ALBUM REVIEWS

JUNKO ONISHI

“Junko Onishi Live at the Village Vanguard”

Blue Note

* * 1/2

If you were to listen to Junko Onishi and you didn’t know her name or what she looked like, you could easily picture the person behind the piano as a seasoned, hard-bitten, middle-aged studio cat with lots of chops, great feel and big sound.

That Onishi happens to be a petite 27-year-old adds to her appeal. That she can swing with the best of them--and does so with enthusiasm--is undeniable.

Onishi plays mostly standards, and though fond of juxtaposing styles and introducing startling rhythmic changes, she stays very much inside the harmonic scheme.

Her air-tight arrangements, lyricism and phrasing shine, however, as do her newfound sidemen, bassist Reginald Veal and drummer Herlin Riley.

And though “How Long Has This Been Goin’ On” (not to be confused with Gershwin’s)--her only composition in this, her second album--might be too tame for some given its predictable harmonic structure, it is nevertheless haunting and refreshingly easy to digest.

Onishi, however, is not really exploring new venues and doesn’t seem to have found her voice. But her musicality, which one wishes were more obvious in other pianists of her generation, is never in doubt.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent).