She was offered a record deal by a jazz label, but decided to turn it down.
It was released on the 32 Jazz label in 1997.
Most of the bigger jazz labels, though, are not signing new artists right now.
Today, Verve is one of the world's leading jazz labels.
The album was the first release on the influential European jazz label.
It proved to be their sole release for the independent jazz label.
"Without the Japanese market, a lot of independent jazz labels probably would have folded, or at least stopped releasing new material."
Its first incarnation was as a 1950s jazz label.
"We were the first contemporary jazz label to fully commit to this new format," he says.
The willingness of major jazz labels to promote their musicians is also being felt in clubs.