PUSH

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Released in 1978, PUSH was Noriko Miyamoto’s debut album and remains the recording most closely associated with the jazz-crossover side of her early career. Miyamoto had been drawn toward soul after seeing Tina Turner perform at Tokyo’s legendary MUGEN club and was later recruited by bassist Isao Suzuki, whose group provided the foundation for the album. Suzuki’s acoustic bass gives the record a physical, unusually deep center, while younger players including Masanori Sasaji, guitarist Kazumasa Akiyama, Yuji Karaki, Akira Dohi, Tatsuhiko Hizawa, and Tatsuji Yokoyama connect the sessions to Japan’s emerging fusion generation. The track list itself is revealing: English-language standards such as “Everything I Have Is Yours” sit beside the title track, “Cadillac Woman,” and “My Life,” allowing Miyamoto to move between jazz singing, soul phrasing, and contemporary crossover rhythm. Rather than smoothing jazz into pop, PUSH keeps the music tactile and improvisational. Its appeal lies in that balance: a young soul-oriented vocalist meeting seasoned Japanese jazz musicians at exactly the moment when jazz, funk, and fusion were beginning to overlap more freely.