Brad W Thomas

I love Yelena’s new album “Adventures of the Wildflower” – a beautiful work with poetic stories, illustrations, design, and so much love and thought with every note she plays. Her piano playing technique is outstanding with the pianist left hand roaming the keys with exceptional skill, distinctive changes, and the right hand skipping out into the unknown with joyous affect. Her orchestration is unique, very clever, never a cliche. I love all her arrangements which blend together the vibes and piano and subtle effects used by Theremin, Glass harp and Guitar. All the band members are highly skilled virtuosic jazz musicians weaving together with love in the making of this album, the sound quality is superb. Yelena creates wonderful music, stories and paintings taking us on a journey through the seasons of everyday life, nature, family, all creatures great and small, with all her close observations to inspire, a true prolific jazz musician and composer….I feel enlightened.