A spoken word classic with jazz. WINNER INDIE Award, *****5 Stars

The Queen’s Garden is an epic story with jazz about the love between a good girl who’s all “chop suey” (Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Scots) and a Hawaiian prince born too late in the wrong country.

The first spoken word epic with jazz. A love story set amongst LA's urban tribes, between a good girl who's all "chop suey" (Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Scots) and a proud boy going bad descended from Hawaiian royalty. Based on a true story.

--

This soul-stirring coming-of-age disc by Brenda Wong Aoki shouldn't be missed by fans of spoken word. The first-person love story of Brenda Jean--a girl of uniquely mixed heritage (Asian, Mexican, and Scottish)--is backed by a melting jazz soundtrack courtesy of bassist-composer Mark Izu. The west side of Los Angeles is the setting here, but it's Aoki's autobiographical narrative that steals each scene. Her love for Kali, a boy descended from Hawaiian royalty, takes its own course, and Aoki's jazz inspired pacing makes this 71-minute disc ebb and flow with a power all its own. --Jason Verlinde