Yumi Ito Perspective on Is It You - Solo Version
I love Björk and Olafur Arnalds. I've spent endless hours listening to them.
Songs with strong melodies and some quirky influences of Jazz, classical music and Improvisation.
I've been listening to Ella Fitzgerald since I was a little child. I love how she interprets Jazz Standards and how she improvises. Her phrasing is so fresh! I also love the music and production of the Icelandic artist JFDR a lot, the music accompagnied me through dark times during the pandemic. I love the sounds she produces and the singing and story telling. I love Gretchen Parlatos music since I can always discover something new in it. The band interaction is so amazing and soothing.
On an Uber in Greece :-D
To give others a voice who can not go on stage and speak or sing in front of an audience.
Teaching as a voice professor at the University of Arts in Lucerne, Zurich and Basel. Also did work as a waitress in some restaurants when I was a student.
Design, dance and visual art.
Sometimes it feels a bit lonely being on tour or coming back home since it's hard to maintain some sort of routine. But seing my friends, family and going out to have walks in the nature makes me feel connected to mother earth and that is always healing.
When people in the audience start crying during my show that deeply moves me.
Josin, JFDR, Björk, Olafur Arnalds, néomi, Adrienne Lenker, Colin Vallon and many more... these are all artists I really love and who I find super inspiring for my own music!
I never expected my song "What Seems To Be" to become such a hit but I perform it at every gig since people seem to love it and it's the most streamed song of mine.
I love performing outdoors. It would be awesome to perform outside, on a hill or mountain, seing the sea and being surrounded just by nature.
Olafur Arnalds, JFDR, Josin, Néomi, Colin Vallon to name a few... but the list is long :-D
Themselves, their own emotions, peace, melancholy, healing, happiness, feeling moved.
Through recorded music at home through our CDs or Vinyls or live at concerts :-)
Powerful, emotional, melancholic.
In the belly of my mum :-) My mother is an opera singer and my dad is a classical pianist, so I came in touch with music before I was even born. My mum was performing while she was pregnant with me.
With her voice, Yumi Ito creates worlds far beyond all borders. A laureate of the Montreux Jazz Competition, she is considered one of the most outstanding representatives of vocal improvisation, and effortlessly operates between genres as well as her roles as a singer, pianist, composer, and improviser. "She gives regular performances around the world – with a little luck, one can hear her at the Blue Note club in New York." - Joanna Pieczykolan Based on countless concerts and tours, the musician acts within it like a Zen master: clear, reflective, and with a uniquely powerful energy. SWR Jazz subsequently named her one of the vocal discoveries of 2020, while Jazz thing and Bandcamp selected her album "Stardust Crystals" as one of the best releases of 2020. Yumi Ito performs solo or in a trio, which includes the "drum poet" Iago Fernández and the double bassist virtuoso Nadav Erlich. "Ysla" (14.04.2023 via enja records), the new album by Yumi Ito, marks a new peak in her opus: personal stories, impressive improvisations, and a unique voice – like an island, proud, stoic, and strong in the middle of the ocean between Art-Pop, Jazz, and Neoclassicism.
I started playing the piano at the age of 3. Since my mother was an opera singer I also started taking classical singing lessons with her when I was 13 years old. Later on I decided to study Jazz Vocals at the University of Arts in Zurich and Basel, where I obtained a Master in Jazz Vocals and was selted for the one-year program Focus Year in Basel.
Pop, Jazz, Songwriter, Dark Folk, Art-Pop, Neoclassical with some influences from film music.
Stories of society, nature, people around me, my personal life. Melancholy, hope. Most of it is based around the piano since I write most of my songs on the piano. My songs come to life through improvisation.
