仙道さおり on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory https://www.jazzofjapan.com/tags/%E4%BB%99%E9%81%93%E3%81%95%E3%81%8A%E3%82%8A/ Recent content in 仙道さおり on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory Hugo en-us Fri, 20 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000 Clepsydra: Un Jour https://www.jazzofjapan.com/clepsydra-un-jour/ Fri, 20 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.jazzofjapan.com/clepsydra-un-jour/ <p>Clepsydra’s album <em>Un Jour</em> from 2011 is an eclectic collection of eleven original songs that the quartet often played at live events throughout their musical journey (roughly 2006-2015). Their unusual name may be difficult to read and pronounce initially but is easy to remember when parsed as the three syllables <em>clep-sih-dra</em>. The meaning of the word is an ancient water clock, a device for telling time based on the movement of water through its construction. A charming storybook-style image of a clepsydra appears on the album cover.</p> Clepsydra’s album Un Jour from 2011 is an eclectic collection of eleven original songs that the quartet often played at live events throughout their musical journey (roughly 2006-2015). Their unusual name may be difficult to read and pronounce initially but is easy to remember when parsed as the three syllables clep-sih-dra. The meaning of the word is an ancient water clock, a device for telling time based on the movement of water through its construction. A charming storybook-style image of a clepsydra appears on the album cover.

The group is made up of four members drawn from other projects: Toshihiko Inoue on saxes, Yoshiaki Sato on accordion, Masaki Hayashi on piano, and Saori Sendo on percussion. Apart from their musical and performance credentials, Clepsydra’s appeal includes inventing their simply perfect melodies to capture moods and attentions.

Clepsydra also creates songs that feature melodies repeated, cycle-like, between the different instruments and through dynamic or harmonic changes. Textural sound changes are played out by the exchanges between lead instruments—alto and soprano saxes (Inoue’s sounds could be blisteringly modern or softly tender), accordion and clavietta, and piano—and finely enhanced by the variety of Sendo’s drum set and percussion with cajón, chimes, bells, glockenspiel, whistles, wood shakers, and other pinpoint-perfect sounds.

Though the band has an understated and modest presentation, the moods on Un Jour are quite evocative. With jazz as an underpinning, the jazz spirit of improvisation and fun odd-time manipulations does come through in the playing, but the spotlight is filled by Clepsydra’s focus on mood-building through their music.

These moods and sounds are subtly evocative of different worlds, like fantasy universes, folk villages, medieval events, or unfamiliar places full of communal power. Often, a gentle sense of love and support comes through their music. This uplifting effect is further heightened in a few anthem-like parts when the musicians add their voices as an inviting chorus section to the jams, as parts of #5 “un jour” and #10 “un chien”.

These songs spur excitement and reflection through their various landscapes. Uptempo gallops, hummable melodies, and irresistible loops, chords, and rhythms are offered up. Elements of nature and surprise are reinforced through the immediately sensed wood instruments and assorted percussion, and a breath of life expands through the uniquely different wind-based organic sounds of the accordions and saxophones.

The pages of the Clepsydra storybook flit creatively through adventurous, wistful, and reassuringly comfortable scenes. Two of the longer tracks, #5 “un jour” (12:13) and #10 “un chien” (10:42) are themselves multi-chapter songs that build and transform between abstract delicacy, folk cycles, soft rock, and hard fusion jazz. Some tracks are shorter three-minute compositions, such as #3 “Little Tree”, #6 “Barrel Organ”, and #9 “célestine”, and are sketches exploring simple ideas beautifully for memorable and sweet musical treats.

Clepsydra’s Un Jour /includes eight songs by Toshihiko Inoue, two by Masaki Hayashi, and one by Yoshiaki Sato. Other than this album, their recorded legacy consists of a live concert DVD with five songs from /Un Jour which can viewed through a video link below.

Obi Notes

The first album from Toshihiko Inoue’s “Clepsydra”.

clepsydra

~ ancient water clock ~

lively, charming,

humorous, sad,

cherished

human tears moving a clock

(…Sadly, saxophonist Toshihiko Inoue passed away far too soon in 2015. I was lucky enough to be able to hear him live numerous times. In fact, Inoue played at some of the first live jazz concerts I ever attended in Japan and imprinted on me an indelible impression of his music and of jazz in Japan. I am deeply grateful to have been not only his fan but also his friend.)

Audio and Video

]]> Duo Tremolo: Resonance https://www.jazzofjapan.com/duo-tremolo-resonance/ Wed, 03 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.jazzofjapan.com/duo-tremolo-resonance/ <p>Pianist Hideaki Hori and guitarist Takayoshi Baba create beautiful music together on <em>Resonance</em>, their first studio recording as the unit “Duo Tremolo”. On eleven tracks made up of four standards and seven original compositions, the pair play through easy-going swing, bop, and jazz/rock tracks with hues of Jarrett, Corea, and Metheney glowing within.</p> <figure><a href="L1220661-1024.jpg"> <img loading="lazy" src="L1220661-1024.jpg"/> </a> </figure> <p>The graceful players combine the dimensions of Hori’s precise, finessed notes and Baba’s snazzy, bluesy lines at relaxed mid-tempo jaunts, rapid and fluid modern pieces, Latin grooves, and gentle ballads. The music is joyful and emotive, and the two converse with a comfortable flow built solidly on their years performing in various settings. The duo clearly enjoys playing together and it comes through in their playful, professional music.</p> Pianist Hideaki Hori and guitarist Takayoshi Baba create beautiful music together on Resonance, their first studio recording as the unit “Duo Tremolo”. On eleven tracks made up of four standards and seven original compositions, the pair play through easy-going swing, bop, and jazz/rock tracks with hues of Jarrett, Corea, and Metheney glowing within.

The graceful players combine the dimensions of Hori’s precise, finessed notes and Baba’s snazzy, bluesy lines at relaxed mid-tempo jaunts, rapid and fluid modern pieces, Latin grooves, and gentle ballads. The music is joyful and emotive, and the two converse with a comfortable flow built solidly on their years performing in various settings. The duo clearly enjoys playing together and it comes through in their playful, professional music.

Two of the songs also feature guest percussionist Saori Sendo, and add rich rhythms and dynamics on Bob Berg’s “Friday Night at the Cadillac Club” and Baba’s “J.M.”. The final track “Pedra Bonita” adds another successful layer, where the two musicians are joined by singer Aya Kurosawa on the grooving Brazilian celebration with a rousing vocal ending.

Audio and Video

]]> Eriko Shimizu: Sora https://www.jazzofjapan.com/eriko-shimizu-sora/ Thu, 05 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.jazzofjapan.com/eriko-shimizu-sora/ <p>Pianist Eriko Shimizu’s <em>Sora</em> is her debut album from 2010 on which she leads her jazz combo through seven songs featuring original and colorful arrangements. Shimizu performs with her piano trio augmented with special guests percussionist Saori Sendo, who supplies bells, chimes, and elemental sounds not typically found in jazz piano trios, and saxophonist Toshihiko Inoue who joins on a few tracks.</p> <figure><a href="L1200403-1024.jpg"> <img loading="lazy" src="L1200403-1024.jpg"/> </a> </figure> <p>With two exceptions, the songs are all originals including four from Shimizu. The pianist’s concepts mostly explore modern jazz territory taken at a medium pace with a light rock/country feel and fleeting moments of abstract color, as if influenced by a certain period of Keith Jarrett’s music. The title track “Sora” (<em>sky</em>) rolls along comfortably and brings to mind calm nature scenes while opening with rain and wind effects for atmosphere. The music continues smoothly into the bluesy noirish “Out of the Blue”, again invoking images of nature as if materialized out of the blue sky. Shimizu’s “Cat Trucks” is playfully Monkish, and “Terra” heightens the mood even more with simmering modal jazz and by adding Toshihiko Inoue’s Jan Garbarek-style soprano sax embellishments.</p> Pianist Eriko Shimizu’s Sora is her debut album from 2010 on which she leads her jazz combo through seven songs featuring original and colorful arrangements. Shimizu performs with her piano trio augmented with special guests percussionist Saori Sendo, who supplies bells, chimes, and elemental sounds not typically found in jazz piano trios, and saxophonist Toshihiko Inoue who joins on a few tracks.

With two exceptions, the songs are all originals including four from Shimizu. The pianist’s concepts mostly explore modern jazz territory taken at a medium pace with a light rock/country feel and fleeting moments of abstract color, as if influenced by a certain period of Keith Jarrett’s music. The title track “Sora” (sky) rolls along comfortably and brings to mind calm nature scenes while opening with rain and wind effects for atmosphere. The music continues smoothly into the bluesy noirish “Out of the Blue”, again invoking images of nature as if materialized out of the blue sky. Shimizu’s “Cat Trucks” is playfully Monkish, and “Terra” heightens the mood even more with simmering modal jazz and by adding Toshihiko Inoue’s Jan Garbarek-style soprano sax embellishments.

Along with original compositions, Duke Ellington’s “Rockin’ In Rhythm” jaunts along at a swinging uptempo pace, and the album closes tenderly with a emotional rendition of the Japanese traditional folk song “Furusato”.

Audio and Video

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