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 instruments 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” as 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.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Sumireiko: Decision (six-song digital album version on Bandcamp)

• Excerpt from track #1: “Lull In The Rain”

The compositions start from a base of jazz and improvisation but are filled with many other various elements. There is a sense of a deep connection to ethnic rhythms and sounds, such as some Spanish elements as with the titles of the first track and the album itself. Some of the writing and the piano parts recall Chick Corea’s “Spanish heart” as a component, and there could be some Return to Forever-type jazz/rock/Latin fusion characteristics that subtly power the music as well.

Not to say that this is Latin music or Latin jazz, but that anything could be an influence. This includes Japanese musical training, American jazz education (both Yamamoto and Yanagihara studied at Berklee College of Music), and classical and jazz study, with Japanese soul also brought in via the backgrounds of the three musicians.

Similarly, there are rhythms and music that are not only based on jazz, pop, or Latin fusion, but seem to be infused with some cultural and historical influences. For example, medieval, roots, or tribal sounds that conjure up visions of early Celtic or even Viking music. The fascinating compositions deliver a full sound from the three players, a large part due to their great arrangements and detailed touches that are irresistibly moving and likable, and pull you in like gravity. The players’ technical skills are flawless, of course, and bring the musical structures, themes, improvisations, and interplay right into focus.

The sounds of the piano and vibraphone work so well together in playing the radiant and emotional lines that Magnolia delivers. As Yamamoto and Yanagihara develop their evocative melodies over shimmering harmonic structures, percussionist Aikawa forms the frames of the music through a myriad of patterns and textures through her wide-ranging percussion.

Technically (pedantically), the piano and vibraphone are also considered to be percussion instruments, and this may be another reason why the three musicians are perfectly aligned with a cohesive single-mindedness. This shared ability reinforces the exciting rhythm, meter, and tempo changes sprinkled throughout their songs.

There are plenty of fresh approaches written into the music scores themselves that are interesting and fun, and the percussion beats delivered through Aikawa’s cajón, cymbals, shakers, bells, drums, sticks, shells, and other instruments, make it all the more stimulating as the rhythm sounds alternate and transform.

This spirit of freshness is clearly linked to their choice of band name. The refined and graceful magnolia flower is one of the first flowers to bloom in spring and has a fleeting blossoming period. The symbol of these strikingly beautiful flowers can be compared to sakura, or cherry blossoms, as both can symbolize Japanese mono no aware: the awareness and appreciation of impermanence, and that bittersweet transience that evokes beauty and sadness.

A quick tour through the album tracks starts with an instantly engaging track #1 “La vos del viento”, colorfully Spanish and exciting. #2 “Haru, Aozora” is a cheery and bright piece with breathtaking views. #3 “Short Stories No. 6” is a distinctive march-like story with ancient medieval folk aspects (as with Yamamoto’s other compositions, Reiko’s love of role-playing video games greatly influences how she tells stories through her music, and this is one chapter from her “Short Stories” series of songs).

Track #4 “Foggy Forest” is atmospherically prismatic and filled with curiosity. #5 “Fune” is another catchily ancient-sounding piece that paints a pre-modern tableau. #6 “Blue Mallet” is rousing and groovy, drenched with cinematic drama. #7 “Pause is peaceful and slightly blue, similarly powerful as soundtrack material. #8 “Hanakage” is another otherworldly, absorbing journey with a deep aura, undefinably Old English or Gaelic, perhaps. #9 “Furosato” is an affecting ballad, carrying the same heartwarming, nostalgic power as songs like “Danny Boy”. Finally, #10 “Swaying Willows” with its soft pop shuffle is all farewell hugs, fresh and positive with the promise of a warm welcome in the future.

Audio and Video

• Live version of track #1 “La vos del viento” from Magnolia’s 2022 album release tour:

• Live version of #6 “Blue Mallet”:

• Live version of #8 “Hanakage”:

• Live version of #2 “Haru, Aozora”:

• Live version of #7 “Pause”:

• Magnolia chatting about their 2023 tour (Japanese):

• Short compilation of excerpts from a 2022 live performance in Kyoto:

• Excerpt from track #3: “Short Stories No.6”

Links

• JazzTokyo review, interview, and photos (Japanese)

Written in Japanese, Reiko Yamamoto’s name is 山本玲子. Reiko (玲子) contains the kanji character 玲 which represents the sound of jewels and is used in several aural words invoking tinkling and chiming sounds. Whether or not that character had a direct influence on the musician’s life, it’s an appropriately fitting context for her masterful playing of this brilliantly translucent instrument.

All of the songs are by the group leader Yamamoto, whose musical ideas are let loose on the nine tracks’ creative arrangements and solos. The music is typically modern sounding with mostly straight-eight rhythms adorned with interesting meters, melodic placements, and musical structures.

Joining Yamamoto is her “Square Pyramid” quartet (distinguished from her previous two “Tempus Fugit” swing/bop quartet albums) featuring Sumire Kuribayashi on piano, Keisuke Furuki on bass, and Hiro Kimura on drums.

The flow of the album is like a three-act storytelling arc, with thrilling action in acts one and three and calm respites in the middle. The opening is all excitement delivered through the propulsion of heart-racing notes on #1 “Vibrant Line” and #2 “Midnight Blue”.

Next, the mellow #3 “Staring at the Rain” and the melancholic #4 “Missing Piece” are both pretty creations placed to introduce different moods and moments of peaceful reflection.

Nestled in the middle of the album is a set of three conceptually linked tracks: #5 “Piano Songs No. 2”, #6 “Piano Songs No. 3”, and #7 “Short Stories No. 5”.

These three songs examine more sides of the tinkling gem (or faces of the pyramid) and showcase compositional traces of classical, progressive, folk, rock, and mystery, with a lyrical touch resembling a poetic, possibly Jethro Tull-ish, personality.

Incidentally, more numbers from the Piano Songs and Short Stories series appear on Yamamoto’s other musical projects and albums including Sumireiko, Yamako, Jazz Resort, and Magnolia (coming up in future articles here).

The last two tracks, #8 “Black Forest” and #9 “That Blue Bird” seem to blend into each other and share some musical traits, (not to mention the background that these two tracks share, explained in the liner notes), confidently bringing the album to a close for a theatrical conclusion.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Reiko Yamamoto’s original Japanese liner notes.)

1. Vibrant Line

This is a song originally written for a vibraphone ensemble. The word vibrant has the same etymological root as vibrate, which is also the origin of the name of the instrument vibraphone. In addition to the meanings of vibrating and trembling, it also includes the meanings of being active and energetic. I chose this title hoping to make you feel the music’s dynamics from the percussive approach and the reverberation of the vibraphone.

2. Midnight Blue

It’s characteristic for instrumentalists to frequently travel by car, especially on the roads at night. This song portrays going down the Metropolitan Expressway in the dead of night… Imagine driving with the feeling of sprinting. In actuality, the color of my current car is called midnight blue, which is where I got the name of this song.

3. Staring At The Rain

This song’s title “Staring at the Rain” depicts a house in Europe with a woman inside, sitting by the window, resting her chin on her hands, and looking out at the gloomy rain outside. I wrote this song while imagining that scene. It was a rainy day when I wrote this song, and I didn’t want to go outside, but if I didn’t go out I wouldn’t get things done… I was wavering. In that mood, I gazed at the rain and imagined what this European woman would be feeling while staring at the rain.

4. Missing Piece

For a jigsaw puzzle with even just one piece missing, it cannot be said to be completed. I gave this song this title to express the instability of those times when something is lost, as with this melody that seems to be headed to a resolution somewhere but ends up being unsettled.

5. Piano Songs No. 2

Subtitled “/Kiseki” (trajectory, the path one has taken/). In 2017 I went to see Gary Burton’s last concert before his retirement, playing in a duo with pianist Makoto Ozone. Ozone’s piano at that time was extremely lovely, but also very heartbreaking… I wished at the time that it could never end. This is a song of a pianist who follows closely their mentor’s life trajectory.

6. Piano Songs No. 3

I usually compose with the sound of the piano, so sometimes the resulting songs will be closer to the image of a piano playing style rather than melodies played on a vibraphone. The Piano Songs series is a collection of such songs. Around the time I wrote No. 3, I was listening to a lot of European pianists like Enrico Pieranunzi and Michel Petrucciani, so this song was influenced by that period.

7. Short Stories No. 5

This is a song I wrote while playing Short Stories on vibraphone. Short Stories is a collection of short pieces for solo vibraphone. This “No. 5” is based on something I improvised somehow or other while playing at home one day. I hope you can closely hear the vibraphone’s characteristic approach of having such a resonant sound combined with its limited pitch range and number of chord voices that can be played simultaneously.

8. Black Forest

After listening to the next song “That Blue Bird”, an artist imagined the moment that song was born and created a painting for me entitled “Black Forest”. The painting shows a pitch-black forest with a large reflecting lake, glowing beautifully with moonlight and glittering with the surfacing of fragments of musical phrases. From this, I set that title to music, which resulted in this song’s creation.

9. That Blue Bird

The story “Blue Bird” describes how Tyltyl and Mytyl travel on a long journey searching for a blue bird and concludes with them finding that blue bird, which then flies away and ends the story. We may realize that happiness is always close to us but, just like the blue bird that flies away, can also disappear in a flash. Although I named this song after a story with quite a philosophical significance, this “Blue Bird”, at least for me, has brought a lot of happiness.

Obi Notes

A new page in the history of jazz vibraphone sound.

The long-awaited all-originals release from the new band debut.

Reiko Yamamoto has released two albums with “Reiko Yamamoto Tempus Fugit” (Terasima Records), participated in genre-crossing collaborations, and has become known for the endless possibilities of her vibraphone sound. She now releases a full album of her original compositions fully unleashing her well-established compositional and arrangement techniques. Throughout jazz history from swing to hard bop, fusion, and contemporary genres, the vibraphone has produced many songs and has been incorporated into many bands as a novel instrument. Here again, a new part of this history will be recorded.

Audio and Video

• Live performance of “That Blue Bird”, track #9 on this album:

• Live performance of “Piano Songs No. 2”, track #5 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Vibrant Line”