The CD version of this album includes ten tracks running at 54 minutes of mostly original music from Yoshimoto. The popular jazz standard “Body and Soul” is the sole cover tune, played as duo of piano and sax as a gentle closing.

The music on Blending Tone is contemporary jazz with a modern, open feeling build on the confidence and closeness that the members of the quartet exhibit with one another.

Throughout, this is a finely attuned album that rewards paying attention to the details. The musician’s individual solos seem to positively search for new expressions, pushing their improvisations for creativity as much to satisfy their own voices as well as to connect with the other players. As leader, Akihiro gets most of the time in the spotlight for his extended solos, and pianist Aaron Choulai gets an almost equal share and solos on nearly every track. The two partners even have an back-and-forth trading session in the greater part of #7 “Dark Matter” before drummer Ishiwaka and bassist Sakazaki take over the music.

Through the themes and adlibs, the locked-in band seems to naturally push one another to heights of greater ambition and near abandon. For balance, tracks #3 “Pale Green” and #10 “Body and Soul” are two ballads that alight to ground during their slower moments, essential for the coming down to calmer settings within the journey though the adventurous terrain.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Toshihiko Hoshino’s original Japanese liner notes.)

The first time I heard Akihiro Yoshimoto was in late November 2009, at the live jazz club Apple Jump which had just opened. The quartet was built from the Jun Furuya Trio, with Kunpei Nakabayashi on bass and Ryo Shibuya on drums, and I was really impressed by the performance. The tenor produced a rolling groove that had nicely thick tone stacked with short phrases. My ears were completely tuned into their fresh contemporary sound that was centered on their unique originals. Then, a giant foreigner who was sitting alone at a corner table joined the band, sitting in for one song. That was Aaron Choulai, the pianist who plays on this album. With just one song, I was knocked out by his brilliant playing and novel ideas that overturned the usual stereotypes. I can still vividly remember the excitement I felt that night, as I walked back to Ikebukuro station, like witnessing the prenatal stirrings of something new as I thought “What I just heard was unbelievable.”

I’ll briefly introduce Akihiro Yoshimoto. He was born in Kobe in 1980. In 2004, he entered Boston’s Berklee College of Music. After graduating from Berklee, he moved to Tokyo and started performing. In 2007, he was awarded the grand prize in the band category at the Yokohama Jazz Promenade Competition. In autumn 2009, he first played with Aaron as a member of the Australian-Japanese crossover band the Aaron Choulai Sextet at an event called Tokyo JAZZ 2009 - Australian Jazz Night. In spring 2010 he played with Italian trumpeter Max Ionata who came to Japan. In fall of that year, he played as a member of the Aaron Choulai Quintet on an Australian tour. In 2001 he performed as leader of a sextet at the third Summer Jazz Revolution event. In summer of that year, his other activities including touring with the band of mainstay bassist Isao Suzuki’s band OMA SOUND and earning the strong trust of players including those from his generation through to veteran players.

It’s undeniable that contemporary jazz has the image of being difficult to understand. The dark, edgy sound can sometimes give a cold impression. I also very much agree with the inclination to wanting to hear hot jazz that simply says “yeah!” The allure of Yoshimoto’s tenor sound is that he can play modern contemporary jazz to deep blues without any sense of conflict. He creates a natural resonance with listeners through his throaty tone and cutting-edge phrases. His tenor captivates everyone from staunch hard bop elders to discriminating contemporary jazz enthusiasts.

When it comes to expressing his personal sound, there is probably no one more inspiring to Akihiro Yoshimoto than Aaron Choulai. At the same time as he formed his quartet with Aaron, they also began performing together as a duo. He had become an indispensable musical partner. Aaron Choulai was born in Papua New Guinea in 1982. He won a number of awards in Australia and was regarded as one of the most promising young players. In New York, he performed with musicians including Clarence Penn and James Genus, and released the albums Place (2004) and RANU (2009) on the Sunnyside label. He actively performs in Japan, New York, Australia, and in places all over the world. With his excellent time sense, sensitive harmonies, beautiful tone, and comping that can sometimes even seem wicked, he’s a pianist worthy of being called a rare genius.

With Blending Tone as the album title, it contains the meaning that each individual sound is blended into a single musical piece. The opening “di di” symbolizes this. As the theme is played by a trio [of sax, bass, drums], the moment Aaron’s piano enters, the sound’s landscape changes completely. Indeed, you can call it the moment that captures where the individual sounds mix together and change into a singular band sound. On the dreamy ballad “Pale Green”, the intertwining of the tenor’s melody and Aaron’s comping is breathtaking. “How About This Cat?” is outstanding, as Aaron’s piano and Ishiwaka’s aggressive drums back the strong and continuous blowing of the tenor as the theme completely changes from mysterious to thrilling. More highlights to listen for include Sakazaki’s foundation of solid bass lines that support the band, and 19-year-old drumming prodigy Shun Ishiwaka, whose playing is a combination of both aggression and finesse.

The prenatal stirrings that I felt in November 2009 developed over a period of two and a half years and was delivered to me in the form of this album. This recording retains that sense of impact I received at the time and captures an even deeper combination together with Aaron. This is an album that will become an important piece in the history of contemporary jazz in Japan.

Toshihiko Hoshino 星野利彦 / Music Writer

Obi Notes

Young, fierce tenor saxophonist Akihiro Yoshimoto with his quartet releases his long awaited debut album Blending Tone!

Audio and Video

• “How About This Cat?” (track #4) — live at Kamome quartet version (ts/p/b/d) #1:

• “How About This Cat?” (track #4) — live at Sometime quartet version (ts/p/b/d) #2:

• “di di” (track #1) — live duo version (ts/b):

• “Boston Subway” (track #2) — live solo version (ss):

• “Pale Green” (track #3) — live duo version (ts/ts):

• “Pale Green” (track #3) — live trio version (ts/b/d):

• “Enpitsu Hiko” (track #5) — live trio version (ss/ts/b):

• Streaming version of Blending Tone (Bandcamp digital album)

• Excerpt from track #1: “di di”

The tracks are solidly modern jazz tunes, with sizzling improvisation from Yoshimoto and pianist Choulai melodically laying out fiery, stimulating lines. There are a few moments of avant-garde exploration, where Sugawa’s bowed bass is used extremely effectively.

A brooding atmosphere arises on #4 “Nostalgic Farm” and especially #7 “Ice Castle”, where a museum-like calm settles, foreboding and somewhat Nordic with its dark, chilling sound. There’s even a bit of goofy humor on two songs (#2 “The Mystery of Onion Rings” and #6 “Reminiscing About Banana Beer”), where Monkish exuberance and swing add a loose, jolly balance to the album.

The two longest tracks, #5 “Sabaku No Akari” and #8 “Water Drops”, build patiently. These two compositions portray Yoshimoto’s thoughtful and edgy songwriting strength, masterfully refined in balancing honed compositions with space for group dynamics and spontaneity.

These tracks and #3 “Possom” also summon a sense of Wayne Shorter’s modern quartet. This is exciting jazz with unextinguishable energy powered locomotively by drummer Ishiwaka and bassist Sugawa. All throughout, Yoshimoto’s liquid tenor swings over the chords like a daredevil trapeze artist, flowing and moving colorfully in impressive patterns.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes written by Toshihiko Hoshino, music writer.)

Often, when seeing the children of family members after a long time, you can be surprised at how much they’ve grown. I was struck by a similar sensation when I heard this album. This was in spite of the fact that I went to almost all of this group’s live shows in Tokyo and should have recognized their growth firsthand.

The debut release Blending Tone from the Akihiro Yoshimoto Quartet pairs the ideal combination of allies Akihiro Yoshimoto and Aaron Choulai with the addition of the youthful rhythm section of Takashi Sugawa and Shun Ishiwaka. This was an epoch-making album from 2012.

A band grows by keeping its members fixed and regularly performing together. When I listened to Blending Tone and Moving Color in succession, a clear evolution in the band’s sound became apparent.

There are two dimensions to this evolution: maturity and transformation. Maturity refers firstly to the greatness of the Yoshimoto and Choulai combination. This is exactly what the phrase “Aun breathing” (two people performing together in sync and in harmony) is all about. In particular, hats off to Choulai, who perfectly understands Yoshimoto’s musicality and adds his own unique musical personality to it. There are probably not many pianists with such chord stacking, striking, timing, and pace that can be heard just from their backing accompaniment.

The beautiful interaction between tenor sax and piano on the ballad “Nostalgic Farm” is breathtaking. On “The Mystery of Onion Rings”, while the style is contemporary, traditional jazz roots are also filled with humorous playing through their personally-stamped homage to good old-fashioned jazz. For encores, this band often plays standards like ballads and bebop tunes, and being able to mix cutting-edge originals with traditional standards without any sense of unease is an example of the depth of their understanding.

While the previous release Blending Tone was aiming towards a band sound, it’s undeniable that Yoshimoto’s and Choulai’s collaboration played a large role at that time. Yet with each live performance by the band, the rhythm section’s involvement grew larger and the band’s individuality became established. This transformation is one of the key successes of this album.

It would not be improper to say that Shun Ishiwaka has become the number one young player today. Not only in this quartet, but Ishikawa and Choulai have also involved each other in their own groups, maintaining an unshakably trusting relationship. Highlights of their live performances include the moments when Ishiwaka and Choulai react through eye contact and engage aggressively with Yoshimoto’s tenor.

Check out Ishiwaka’s drumming in “Sabaku No Akari” behind Choulai’s piano solo, when a switch is suddenly flipped and the drums start pounding away. Just at the point behind the piano solo where Ishikawa may have gone too far to the edge of collapse, Choulai responds and starts to play furiously. Their momentum continues as the two fiercely and mercilessly challenge Yoshimoto’s tenor, a highlight of the middle portion of the album.

In December 2012, bassist Takuya Sakazaki left the group and Takashi Sugawa joined as a new member. Sugawa has been a long-standing member of the Terumasa Hino group and can be called the number one young bassist. He’s also an old friend of Yoshimoto and Choulai. While Sakazaki’s bass was of the unsung hero type, Sugawa’s bass is a type that aggressively connects with the front. The addition of Sugawa also resulted in a clear transformation of the band’s sound, such as the bowed melody on “Ice Castle” and the avant-garde solo on “Reminiscing About Banana Beer”.

The culmination of this evolution surely must be the last number, “Water Drops”. The mysterious melody is covered in darkness, led by a striking bass phrase. Yoshimoto’s tenor starts quietly, uses bold low-note phrases effectively, and ascends towards the climax. Perfectly closing in on this tenor, Choulai’s piano comping shape-shifts like a kaleidoscope, adding an amazing sense of color. Ishiwaka’s drums respond to the soloist’s phrases instantly and inject explosive energy.

Yoshimoto’s excellent music and leadership together with the strong individuality of the members has resulted in a band sound that has come to fruition. At over eight minutes, and the longest performance on the album, this dense world of sound doesn’t reveal any flaws and shines brightly on this album.

The shape of Akihiro Yoshimoto Quartet, which has achieved remarkable growth, was recorded in February 2014. As they continue to evolve day by day, we look forward to the sounds they express when they next appear before us.

Toshihiko Hoshino 星野利彦 / Music Writer

Audio and Video

• The Akihiro Quartet playing live in 2012:

• Excerpt from track #5: “Sabaku No Akari”