Keyboardist and composer Keiko Matsui has collaborated with soul star Lalah Hathaway and harmonica player Grégoire Maret on the single “Love and Nothing Less.” The song is on Matsui’s 30th album Euphoria which takes its title from the artist’s reaction to seeing how music has connected people in her travels around the world. Hathaway lights up the words with her pure tone that Matsui immediately thought of when she began writing the song. She says,
“The moment the first melody came to me, I immediately could hear Lalah singing and before I even made contact with her, I had written the complete verse melody while imagining her voice. I really admire her as an artist, so I was so happy we had the opportunity to finally collaborate. Her performance is amazing! When I shared my feelings and thoughts about the song, she delicately captured the vibe and spirit of it and transformed it into beautiful words.”
Maret’s harmonica is another layer of feeling inside the nuanced movements of sound that mimic the heart’s ascendance into love. Matsui’s “Love and Nothing Less” is one capable step towards her goal of bringing more harmony to the planet with music.
