Saxophone player Toshiki Abe’s first album is titled The Simplicity. It was released in 2022 under the name of his band the Toshiki Abe Life Memory Project, a trio formed just one year early as a channel for Abe’s original music. This group features Abe on sax, Sayaki Kishi on organ, and Tetsunori Morinaga on drums, resulting in a funky sax/organ/drums sound that works perfectly with Abe’s soulful compositions.
While Abe’s band name “Life Memory Project” sounds as if it could be a type of memorial service product that adjoins death and melancholy (the mistaken assumption I originally had), it has a completely different meaning centered around life. The concept represents his goal of capturing and directing the daily events and life changes through his music. It’s similar to how a dairy is used to record the days’ happenings, but instead of capturing the past in notes, Abe directs his music and life forward by intention through his compositions, recorded music, and live events. It’s like a forward-looking planning system specifically constructed to pay attention to the immeasurably special value of each day.
The Simplicity is a 44-minute album contains seven tracks, five originals from Abe and two jazz covers. Right from the start and through to the last track, you can sense the fun the musicians are having on with medium- and up-tempo modern organ-flavored hybrid of jazz and rock with elements of funk. It swings with a solid beat generated by the bubbling-over drums, heavy organ bass lines, and warmly dense organ harmonies. Through it all, Abe’s good-natured slippery and screaming sax adds fire to the mix.
From the foundation of the type of jazz organ music that creates a living-room party atmosphere (visions of Jimmy Smith’s House Party are embedded in me, no doubt), the music is straightforwardly simple and enjoyable. Yet, as Abe’s roots come from funk, he adds freshness by incorporating additional arranged inserts, curves, and synchronized band hits. The immense sound of the jazz organ, with its different chunky riffs and percussive and expressive vibrato, is a big part of the music, as is the consistently nimble and active drums rhythms that knit and surround the music. Still, Abe handily controls the scene with his fluid and unrestrained long lines of quick improvisation over it all.
In addition to Abe’s five original compositions, two jazz covers are included as jazz touchstones: “I Remember You” (Victor Schertzinger/Johnny Mercer) and “Caravan” (Juan Tizol/Duke Ellington) are handled in a standard way to frame sax, organ, and drum solos, also with enough slight rearrangements and vamps to add Abe’s personalty, and that of his Life Memory Project trio’s sound, to the classic songs.
The songs stay immersed in that fun and funky swing jazz zone, sometimes alternating with the occasional Latin sections and interludes, on most of the music: #1 “The Simplicity”, #2 “I Remember You”, #3 “Believe in Yourself”, #5 “New Beginning”, and #7 “Caravan” are all cut from that mode. The two slower songs, #4 “Utsukushiki Hibi e” (To the Beautiful Days) and #6 “See You Around”, at slower church and ballad tempos respectively, add some healthy bluesy repose. Throughout the album the music moves forward and engages, and nothing distracts from Toshiki Abe Life Memory Project’s concentrated fun and positive energy. Perhaps that is the simple, singular, and satisfying concept expressed by the album title.
I recently asked Toshiki Abe his about the memories he had of Life Memory Project’s first album. Without hesitation, he responded about how fast they formed and recorded their first album, almost as one continuous action. The style and content of response reinforced the themes I had picked up on, that of forward-thinking, positive energy, and a hands-on, can-do attitude, all of which no doubt resulted in an instant simplicity of purpose.
The Simplicity by Toshiki Abe Life Memory Project
Toshiki Abe - saxophone
Sayaka Kishi - organ
Tetsunori Morinaga - drums
Released in 2022 on Yokohama Reunion as YRCD-020.
Japanese names: 阿部俊貴 Abe Toshiki 岸淑香 Kishi Sayaka 森永哲則 Morinaga Tetsunori
Related Albums
Audio and Video
“Caravan” (track #7) — excerpt:
Having just finished an autumn tour in Southern Japan, Toshiki Abe Life Memory Project is now working on releasing their second album (with a current crowdfunding campaign), due out next year.
