Fukutomi’s debut album runs for 54 minutes and features seven original compositions, six from Fukutomi and one from saxophonist Yamamoto. The songs are composed by Fukutomi to be platforms for interplay, where the front-most instruments of guitar, sax, and piano merge and relay with an intimate immediacy, rather than each musician stepping back to make room for longer periods of singular adlibs. As with great jazz combos, there’s close collaboration where all five members listen closely to one another, pick their moments to step forward or back, and raise or relax the tension with the right-timed notes and rhythms.

The first six tracks are from leader Fukutomi and display a thoughtful sense of development. The opening songs, “Rings of Saturn” and “Lost and Found” are comfortable on the surface but potentially complex, with extra structures and ornaments added for increased interest, fun, and depth. For example, the latter offers odd-time meters (11/4 and others?) with changes and extra beats to offset regular expectations. Through the strength of the snappy rhythms, melodies, and progressions, it all works together to make elaborate yet catchy tunes.

Track #3 “Lotus” is a backing off from the fire, a relaxing meditation of hopeful optimism. The pretty lines filled with a spiritual, uplifting sound, mellow yet involved. #4 Sakasama-no-Tokei features a steady soft-rock pulse, flexible and full of life with time to breathe, relax, and be aware. #5 “The Place We Had” is patient as mild mysteries of memory are presented and unwrapped. #6 “New Moon” is another swinger with odd-beat measures to increase the journey’s adventure. These sounds recall some of Bungalow’s (with Yamamoto, Sato, and Ikejiri) original music and playing. In a similar mold, #7 “Chasing” is an exciting song written by saxophonist Yamamoto and is a mature and lyrical shapeshifter, swirling and folding time.

Incidentally, Masahiro Yamamoto, along with Sato and Ikejiri, was a founding member of Bungalow, a richly eclectic jazz quartet formed in 2010. They released two albums together with Yamamoto on sax and composing duties (2011’s Metropolitan Oasis and 2013’s Past Life) before Yamamoto left, after which Bungalow released three more albums with Australian saxophone player Mike Rivett. In the same jazz family sense and general time period, bassist Ikejiri also plays on Koichi Sato’s debut release Utopia (2011).

Liner Notes

(Translated from Masato Maedomari’s original Japanese liner notes.)

I can’t help but think that great jazz guitarists seem to have considerable craftsmanship in their approach to some extent. This is not limited to their outstanding performance skills. Even the distinctiveness of their atmosphere and presence can be noticed, perhaps moreso than guitarists of other genres. I sense that type of characteristic in Hiroshi Fukutomi. Despite this being his debut album, he has the courage to enter the ring with all original songs that he wrote, aside from one track. Further, for the one cover song, he did not simply choose a jazz standard, but he went so far as to pick a song by Masahiro Yamamoto, the band’s sax player. The degree of self-discipline is admirable. And it’s no wonder, since each song offers up a beautiful melody that compels you to whistle along.

The straightforward quintet form produces an attractive sound where both thrilling and relaxing sounds coexist. Guitar and soprano, alto sax, piano and sax…the balanced and unified ensemble is breathtaking. Similarly, their unison performance on the same note or melody can be astonishing. It feels like this is the pinnacle of the ensemble. It’s like a kaiseki meal at a traditional Japanese restaurant, with various rice dishes, boiled and stewed foods cooked with light soy sauce, and everything looks beautiful at first sight, with a delicate sensibility. The sounds of the instruments are carefully woven together like wickerwork, taking on a perfect harmony. All seven tracks on this album are filled with the smooth warmth of skin, pleasing to the ears. The synchronicity of the five musicians is perfected and brings out the full beauty of each song.

1.Rings of Saturn

The opening tune “Rings of Saturn” is the CD’s title track. This is a number with a refined transparency that symbolizes the essence of the album. An elegant guitar with a masculine bass. Comfortable yet stimulating. Bravo to the five musicians who pull off such difficult and complicated things with ease together in unison. According to the composer Fukutomi, the song is about this world that is made up of many different things mixed together, but something that may appear to be a unified thing when viewed from afar, like the rings of Saturn. That’s the reason for the title of this song.

2.Lost and Found

The melody is nostalgic, easy to remember. The literal translation is “the lost and found office” (遺失物取扱所, ishitsubutsu toriatsukaijo), but when you listen, you notice that it’s about the forgotten things of the ages. This is a time when we can get anything, but in reality, the things we have lost are innumerable. It’s dazzling, seeming to be saying, let’s restore in this busy world something, even just music at least, to the brilliance of the past. Sato’s piano is fascinating in the way he adds balance to the spacey progression. Fukutomi explained this song to me. It’s a story from his personal experience. It seems that just after arriving in Tokyo, he lost his wallet. While lost in the despair of losing his credit cards and drivers license, he expresses the sense of relief he felt when some kind person found the wallet and returned it to him. Nothing was missing.

3.Lotus

A beautiful and gentle introduction from Fukutomi’s guitar and Ikejiri’s bass. Yamamoto’s soprano sax is soothing and relaxing. The guitar tone almost resembles a recorder playing finely. It makes you feel the depth of the guitar. Lotus is the pedestal the Buddha sits upon, that is the “lotus flower” (蓮華, renge). It’s a pure and gentle song, filled with the tranquility that could perhaps be compared to a state of enlightenment, completely free of worldly desires. Fukutomi explained that in the middle of writing this song, he felt a mysterious moment where it seemed as if he could see a flower blooming.

4.Sakasama-no-Tokei (Upside-Down Clock)

While listening to “Sakasama-no-Tokei”, I was flipping through the magazine Agora (November 2009 issue), and there was a feature on live jazz in New York, written by the author Haruki Murakami. Quoting from the beginning: “If you were allowed to use a time machine in any way that you like just once, what would you want to do? My answer is decided. I would like to fly back to New York in 1943, to hear Clifford Brown and the Max Roach Quintet perform live at a jazz club there. That’s what I want.” It was an exciting piece. Around the 3-minute 10-second mark, Sato’s piano arouses a world of illusion, like going back to the past in a time machine. There was perfect synchronicity. Fukutomi explains that the title refers to time travel. The song itself is like a story with the feeling of traveling through time. Hmm. Be that as it may, it’s skillful expressed.

5.The Place We Had

And we come to this beautiful number. It feels like there is also a story being told through the sequence of songs. Yamamoto’s soprano sax is filled with translucence, and following that is an excellent bass solo from Ikejiri. A hero in the shadows. Nevertheless, it’s a heartwarming slow number, like a calm state of mind. Fukutomi confirmed that the “The Place We Had” contains the meaning of a secret base or hideout. He remembers experiences from childhood when “No Trespassing” signs were put up and caused him to suffer the loss of places that he used to go. The same thing happened to me. That’s why it’s so understandable, and I feel like almost everyone has had similar experiences: Back then, that place that I shared with my best friend. In any case, the naming of this song is exceptional.

6.New Moon

Regarding the somewhat mysterious song title “New Moon” (新月, shingetsu), Fukumori speaks of the image of the sun being hidden during a total solar eclipse, and how the song’s motif is like a premonition that something is about to happen. Fukumori’s guitar is graceful without any sense of hesitation. Shibata’s drums and Sato’s piano are also striking.

7.Chasing

This song is by saxophonist Yamamoto. Although Fukutomi had a wide repertoire of songs to choose from for the recording, he asked Masahiro Yamamoto to allow him to record one of Yamamoto’s songs. In the second half, the fierce battle of exchanges brings to mind an intensely competitive car chase. Yes, it’s a suitable last song to cap the album. After listening, there’s a satisfaction similar to the invigorating feeling that remains after reading a good book. By including a song at the end that is a change from those before, it adds more depth to the overall album. There is a sense of balance. Just as you would expect.

Hiroshi Fukutomi Quintet Profile

Following are profiles of these five musicians, leaders in the jazz scene in Japan, drawn mainly from their websites. For more details, check their respective websites or My Space pages.

Hiroshi Fukutomi (guitar)

Born in Osaka, Hiroshi Fukutomi started learning guitar on his own at age 14 and played rock and pop music. After graduation from high school, he entered Koyo Conservatory of Music and discovered jazz. He formed a group and began to perform his own music. Later, he was deeply influenced by Bill Frisell and decided to study at Berklee College of Music in order to take lessons from Jon Damian, who was Frisell’s teacher there. In 2006, he received the Guitar Department Achievement Award. After graduating, he returned permanently to Japan and has been actively performing around the Tokyo area with his own group and others. He offers the following artists, who he deeply respects, as influences: John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Keith Jarrett, Dave Holland, Dave Liebman, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Monder, George Garzone, Paul Motion, Sting, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Chris Potter, Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheney, aiko, etc.

Masahiro Yamamoto (alto, soprano sax)

Born in Kobe in 1980, Masahiro Yamamoto started playing alto saxophone when he entered Konan Junior High School. In the second year of high school, he served as section leader in the Student Jazz Festival and received the Kobe City Major’s Prize and the Individual Award. When he was 18 years old, he met Hiroshi Ozone, who he studied under for 5 years. After graduating from high school, he entered Konan University and became a member of the Newport Jazz Orchestra there. After entering university, he was active with performances with his own band and other musicians at local clubs and live venues around Osaka. After graduating, he performed at Blue Note and Dizzy’s Club with Rachel-Z’s band. He is currently active and performing with his own band.

Koichi Sato (piano)

Born in Yokohama in 1983, Koichi Sato started learning piano at age 5. At 16, he switched from classical to jazz piano. At 18, he enrolled in the jazz course at Senzoku Gakuen College University (now Senzoku Gakuen College of Music). In 2005, he was a member of the Yota Miyazato Quartet at the Asakusa Jazz Festival, who received the grand prize in the band category. In the summer of 2005 he moved to the United Stated to study as a student at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. He received the Piano Department Achievement Award in 2006. In that same year, he was picked for Berklee’s select band of musicians to perform at the North Texas Jazz Festival, where he won the Outstanding Soloist Award. In the spring of 2007, he moved his base to New York to perform there. He returned to Japan in 2008, where he is vigorously active with his own band and various other groups. Starting with the jazz giants, he lists numerous people and groups that have influenced him. To avoid overlapping with other the members, he also offered the following influences as additional examples: Lars Jansson, Ahmad Jamal, Wayne Shorter, Aaron Goldberg, Kevin Hays, Miguel Zenon, Aaron Parks, David Binney, Tomonao Hara, Dairiki Hara, etc.

Hiroshi Ikejiri (bass)

Hiroshi Ikejiri was born in Chiba in 1979. He started learning the Electone (Yamaha electronic organ) from a young age and got interested in improvised music. He joined the band in junior high and high school where he gained the opportunity to play various instruments. After entering Chiba University, he joined the modern jazz study class. Drawn to the world of acoustic low notes, he aspired to become a jazz double-bass player. He honed his skills by actively playing at sessions and street performances, developing into performances at jazz spots. In an ensemble, he believes in being a stimulus at the center while also providing a solid foundation for the sound. He won the Grand Prize award in the 2007 Yokohama Jazz Promenade Competition and appeared on the NHK-FM Session-2008 the following year. His hobbies include swimming. The essence of his influences are not “people” but “music”, and include the music of the following seven artists: Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Dexter Gordon, Ron Carter, Scott LaFaro, Larry Grenadier, etc.

Ryo Shibata (drums)

Born in Osaka in 1981, Ryo Shibata had a love for music at a young age and began learning drums at the age of 10. He entered the Koyo Conservatory of Music, and started to perform in jazz clubs in the Kansai region, accumulating experience by playing in various bands and genres. In early spring 2003, he entered Berklee College of Music. Starting in 2007 until graduation, he played in the select student band with tours in Oregon, California, and at the JVC Jazz Festival in New York City. In September of that same year, he played at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 2008 as part of the Berklee Monterey Quartet. Continuing his musical activity, in March 2008, he participated as first chair as part of the same group with the SF Jazz Collective led by Dave Douglas for a concert in Boston, and played at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art in August. He moved to Tokyo in September 2009 and began to actively perform around the Tokyo Metropolitan area. After returning to Japan, he performed twice with Simon Yu on tour in China, in 2008 and 2009. Also in 2009, he played at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Jeff Miles, winner of the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition 2008, in addition to other activities performing on the world stage. He is a drummer who continues to build on his reputation with this album and the previous release from D-musica, Jun Fuyura’s Exprimo.

Obi Notes

The resonance of five distinct personalities blossoms with a rich harmony.

Audio and Video

• “Rings of Saturn” (track #1):

• “Chasing” (track #7):

• “Lotus” (track #3) — solo guitar version

• Full album (YouTube)

• Full album (Spotify)

• Excerpt from track #2: “Lost And Found”

In particular, guitarist Motohiko Ichino and fretless electric bassist Ryoji Orihara have been a constant and large part of the sound of the group. They are brilliant electric partners to Hashizume’s breathy and sawtoothed acoustic sax sound (Hashizume also dips into electricity a bit when playing his sax as cycles and drones looped through a device, occasionally).

With his other main live and recording partners pianist Koichi Sato and drummer Manabu Hashimoto (and some other members along the way), the group has developed the alternately freely abstract and grooving sound that has explored, finessed, and breathed life into his music over many years.

That flexible and imaginative sound is made up of subtly serrated edges of saxophone, digitized guitar tones like signals from outer space, tender piano touches and finessed melodic fragments, fluffy mists and lightning of drumset accents, and thick currents of low bass notes. The sound is both shapeshifting and solid.

This is applied to Hashizume’s compositional ideas of ethereal lushness, with all of its colorful layers of sound, transforming tonalities, nuanced time and meter misdirection, and dramatic development and suspense. These compositional ideas, together with the group’s sound and individual mastery, are the novel recipes that are interpreted through the musicians’ steady cooking for inspired, enjoyable results.

This 2014 album, Side Two, is his second-most recent album and was released a few years before his latest album Incomplete Voices from 2017. Yet, as a marker on Hashizume’s album release timeline, Side Two has an even stronger connection to the two prior albums released just before Side Two, those being his albums Visible/Invisible (2013) and Acoustic Fluid (2012). In a way, Side Two could be considered a combination of live extras and alternate versions of songs from those two prior albums and recording sessions.

With a 44-minute runtime, Side Two contains just four tracks (Hashizume’s original compositions, as with all his albums). The songs were all recorded live during the same performances, and with the same members, as the songs on Visible/Invisible. This fact can give meaning to the title Side Two when interpreting this album as a continuation of the previously released live album.

But, additionally, three of the songs on Side Two were also featured on Hashizume’s 2012 studio album Acoustic Fluid, although here with longer run times:

1. Conversations with Moore (Side Two: 13:48 / Acoustic Fluid: 8:04)

2. The Color of Silence (Side Two: 10:49 / Acoustic Fluid: 4:20)

3. Slumber (Side Two: 13:44 / Acoustic Fluid: 7:50)

4. Duet (Side Two: 5:12 / not on Acoustic Fluid)

The album opens on solid ground with light rhythms and a short repeated piano motif. Otherworldly melodies float around faded guitars, scratchy brushes, and shimmering cymbals with a feeling of curiosity and eeriness. The next song is more abstract with a loose time feel. Long notes flow freely with tones of cautious storytelling. Suspenseful drama builds, rising and falling through the controlled touch of all five musicians acting as one. Track three builds slowly towards energetic excitement through longer melodies played in unison over echoey guitar arpeggios, repeated vamps, interesting time signature changes, breaks, and shifting structures. Finally, encore-like, the album wraps up with five minutes of the mellow and uplifting sounds of a swaying waltz with old-world charm and plenty of captivating sax, piano, and group improvisation and interplay.

All this together makes 2014’s Side Two a delight especially for diehard fans, as it becomes both an extension of the 2013 live album and of the 2012 studio album with three of the songs in alternate extended versions. These extended versions get more time to breathe with more life and patient development. For the listeners, more time to absorb and dwell in these aural environments. And for the musicians who recorded this live and in the moment, no doubt more time to enjoy the freedom to give and receive inspiration from each other, from the performance setting, and from the live audience who was silently tuned in and becoming part of the experience.

Liner Notes

(Translated from an excerpt of Nozomi Hirano’s and Mitsutaka Nagira’s original Japanese liner notes.)

…

This album, Side Two, was recorded during the same sessions as Visible/Invisible, but the colors of the songs are clearly distinct. Considering that Visible/Invisible could be considered relatively “visible” with many songs having visible (easy to catch) rhythms, this album Side Two could be called “invisible” with a close-up on unseen elements. Many of the songs here do not have simple time senses, but that’s not to say that they are completely devoid of rhythm like ambient or drone, for instance. The rhythm is always there as it surfaces to places where it can be seen, to submerge again, and to repeat.

…

If I recall correctly, I was able to chat with [Ryosuke] Hashizume a little bit at the bar when I went to his performance at No Trunks in Kunitachi. Putting aside the fact that I had already been drinking, we had a pretty serious discussion about music in this short interval. It left quite an impression on me so I thought I’d indulgently write that about here. My recollection is vague but the substance of the conversation was along these lines.

“It’s hard to generalize but I think that New York musicians play notes that match their jazz bars, that environment, and the atmosphere of New York. It’s the same for Nordic musicians. The sound of New York musicians may be loud, or Nordic musicians may use space in a relaxed manner when performing… it’s a question of how they adapt to the place and atmosphere. Similarly, I want to put out sounds that match Japan’s places and atmospheres, and I want to perform with a volume, tone, and phrasing that matches the location and the scale of the venue on that day.”

I don’t remember how we ended up talking about this, but I have the feeling that these words are an apt description for the music of Ryosuke Hashizume. That is to say, they describe the Ryosuke Hashizume Group.

I’ve also met [Motohiko] Ichino a few times, and I interviewed him once, when he said the following.

“Wherever I go, I don’t find it that interesting to go to the place with a feeling like ‘/this is my sound/.’ It’s more interesting to arrive with nothing in store, get some kind of inspiration, and then use my skills to add something to it to make it music. As instrument characteristics go, the guitar is an accompaniment instrument, isn’t it? That may play a big part. My way of making music is the same as having a conversation. If something is brought up, say, for instance, manga, I’ll try to talk about manga to the extent that I can. I’m always unarmed, you know.”

Although my conversations with these two musicians were different, I felt that they had something in common. Apart from having a similar tension somehow, there was a commonality in gravitating to harmonize with each distinct environment rather than putting themselves out in front. Listening to the Ryosuke Hashizume Group with these conversations in mind, I could understand a lot more.

Ichino continued, “Basically in jazz, it’s common to find players taking turns, telling life stories with a bang and then giving way, then the next player tells a story, bang, and gives way… I’m not very interested in that.” This conversation that I had with Ichino was probably about the same ideas.

By the way, for me, listening to this album is excellent for chilling out. So are Acoustic Fluid and Visible/Invisible.

None of the songs make use of the “modern jazz cliché” of cycling through solos. A beautiful melody starts and flows smoothly into a performance where the melody and improvisation surge in and become hard to distinguish, continually swaying before subtly reaching the ending. Each performance overlaps and intersects, blurs together, and continues in a relaxed way that makes you lose track of time. You can tell that the music is played with a high degree of concentration. But there’s no excessive tension in the notes or the spaces between the notes. Although there are moments of gradual acceleration, crescendos, or natural deceleration, there is never a time where dynamics are used inappropriately or to catch listeners off guard. If anything, you can only hear a performance where the notes overlap seamlessly and transition smoothly, without being aware of note groupings and pauses.

Also, the sound of each instrument rings with a tone and texture that seems to have been chosen for the sound to be heard here. This is also a reason why I began to like listening to this for chilling out. The tones are chosen for the overall sound more than for their own individual sounds. Manabu Hashimoto’s dry percussion sounds harmonize with Ryoji Orihara’s thick fretless bass. The reason for having a fretless bass rather than an upright bass is quietly but eloquently heard. I don’t know of any other jazz like this. And, along with Hashizume’s sax, Ichino’s guitar, and Koichi Sato’s piano, everyone plays just the right number of notes and volume for the tone and texture here, without addition or subtraction. The perfectly balanced and smooth sound is built through the improvisation. This gentle thrill is the joy I feel when listening to jazz with the stimulating tranquility of everything in harmony. Considering New York jazz descended from West Coast and cool jazz, or the soundscapes of ECM and Hubro, or the Americana lineage related to Bill Frisell and Brian Blade, this is a different soundscape from all of those.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Audio for Ryosuke Hashizume Group’s “The Last Day of Summer”

• Excerpt from track #3: “Slumber”

The concept is made clearer in the titles of the two discs, Disc 1 “Water” and Disc 2 “Breath”. The two titles perhaps symbolize the transition from womb to world, and describe the sounds of each side. The first disc has Sato playing fourteen of his songs on solo piano, and the second finds Sato playing with small ensembles on twelve tracks, with some of his songs rearranged and repeated between the two discs.

Apart from his jazz and piano work, Sato has recently been involved in movie music, and this seems to influence the personality of this album’s music: evocative and descriptive, beautifully moving and played with finesse.

The first “Water” side features Sato alone on a richly-sounding piano, a Bösendorfer tuned in Vallotti temperament for a subtly changing sound character which is said to produce expressive feelings that can produce different effects for different chords and keys on the piano. Ever thoughtful, no doubt Sato considered and experimented with the harmonics and resonances unique to this particular tuning to enhance his music.

His solo piano is delicate and dramatic on disc 1, and most songs on this side fall in the 2-4 minute range. Some pieces sound like sketches of emotional moods, and others are expertly and cinematically developed, with melodies and constructions with that ideal quality of being perfect musical ideas that were just waiting in nature to be discovered and performed, to be made apparent by an artist.

Like statues from blocks of marble, the shapes emerge as if they were latent forms, waiting for a natural genius to expose them. Sato pulls his shapes out as formed tunes that are sublime, and unlike stone, soft, warm, and gentle, or dramatic, melancholic, and suspenseful. They are tunes that may seem preexisting or obvious later, when looking back, but only after the composer discovered them, wrote them down, performed them.

The ensembles on the “Breath” side also feature Sato’s compositions and piano, adding in variations of subsets of a jazz quartet (piano, guitar, bass, and drums) and subsets of a string quartet (two violins, viola, and cello). Disc 2 songs are generally longer and in the 4-6 minute range.

After Sato, long-time collaborator and guitarist Motohiko Ichino has the most playing time, joining Sato for a majority of the twelve songs. The other instruments (bass, drums, cello, two violins, and viola) weave in and out on different tracks in combinations of duos, trios, quartets, quintets, and octets. One suspenseful song, #4 “Draw” also includes an ambient soundscape musician, who colors the music with water and rain sounds for added tense imagery.

The comfortably pleasing audio quality for Embryo features a slightly muted sound evoking a dark, spacious chamber. The recording is mono, which can be easily assumed to be part of the conceptual environment that the album constructs.

Yet, this non-stereo choice is a decided characteristic of this album’s record label Nagalu. This label was founded by drummer Shinya Fukumori, who also plays on this album and has had monaural hearing since birth. The sound is pristine and connects with the transcendent music for a direct effect.

While some tracks (8) are rearranged and repeated on the two discs, group formations and performances differ (as do the physical pianos and their tuning systems), but so does the track sequencing order.

For example, two of the album highlights, the folksy nostalgic “Hua” and hopefully uplifting “May Song”, are played on both discs, but in reverse order: On disc 1, Sato plays #10 “May Song” followed by #11 “Hua”.

On disc 2, a guitar/piano/bass/drums quartet plays #11 “Hua” followed by #12 “May Song” with a piano/cello duo, the final track that tenderly ascends to high peaks for both this side and the double album itself. This choice is a great one, emphasizing the care and thought put into the music and overall direction.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album featuring “Aqua”, track #2 (disk 2):

• Live ensemble version of “Draw”, track #4 (disc 2), at Nagalu Festival 2021:

• Excerpt from track #10: “May Song”

Links

• More info and audio samples

With Fukutomi’s compositions and his guitar taking center stage, the quartet’s sound is definitely that of a jazz guitar leader’s band. The sound of the jazz guitar is varied, however, and his tone switches between mellow and fluid electric guitar sound to clear and articulate acoustic guitar, coloring the compositions with distinct personalities to suit the song style. Some guitar effects are also used tastefully to add textural layers while preserving the core sound of pure guitar expressiveness.

Adding to the sonic mix is Koichi Sato’s use of both acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes keyboard. While the songs with acoustic piano have more of an acoustic jazz combo feel (naturally), several album highlights (#2, “Minor King”, #8, “Memory Stones”) feature the Rhodes together with electric guitar, bass, and drums to create the cool and controlled sound of jazz bordering on fusion with a light rock beat pulse.

This modern groove sound and the variation in instrumentation are well-suited to the structures and compositional extras that Fukutomi includes in certain songs. Several interludes, codas, and odd-meter time signatures increase the overall variety with the feeling of bonus surprises. Yet the charts do not get in the way of the soloists and the band is tightly coordinated, and each member gets their turn to make musical statements along with the leader.

The final two tracks close the album with friendly, down-to-earth elements to the already easily approachable music. On #9, “Mawaru Sekai”, Fukutomi adds his harmonica playing to the quartet, while the final song #10, “Trees & Branches”, features Fukutomi alone for a quiet guitar ballad played with emotion and soul, conjuring the bittersweet feeling of parting, for now.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Live recording of “I Should Care” by the Hiroshi Fukutomi Trio:

• Audio for “Memory Stones”, track #8 on this album

• Audio for “Mawaru Sekai”, track #9 on this album

• Excerpt from track #2: “Minor King”

Digital and analog sounds swirl and mix through Motohiko Ichino’s guitar, laden with textural effects and deploying modern music and rhythms alongside carefully tuned sound and static in an audiophile’s frame. This is vibe-setting music that wouldn’t be out of place in a fan playlist of lofi study beats or on the edges of a digital-future jazz collection.

The Torch/’s nine songs explore territory that blends digital and analog sound, with effects and filters added to the saxophone and guitar as they play looping patterns over the webs of modulated synths, drums, and bass. Alongside the spacey orbits, as on Rabbitoo’s first album /National Anthem of Unknown Country, there are also comforting echoes of old-fashioned primal humanness inhabiting the frequencies as well.

Listening to this album creates these sorts of impressions: A visual prism broadcasting waves…Monochrome soundtrack music, comfortably robotic/human labwork…Layers of melodic interlace cascading down Escher staircases…Sinister underground synth beat, chewy notes, and floating sound waves…A drifting mix of clouds and snowflakes…Bubbling and frothing uptempo odd-meter club beat…Sliding westward roots to country…Circular spiraling groove a la Medeski Martin & Wood…Slow slices of sound intersecting and reflecting…

Audio and Video

• Promotional video with excerpts from the album:

• Excerpt from track #2: “火のこどもたち (Children Of Fire)”

Confined to two separate countries in 2020, the three remaining members of Bungalow were recorded in two different sessions. The two musicians Koichi Sato and Ko Omura recorded piano and percussion in Japan and handed off the recordings to third member Mike Rivett in Australia, who layered in saxophones, loops, and sound effects, and finished the mixing.

The result is wondrous, an interweaving of shorter sketches of sound and longer two-part musical stories. The songs seek to surpass conventions like trading of solos and patterns, and often set up foundations of cycling riffs and odd-metered percussion beats, all with a sense of acoustic humanness threaded with synthetic interjections of trilling chirps and buzzes, whispers of ambient sound, and blankets of samples and recorded speech.

With eleven tracks averaging three to seven minutes each, the album itself even seems to contain a subtle “A” and “B” side. The first six tracks are shorter three-to-four-minute sketches, continuously coalescing into moments of solid music and dissolving into cloud-like mists. This music is full of twists of arpeggios and streams of piano and sax melodies in combination with fascinating percussion and drum sounds, interlaced with the sinew and muscle of electronic filters, modulation, and samples moving together through flex and relaxation.

The next set of five tracks contains songs averaging six minutes each, several of which even contain a two-part structure. For example, “Abstract Messages”, “Destination of the Spirit”, and “Fragile Systems/Between Realms” each roughly plays out in two parts, establishing contrasts of serenity and chaos, pairs of organic and synthetic, or raw and digital forces that mirror the acoustic and electronic balance at play throughout the album. The final track, “Gong”, takes this concept furthest, switching back and forth several times between busy and ambient soundscape interludes with a restlessly manic musical loop.

Absorbing and hypnotic, this final album from Bungalow (or “Post Bungalow”, as named in one of their final videos) is a worthy end statement, weighty with experimental and melodic emotional output, radial waves tying up the frayed edges of modern obstacles and challenges into a new, beautiful mosaic.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes written by Yo Nakagawa.)

There was music from the year 2020. Twenty years into the twenty-first century, Bungalow’s new album Abstract Messages brought about the impression that twenty-first-century music had appeared at last.

The new coronavirus brought about a pandemic and nothing but negativity, but encountering this music and reflecting with a birds-eye view, perhaps this was a necessary process for the world to advance to the next step.

Bungalow was formed in 2010 with saxophonist Masahiro Yamamoto who was later replaced by Mike Rivett. In January 2019 bassist Hiroshi Ikejiri withdrew from the band. Reflecting back, Ko Omura says that although he’s not physically present on the recording, Ikejiri’s energy is also captured in the work.

After that, without any thought of including a replacement bassist, a three-member Bungalow with Koichi Sato (piano), Ko Omura (drums), and Mike Rivett (Sax) made a plan for a fifth Bungalow recording in the early spring of 2020.

Then the pandemic happened.

Sato and Omura entered the studio in Japan in February and went ahead with the recording. However, these recorded ingredients were sent to Mike in Australia, who processed the sound, reconstructed it, and mixed it to finish the recording.

Now with the album complete, Omura said, “There’s a lot of abstract music, and the change we’ve arrived at may surprise a lot of people who have listened to us so far. However, in the performance of original music, the spiritual feeling has not changed. I think that it can be said that it’s an acoustic work that makes full use of technology.”

Sato said, “To the music Ko and I recorded in the studio, Mike layered in sax and arranged the sound. He made quite a number of adjustments such as adding effects to the overall sound produced. Mike has long been a person involved with electronic music and sampling. It’s an album on which the three of us feel a sense of accomplishment together.”

The messages the three exchanged in group chats exceeded 100 and seemed to foster a closer exchange than when actually meeting and communicating in person.

“Have we become such a band that can exchange opinions so frankly?” This was a feeling shared by the three members.

Here I would like to share the impressions of each song borrowing the words of the song’s composer as a way of understanding each song and hinting at the intentions of the three musicians.

M1. Entropy in Flux (Omura) - There is no piano solo in this song. We stopped exchanging solos on this album and tried to go beyond that template.

M2. Rainy Lullaby (Sato) - A piano arpeggio establishes the motif, with saxophone singing beautifully over it.

M3. Dance of the Earth (Sato) - A minimalist song with the same riff repeated, overlaid with a sampled speech.

M4. The Simple Truth (Rivett) - Without naming a particular country, there is the nuance of a folk song. There is also truth there.

M5. Til When (Omura) - An impression of acoustic music making full use of technology.

M6. Reduce (Omura) - A song written before corona, but one that became a prophetic song.

M7. Abstract Messages (Omura) - An impression of looking at a mandala.

M8. Fifteen Years (Sato) - Sato graduated from university fifteen years ago and wrote this song for a friend he hadn’t seen for a long time.

M9. Destination of the Spirit (Omura) - A chaotic first half, with “nothingness” and “heaven” experienced in the second half.

M10. Fragile Systems/Between Realms (Omura/Rivett) - The system of economy and education also continues to change in the present. The vicissitudes of fortune. Take-wise, two songs are combined.

M11. Gong (Sato) - Hearing the sound of a bell… Well, at this point, the album ends with this sign of a new era.

Bungalow’s debut album was/ Metropolitan Oasis/ (2011), and the present work may be a proposal for the next stage of Metropolitan Oasis.

Even now, Bungalow beckons you in, inviting you to relax while looking up at the blue sky.

Now, let’s take a deep breath, and hang out for a while together.

中川ヨウ Yo Nakagawa /

Audio and Video

• Video for “Entropy In Flux”, track #1 on this album:

• Video for “Abstract Messages” (excerpt), track #7 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #8: “Fifteen Years”

The music on this album alternates between slow, free sketches and mid-tempo modern jazz. The slower tracks are beautifully patient, somewhat open-ended with room for the group to pulse and grow organically while trekking through the movements.

Whether on the undertow of “Current”, the storytelling of “The Color of Silence”, or the tranquil, soft “Home”, the slower numbers are soundscapes for creating acoustic moods, a vaguely Blade Runner Vangelis-esque setting of future nostalgia. The recorded warmth of the instruments adds to this with a dynamic mix of warbling guitar, artistically nimble drums, fluidly echoey sax, the magnetic attraction of fretless electric bass, and full, graceful piano.

Among the slower songs, the mid-tempo songs are latched to frames in motion through riffs, loops, or steady rhythms on which longer themes develop. Songs like “Last Moon Nearly Full”, “Conversations with Moore”, and “The Last Day of Summer” thrill with emotional, shapeshifting suspense through the peaks and valleys of the compositions layered with individual improvisation. Throughout, the album is a chimera of imagination, a satisfying journey from the initial pull of the opening “Current” to the last welcome of “Home”.

Audio and Video

• Live performance of “Last Moon Nearly Full”, track #2 on this album:

• Live performance of “The Last Day of Summer”, track #4 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #3: “Conversations with Moore”

Compulsively rhythmic and compelling, this album is another fantastical journey through the nooks and crannies of modern jazz with exotic fringes. With Bungalow, creativity is in focus, and on Unseen Scenes this creativity often incorporates repeating riffs and loops of fresh drum patterns and evocative moods. Strands of music weave together to provide the fabric over which saxophone melodies arc and swoop. A combination of dense flavors, spicy accents, and lush spaces with some straight-ahead modern jazz as well.

Notable tracks include the modern “Gauge”, the European fusion “Astir”, the grand “Dancing Elephant”, and “Bombay Duck” with pleasant sounds of the tabla drum. The final track “Respective Scene” also introduces a new side to Bungalow, where the sounds of electronic knocking, static, whirring, and beeps create a soundscape as the other instruments vamp slowly.

Audio and Video

• Excerpt from track #1: “ダンシング・エレファント (Dancing Elephant)”

Masahiro Yamamoto, an original member of Bungalow featured on their first two albums, plays alto sax with a warm, textured tone which bends and flutters with visceral energy while the band lays out arcane jazz sounds not confined to the genre. Whether on the free opener “Metropolitan Oasis”, the slinky rocker “Underpass”, the mysterious drama of “Human Lost”, or the elaborate pieces “Bastristurgisism” and “O.P.P.M.”, the album cleverly navigates and develops their art of sound with lovely constructions and comfortable escapism.

Audio and Video

• Bungalow playing live in 2012:

• Excerpt from track #3: “Underpass”

The five-piece group led by guitarist and primary songwriter Motohiko Ichino produces otherworldly atmospheres with loops of sound and cascading sheets of melody set against precise rock and dance-inspired beats. The instruments riff and interlace, fitting together like puzzle pieces at times, an intense chorus at others, while swirling over underlying rhythmic grids for a dusky, spacey, trance-like aura.

Definitely not following the typical jazz formula, this beat-centered music with some live jazz improvisation incorporates electronic loops and samples in real-time along with their primary instruments – guitar, sax, keyboards, bass, and drums – modified with echoes, distortion, and other effects. Another clever addition, the Minimoog synthesizer’s characteristic sounds enrich the music greatly with a haunting, retro-futuristic feel, evoking popular songs and suspense movies from the past and strengthening the sensation of this dramatic, mood-pushing music.

Audio and Video

• Video for “Monkey’s Dream”, track #1 on this album:

• Video for “Eat Your Orange”, track #7 on this album:

• Video for “The Third Sun”, track #11 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #6: “subliminal sublimation”

Perhaps not well-known among standard jazz fans, the Routine Jazz Label from famed producer and DJ Kei Kobayashi gained international renown with “club jazz” compilations such as Schema, Deja Vu, and Ricky-Tick, beat-oriented music remixed with jazz and bossa nova samples for dance clubs and trance-leaning airwaves.

Here, Kobayashi joins forces with Takehiko Komine (owner of respected Tokyo jazz club Nardis) to produce “Routine Jazz Sextet”, a tongue-in-cheek comment on his popular club jazz albums, advertised as a “genuine jazz from Tokyo” response to popular club jazz. While straightforward jazz, in one way this is a crossover album, picking songs from the hard bop era that relate to samples and music used in club jazz.

With nine tracks over 39 minutes, the music is propulsive, boiling and full of energy. Most of the songs run at around four minutes, straight-ahead showcases for the horn arrangements and improvisations, as well as the unflagging power of the rhythm section which steams through the tracks. The songs include a nice blend of selections from America and Europe, bringing to mind the sounds of Cannonball Adderley, Wayne Shorter, and Ray Bryant, and of course the aforementioned hard bop giants Art Blakey and Horace Silver. Routine in name only, this is wholly enjoyable from start to finish.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for a related album from Routine Jazz Quintet:

• Excerpt from track #3: “The Crosseyed Cat”

The album includes nine modern jazz tunes, most being original compositions from Yasukagawa, and one each from pianist Sato and drummer Hashimoto. Two standards are also included, a swingy, stylish “Long Ago And Far Away”, and a bowed-bass feature on “Greensleeves”, a delicate, sacred performance heavy with emotional weight.

Opening with atmospheric space, unhurried and patient, the modern sound develops with a fun looseness based on confidence and skill; the music soars and swings with thrilling percussive, melodic, and bass interplay. These players bring a lot to the performance, listening and responding to each other throughout, reacting and embellishing each other’s ideas and open spaces with exquisite taste.

Audio and Video

• Daiki Yasukagawa Trio video for Kanmai:

• Excerpt from track #2: “Long Ago and Far Away”

Through sounds ranging from ethereal and delicate to deep and groovy, the music steadily develops in dramatic style, patiently, with nooks and crannies of musical texture creating a fulfilling, lush experience. This is art music, creative jazz with rock, modern classical, and free elements, carefully crafted with space for the skilled musicians to stretch out together, painting fantastic and vivid colors with harmonic richness and rhythmic dynamicism.

With six songs ranging from eight to 16 minutes each, the music breathes with life: From the opener “Journey”, flowing like water over a delicate lattice of cymbals and drums, moving into “The Last Day of Summer”, a mysterious melody storytelling over a jazz/rock fusion riff, contrasted against the sound effects of “15 Night”, a darker poem-like atmosphere, floating with the stimulating “Cycles” and settling into “Park”, an anthemic, never-want-it-to-end pop/rock jazz tune, before reemerging from dreams with the final song “Sketch #1”, each composition offers a fascinating path through the seen and unseen facets of this compelling music.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #4: “Cycles”

Doi’s mature compositions embrace the sounds of jazz in various settings: mid-tempo walking jazz, energetic and frenetic jazz, and elegiac European classical sounds. Like many other modern recordings, facets of bebop, hard-bop, and cool jazz influences also surface effortlessly in the soulful music.

The woody tone of the clarinet makes the music organic and present, breathy and pure. Doi’s clarinet spins out long strands of wild jazz improvisation on “Velvet Sun” and “Kids ’24-7′” and cheerful poppy jazz on the catchy album closer “Off Duty”. Yet perhaps even more compelling are the meditatively quiet moments on “One Little Spark”, “Euphoria”, and the title track “Amalthea”, where the quartet fashions a Miles Davis/Bill Evans “Blue In Green” mood of atmospheric calm and beauty.

Audio and Video

• Several audio excerpts serving as an introduction to the Tokuhiro Doi Quartet live:

• A recent video of Tokuhiro Doi playing “Stella By Starlight” with pianist Akane Matsumoto:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Years”

The nine original songs on this album are full of lyrical freshness balanced with impeccable timing and a sensitive touch. The music covers territory from dream-fantasy jazz waltzes, Lennie Tristano-style post-bop, melancholy ballads, and groovy rock-beat uplifting music, all united with sense of the peace and comfort brought about by Sato’s poetic vision of utopia.

Audio and Video

• Koichi Sato playing live in 2010:

• Excerpt from track #5: “ミラード・ミラー (Mirrored Mirror)”

This 2011 recording features eight tracks: six original songs from Omura in his detailed, catchy style, unfolding story-like with depth and groovy accuracy. The music brims with fiery energy, passionate yet also containing also a smoldering, somber melancholy. Two of the tracks are group-created free jazz collaborations, splashes of color adding mystery and adventure. The recorded audio is also done beautifully, with separation of drums and cymbals gracefully captured with a lush live sound.

A creative aspect used on this recording is the collaboration of three pianists Hakuei Kim, Koichi Sato, and Mamoru Ishida, playing separately as well as together on some songs, stretching the limits of the standard piano trio format. On several songs two or three of the pianists play simultaneously on acoustic and electric piano in distinct audio channels: center, right, or left separate and identify the pianists on three songs. On other songs, the standard piano trio format is used with pianists alternating on a song or two each, while the rhythm of bassist Koji Yasuda and drummer Ko Omura laying out the pulse and foundation of the music.

Audio and Video

• Excerpt of Ko Omura’s song “Slow Highway”, recorded live:

• Excerpt from track #5: “Slow Highway”

Bungalow’s compositions are in focus here, and like modern songwriting from Wayne Shorter, the music differs from standard jazz patterns with interesting, well-constructed songs, featuring elements of upbeat swing, poetic and meditative calm, visceral rock and organically looping riffs, embellished with searching melodies and smart improvisation played brilliantly. This is well-balanced and addictive modern jazz that weaves deep musical grooves with imaginative compositions and skillful playing, reflecting future-facing sounds built on traditional music from Past Life.

Audio and Video

• Live performance of the title track “Past Life”:

• Excerpt from track #1: “上昇気流 (Updraft)”

As a drummer’s quartet, rhythm moderates the music delightfully, propulsive but never overpowering. Flutes with electric and acoustic instruments add evocative flavors, leading us through the fair and summoning musical images like childhood memories.

Audio and Video

• Live performance of “Fascinating Rhythm”:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Ferris Wheel”

Sato conceived the main theme while traveling in Norway and viewing a certain painting. The work of art, Art Rolfsen’s “The Big Station”, graces the cover and inspired “The Railway Station”, a four-part suite arranged over four tracks. This music emerges and recedes through tracks #1, 6, 9, and 12, resulting in four distinct songs with common echoes.

From this setting and throughout the rest of the album, beautiful music blossoms and inspires scenes of travel. Dramatic compositions with full, earthy sounds create moods spanning excitement, relaxation, hectic impressionism, and, naturally, melancholy. This music embraces emotions that may arise at different times during a long journey, a soundtrack to a trip, a modern work of art.

Audio and Video

• Audio samples from the CD:

• Excerpt from track #1: “The Railway Station”

You Already Know is part of the band’s series of adventurous and atmospheric releases filled with strong hooks and compelling rhythms. While vamps and percussion anchor the music, shifting tempos, primal folk elements, dreamy improvisation, and some noise effects also factor in on tracks such as “Gravity Snap”, “Imagined Winter”, and the graceful title track. Whether you already know Bungalow’s music or not, this music does take you places.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “サンタ・クルズ (Santa Cruz)”

Emiko’s voice is front-and-center and spans the gamut from quick instrumentesque aerobics to passionate crooning. Vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes, and an innovative stand-up drum set constitute the core of the group, and several other instrumentalists contribute to the album, with material ranging from dreamy and moody to light and shimmering.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Track #2 “Sanosa” was featured on The Rough Guide to Avant-Garde Japan 2021:

• Excerpt from track #1: “The Days Of Wine And Roses”

The music is sleek, organic, and hypnotic at times. For example, track #3 “Synesthesia” is particularly magical as time and pulse slip and shift as the music develops; at other times, the group locks into a detailed groove, or opens up the framework and allows timekeeping to fade from the audio palette. The roomy improvisational passages are filled with emotional passion and rooted by the quintet’s empathy established through years of live and recording experience.

High-caliber musicianship and exquisite songcraft make this an absorbingly satisfying listen, cerebral yet bodily grooving.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video with clips from the album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Still”