Ichiko Aoba Concert Review

Fabiano Do  Nascimento & Vittor Santos Orquestra

Thought Bubble

The Tea Club

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CONCERT REVIEW – ICHIKO AOBA

Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

24 April 2026

Japanese songstress Ichiko Aoba has been a darling around these parts for some time. Her lovely folksy melodies, note-perfect classical guitar playing and intimate, crystalline voice have a way of making you ride on a carpet of air and touching your soul. We loved her seventh album, Windswept Adan, her breakthrough in 2020. It was also where she found her current style. 2025’s magnificent follow-up Luminescent Creatures continued her exploration of underwater life, and sealed her as not only one of our favorites, but a worldwide concert phenomenon.

The concert took place at the beautiful Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The Frank Gehry-designed wonder is the home of the LA Philharmonic. It was a packed house, with many Japanese-Americans in the audience. Ichiko looked resplendent in a flowing silver dress. Mostly she played her small body Yamaha classical nylon-string guitar that she’s played since she was 15. On a few songs she played a compact Yamaha synthesizer for soundscapes, and she switched to an electric guitar for a couple of songs.

She was backed by the 12 Ensemble, the excellent European string orchestra. It featured violins, viola, cello, bass, piano, harp, flute, and more. Although Ichiko can perform brilliantly solo with just her guitar and voice, the 12 Ensemble brought her songs to life in high definition; they made them pop. This is the same outfit who backed her on her 2023 live album Ichiko Aoba  with 12 Ensemble (Live at Milton Court). In fact, if you want to know what this concert sounded like, check out that album, as it features many of the same songs. The addition of the 12 Ensemble and their exquisite, sensitive arrangements of her songs gave the sound a fullness and a feel of the great impressionistic composers like Claude Debussy and Erik Satie or even Robert Kirby. The arranger played piano during the performance, if I understood the ensemble introductions correctly.

Ichiko played songs from across her catalogue, but unsurprisingly featured many tracks from both Windswept Adan and Luminescent Creatures. She played a fingerstyle guitar and her soothing voice at times felt so intimate and personal as if she was singing softly to herself. The audience was reserved and respectful for much of the performance. I like to think they were under the spell she casts on you with her ethereal music. But at the conclusion they rose to their feet and roared their approval and called for encores, which Ichiko did twice.

I was a little surprised that she occasionally spoke to the audience in halting English, as I didn’t think she spoke any of the language. It was much appreciated. Overall, this was a wonderful performance by Ichiko of her tender songs. She brings you into another world, a graceful world where you can swim with her as she glides with her beloved sea creatures.

(Mark Feingold)

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FABIANO DO NASCIMENTO & VITTOR SANTOS ORQUESTRA - VILA
(LP/CD/Digital from Far Out Recordings)

This lush album features the sprightly finger picking of the virtuoso Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento, who now lives in Los Angeles, paired with the sweeping strings and playful horns of the Vittor Santos Orquestra. Nascimento is prolific – he’s released sixteen albums since 2011, with ten of them just since 2023. He always challenges himself, frequently changing styles among folk music, jazz, Afro-samba, choro, electronica and experimental music. As part of his expansive artistic growth, this album showcases his melodic compositions and guitar playing - never flashy, but always nimble - and Vittor Santos Orquestra’s vivid, relaxing atmospherics.

Rather than have his guitar deservedly out front in the mix, Nascimento chooses to use it to introduce most of the tracks, then fall back into the middle of the soundfield. It almost bathes and swims like a dolphin, playfully popping up now and then in the middle of the sea of the orchestra. All the tracks are beautiful, but I’ll give one example: On 'Tema Em Harmônicos,' Nascimento begins with those guitar harmonics from the title, then bobs and weaves his way through the jazzy melody. The song is a breezy, carefree tune that will remind you of warm summer days, sailboats in the distance and the smell of fresh laundry. Vittor Santos is a trombonist, and matches Nascimento’s guitar measure for measure with a relaxing solo in the latter part of the track. It’s exquisite.

Ironically, in a bonus track on the CD, Nascimento includes a version of 'Tema Em Harmônicos' without the orchestra. Stripped of the strings and horns, Nascimento’s guitar is finally the main instrument out front among a bass and some lively percussion. It’s like a different track altogether although it’s the same piece, just with some clever snipping at the mixing desk. Given a chance to breathe, Nascimento’s guitar work is highlighted for the brilliance it is. It makes one wonder what if the whole album was released that way? But the orchestra definitely embraces the listener, and by embrace I do mean it feels like one big hug surrounding you.

When I was a young sprite trying to learn more about jazz and soak up as much as I could, I bought an album in the record bin in the shop by the great saxophone player Coleman Hawkins. It turned out all the tracks were backed by an orchestra, an easy listening affair. I had unwittingly bought the one outlier in Hawkins’ catalogue that sounded nothing like his usual music, which took me a long time to realize. This isn’t quite the same analogy, but Vila DOES sound different than Nascimento’s other releases, if nothing else because he’s a musical shape shifter, with his virtuoso guitar playing being the one constant.

Another favorite track is 'Floresta Dos Sonhos.' The six-minute song has an up-and-down repeating rhythm for both the orchestra and Nascimento’s guitar. More than most of the other tracks, you can hear Nascimento’s rapid finger picking driving the song and the orchestra, and he even has a brief stanza in the middle where it’s just his guitar unadorned. It’s gorgeous, but somehow you welcome back the orchestra to pick up their gentle accompaniment.

If possible, listen to Vila with good speakers or headphones. There’s so much to pick up with repeated listenings. For instance, 'Prelude 5' is another track where Nascimento’s guitar is more out front and the interplay with the orchestra is fascinating. Nascimento’s fingers never stop, almost flamenco style, while the orchestral arrangement perfectly blends with it, coming up, down and all around his playing. Vila is gentle, but still manages to challenge the listener.

(Mark Feingold)

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THOUGHT BUBBLE - WHO'S TO SAY
(CD/DL from Moolakii Club Audio Interface)

It's been several years (and releases) since we reviewed Thought Bubble's Universe Zero album, so we're glad to rejoin their significant following and present the eighth album from the Shropshire alt-electronic trio of Chris Cordwell (synths), Nick Raybould (percussion), and Peter Gelf (vocals). A krautockin' groove permeates opener 'Let The Light' with Gelf's jittery vocals snaking through Raybould's percussive cushion and Cordwell's synths hovering in the air - very much in the mould of the Damo-fronted Can.

There's an improvisational sense of fun and mayhem in 'Small Things and Sandwiches' which reminds me of some coffee shop gathering of beatniks in '60s San Francisco or New York. Musically akin to the Zappa/Beefheart school of avant garde anti-pop, it'll take a few listens to settle into Thought Bubble's musical universe, but fans of several of Terrastock's difficult listening acts like 50 Foot Hose, Spaceheads, Oneida, and Urdog along with challenging efforts from Faust, et. al. will be right at home.

'Lightfoot' moves in poppier direction with a catchy Vince Clarke-style synth riff almost childlike in its simplicity, yet something that remains long after the album ends. In fact, the album actually ends with a 'Lightfoot' reprise, 'A Man Split In Two', a meaner, hurricane-force gale revisit complete with spooky haunted house bleeps that's twice as long and hypnotically mesmerising.

Soft Machine (and more specifically Ayers' and Wyatt's solo output) eases into my mind while I'm enjoying the vibrating synth washes and Gelf's vocal round of 'I'll Buy You Oranges' and I also got a kick out of the satirical lyrics and vocal exercises of 'Your Call' in the fine tradition of  Moondog.

(Jeff Penczak)

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THE TEA CLUB - CHASM
(Download available from the band)
 

The sixth album from Philadelphia's progressive art rockers was five years in the making during which the band struggled through the cycle of "life, death and rebirth," all of which are  reflected in Chasm. Driven by the dual vocals and harmonies of guitarist brothers Daniel and Patrick McGowan, the songs are punctuated by Daniel Monda's strident drumming, Jamie Wolf's bass and cello, and Joseph Dorsey's keyboards. Frequent mood swings, melodic about-faces, and syncopated time signatures remind us of vintage Crimson, Genesis, and Yes, yet there is room for melancholic reflection in the tender breaks from the opening salvos' aggressive pomp in tracks like 'Quicksand,' 'Ear On Arm,' and 'The Bell Ringer,' the latter delivering a pleasant Kansas vibe.

Side two kicks off with the spiritually enveloping, Gregorian chant-with-operatic-overtones of  'A Small And Passing Thing' while 'Altered One' is a strong "hit single" candidate that should catch the ears of new listeners and encourage a quick visit to the back catalogue. 'Vineyard' changes its mind halfway through and we're treated to two sides of the emotional coin: a sneaky, stalking beginning bursting into U2-styled emotional bombast. 'Sonata' adds a nice classical touch, and 'The Lunar Eclipse' floats us down gently to Earth following the highs and lows of life with The Tea Club.

(Jeff Penczak)