Sumireiko: Decision

Nov 22, 2025

Decision is a 2020 album from the duo of vibraphonist Reiko Yamamoto and pianist Sumire Kuribayashi. This is their second album together as the duo “sumireiko” and follows their 2013 debut release Blue Bird. The two musicians have been playing together for fifteen years since meeting and forming their group, and in that time have developed a deep friendship that permeates their music with this intuitive emotional bond. In fact, the name sumireiko was made by overlapping their first names, Sumire and Reiko, to create the name of their musical identity. Their first names, Sumire and Reiko, are even combined and overlapped to form their musical identity “sumireiko” (すみれ + れいこ = すみれいこ), another indication of their close musical affinity built on trust and friendship.

The nine tracks on Decision are entirely original songs from both Yamamoto and Kuribayashi, who contribute four and five compositions respectively. The paired sound of piano and vibraphone meshes well through their balanced playing, as the fingers, hammers, and strings of Kuribayashi’ piano innately bonds with the mallets, bars, and pipes of Yamamoto’s vibraphone.

Kuribayashi lends her voice to some of the songs as well, for an angelic effect that is sometimes layered multiple times in a fantastic chorus. This creates an elevated level of joyful beauty and depth to the music.

Decision was originally released online as a six-track digital album in the summer 2020, and later that year, was re-released on CD with three additional tracks.

The album opens with the slow burner “Lull in the Rain”, where Yamamoto and Kuribayashi take their time to set the scene, guiding listeners patiently into their world. #2 “Nobody There” is mysterious and moody, and brings to mind some of the Spanish, classical, and pop touches created by the great piano-vibes duo of Chick Corea and Gary Burton.

Track #3 “Look for the Almond Blossoms” lays out a straightforward jazz waltz, modern and contemplative. #4 “Déjà-vu” releases the beautiful chimes and reverberations of the two instrument with a grounded bluesy feel building to soaring emotions, with Kuribayashi’s voice adding another instrumental texture. #5 “With the Sound of Rain” is a pretty jazz ballad, gentle and refreshing.

The title track #6 “Decision” is a multi-part suite whose sections introduce dreamy rubato canvases, Joel/Jarrett/Folds-style piano rock, a multi-layered vocal choir, and dramatic developments as heavy and austere as a cathedral, magically conjuring images of medieval middle-earth ceremonies in misty forest glades. #7 “Piano Songs No. 5” is a chapter from Yamamoto’s collection of inspired songs, a peaceful, calming waltz interlude graced by vocal clouds drifting slowly above.

#8 “Mattina” was written by Kuribayashi, played as a vibraphone solo by Yamamoto, and is as innocent and nostalgic as the memory of carousel ride from childhood. Finally, the album wraps up with #9 “Mean a Lot to Me”, where the duo works together empathically to develop the same steady and composed musical feeling together, expressed in this finale as a complex mix of a gradually developing farewell suffused with the lingering reluctance to part.