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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) |
