are composed for musical instruments. The melody is often complicated and there are many passages reminiscent of tongue twisters. Her trial was successful! The media lauded her work and the sales have been great. In March 2014, Yuko released her latest album, 'Circle Waltz'. Once again, it was recorded in New York City with the Don Friedman quartet. The album 'Circle Waltz' is named after Don's famous song. Yuko wrote the lyrics for this tune. Her pitch extends across five octaves and she can sing with several different voices. She can play the piano, compose beautiful songs and has a deep understanding of musical theories. All in all, the most important thing is that her passion for jazz is unequalled among other jazz singers.

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