Taeko Ohnuki -- One's Love

 

Will always love this cover for singer-songwriter Taeko Ohnuki's（大貫妙子）"Grey Skies" (1976), her very first solo album. Maybe the title is referring to some overcast weather but the tracks do provide plenty of warmth and sun.

Indeed, I did write up an article on "Grey Skies" back in 2012 but I didn't cover all of the tracks because frankly I didn't want to put all of the eggs in one basket, so to speak. A few of them are worthy of the single article treatment such as this one called "One's Love" which was also the B-side to her single "Ai wa Maboroshi"  (愛は幻....Love is a Mystery) which did get covered in the "Grey Skies" article.

Created by Ohnuki with a light waltzing rhythm, "One's Love" is New Music with a romantic angle as a young lady seems to trip the light fantastic (perhaps ballet) for a guy she has probably yet to meet. I gather that wishing is a much better proposition than actually encountering. There's also something about the inclusion of the flittering flute, the piano and the overall French jazziness that not only brings memories of Vince Guaraldi into my head but also the retro premonition of the European-feeling material she would be singing later on in her career. It's wonderful to hear this early voice of the singer when it's so high and innocent although she was already in her early 20s when she recorded "Grey Skies".