Sumito Oi: Sumitty & The Funfair

Jazz of Japan #27 • Mar 6, 2018 • Brian McCrory

Sumitty & the Funfair is a 2015 release from drummer Sumito Oi and his band of merry music makers, assembling here to produce an original work of creatively poppy jazz. Not circus clown tomfoolery, but, rather, light and glittery music played with a cheerful buoyancy and sensitivity by improvisational jazz musicians. The theme is musical fun, wide-smiled mirth carried by a sweet nostalgia for amusement park ambiance.

As a drummer’s quartet, rhythm moderates the music delightfully, propulsive but never overpowering. Flutes with electric and acoustic instruments add evocative flavors, leading us through the fair and summoning musical images like childhood memories.

Sumitty & The Funfair by Sumito Oi

• Sumito Oi - drums
• Toyomi Kobayashi - flute, alto flute, bass flute, Andes25F
• Koichi Sato - piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer
• Show Kudo - double bass, electric bass

Released in 2015 on S&T Music as STMU-1001.

Japanese names: Sumito Oi 大井澄東 Toyomi Kobayashi 小林豊美 Koichi Sato 佐藤浩一 Show Kudo 工藤精

Audio and Video

• Live performance of “Fascinating Rhythm”