Yukari Sekiya (Sekichu) is a jazz pianist, composer, and free improvisationalist who released her first album in 2011 with the group Yukari Sekiya Trio with Yuko Tanaka. The Japanese title of this debut is ありふれた愛なので・・・ translated on the cover as It’s Ordinary Love And… Sekiya’s trio is completed by Michihiro Morisada on contrabass and Tatsuya Hashimoto on drums, and Yuko Tanaka joins as guest vocals and voice.

This album is a live recording of seven of Sekiya’s original compositions, performed on one night in December 2010 at the jazz club Big Apple in Kobe. The four musicians all embrace spontaneous, simultaneous creation, and Sekiya’s music is wide open for creativity. Bounding several free jazz sections are the pianist’s composed musical themes and thoughts, written down on the page as clear melodies, structures, accents, and band signals that are coordinated parts of Sekiya’s musical design. At the same time, whole sections of several pieces are set free to allow the musicians to stretch out together. In those sections, the four members improvise freely but together as a group, reaching towards one musical mind, and building to wild crests of sound or subtle unified soundscapes as feelings and the moment dictate.

Voice artist Yuko Tanaka performs on six of the songs, switching between vocals and voice to match Sekiya’s music to her lyrics or voice effects. On about half the songs, Tanaka sings Japanese lyrics written by herself, and on other songs, she unites with the instrumentalists using all manner of unconstrained non-speech sounds, gibberish words, and nonsense syllables to dynamic effect.

Here’s a brief overview of the music. The absorbing opening track #1 “Stop call” unleashes a band that is energized and eager to flex their group improvisation muscles. #2 “Night lights” shifts down to a gentle ballad with light Japanese lyrics. #3 “floating” continues the graceful mood and lyrical singing with a soft waltz feel. #4 “KOSAME” (小雨, light rain) is an instrumental exploration, as the trio draws a scene that builds to a rousing climax. #5 “Ballerina at midnight” evolves from a vintage loose swing to the uncontrolled passion of a mad dance. #6 “In the Cave” stir up chaos with glazed fragments of multiscalar notes and intense free association. Finally, the closer #7 “Grampa’s Hand” features vocalist Tanaka returning to sweetly sung lyrics as the band holds steady and brings the intoxicating experience of this live set back to ground.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes.)

1. Stop call
2. Night lights
3. floating
4. KOSAME
5. Ballerina at midnight
6. In the Cave
7. Grampa's Hand

Grampa’s Hand

１．I look down and see your shadow
A soft wind stirs
We gaze at momentary happiness
and laugh together

２．Troubled by lies
Everyday regrets
Even cruel words
Wrapped up in tenderness

３．Your evening shadow
Floats, overflowing
The time hasn’t come, yet
The wind has already gone
Suspended in the night
A soft, yellow-colored hand

Night lights

You, reflected softly,
Just for two alone

This feeling thinned out,
Quietly expanding

A feeling of closeness, but just that
With you who lights the way

As hair flows softly
Just for two alone

Obi Notes

it's ordinary love and… Yukari Sekiya Trio with Yuko Tanaka

The heart pounds, begin to cry, begin to dance, betrayal… Long ago memories overflow

Dec. 14, 2010 A live recording on the final night of the tour The long-awaited debut album is completed

It’s Ordinary Love And… by Yukari Sekiya Trio with Yuko Tanaka

• Yukari Sekiya - piano
• Yuko Tanaka - voice
• Michihiro Morisada - bass
• Tatsuya Hashimoto - drums

Released in 2011 on Itazura Records as YUMO-713.

Japanese names: 関谷友加里 Sekiya Yukari 田中ゆうこ Tanaka Yuko 森定道広 Morisada Michihiro 橋本達哉 Hashimoto Tatsuya

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• “Stop call ストップ・コール” (track #1) — excerpt:

• “Ballerina at midnight 真夜中のバレリーナ” (track #5) — excerpt:

• Yukari Sekiya Trio with Yuko Tanaka live excerpt:

• Excerpt from track #1: “ストップ・コール (Stop Call)”

Jazz of Japan #353 • Mar 1, 2026 • Brian McCrory

Related albums: Frozen Dust (2011), Oxymoron (2017), Boundary (2018), The Goat on a Peak (2023)