Trumpeter Keisuke Nakamura leads a group of contemporary jazz musicians called Humadope, a post-bop Jazz Messengers-styled quintet with a trumpet-sax front line and piano-bass-drums rhythm section. The name itself (a mix of human/mad/dope) suggests a dangerous edge on blisteringly fast tunes as the skilled soloists riotously burn through the changes. Yet, the group handily balances this attitude with a warm sensitivity played on soulful ballads and cooler numbers.

This album consists of well-written original compositions with a few covers thrown in (Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones). Overall, this is an excellent debut with a variety of moods, tempos, and exciting solos showcasing some premium J Jazz from the current crop of musicians.

Humadope by Keisuke Nakamura

• Keisuke Nakamura - trumpet, flugelhorn
• Akihiro Nishiguchi - tenor sax, soprano sax
• Akane Matsumoto - piano
• Motoi Kanamori - bass
• Yasushi Fukumori - drums
• Mamoru Ishida - Rhodes (tr. #5, 6)
• Shun Ishiwaka - drums (tr. #1)

Released in 2014 on M581 Records as SDR1401.

Japanese names: 中村恵介 Nakamura Keisuke 西口明宏 Nishiguchi Akihiro 松本茜 Matsumoto Akane 金森もとい Kanamori Motoi 福森康 Fukumori Yasushi 石田衛 Ishida Mamoru 石若駿 Ishiwaka Shun

Audio and Video

• Live performance of track #4 “Round Table”:

• Excerpt from track #1: “SPEED HARASSMENT”

Jazz of Japan #15 • Feb 12, 2018 • Brian McCrory