Ulo S. – Visitors From The Low End

You've probably heard plenty of lullabies in your time, whether willingly or under duress, but chances are you've never heard them quite like this. This was the first entry in Tokyo pianist Tsuyoshi Yamamoto's Fantasy Jazz series, originally released in 1991. Here, familiar melodies including 'Chim Chim Cheree', 'La La Lu' and 'When You Wish Upon A Star' are gently coaxed away from the nursery and into the jazz club, gaining fresh harmonic colours but with their identities intact, providing surprisingly sturdy vehicles for improvisation. Childhood favourites, perhaps, but hardly child's play.