The first “trio” side features four jazz staples and one original from leader Kanamori. The four standards (“Autumn Leaves”, “Surrey with the Fringe on Top”, “I’ve Got a Crush On You”, and “Recordame”) are enhanced with slight rearrangements and additions but mainly stay true to the core of straight-ahead jazz piano trio versions. The original composition on this half, Kanamori’s “Mingus Stroll”, sounds just like it should, with a bluesy strolling feel that recalls the spirit of Charles Mingus.

Notable in several tracks are the slow to fast and double-time meter and time changes that work to keep the audience (and the band) on their toes while the players’ extended improvisations play on. Drummer Yamada also takes the spotlight on a few songs as he lets loose over vamps on the very rapid tempo “Surrey” and the exciting set-closer “Recordame”.

The second “trio with strings” set features three standards (“Smooth as the Wind”, “Lush Life”, and the encore “What a Wonderful World”), with three more originals from Kanamori. Here, when not doubling or embellishing the song melodies, the strings add a rich harmonic backdrop to the trio’s sound, especially and appropriately lush in the beautiful Billy Strayhorn tune.

Beyond the standard jazz repertoire, the seven-member group spreads its wings further on Kanamori’s originals on side two. The trio with strings paints with more abstract colors for his songs “Invisible World” and “Star’s Duty” in particular, for an atmospheric and storytelling effect. His third original on this side, “Sea & Ocean”, is all Latin rhythms, mid- and uptempo, used dynamically to add new dimensions of energy and flair to the entire concert.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Motoi Kanamori’s original Japanese liner notes.)

This is my third album as a leader. It was recorded on December 29, 2022, at a concert held at Tokyo FM Hall. I’m so happy that I was able to have this musical experience and be blessed with such wonderful musicians. I hope that you can listen to this for a long time.

Disc 1

1. Autumn Leaves

Originally a chanson, this is a world-famous standard that has been recorded countless times. Not only Frank Sinatra, but Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and many other jazz musicians have recorded great versions of this song, and it is widely recognized as a jazz standard. Although we must follow in the footsteps of such famous takes, playing our new interpretation of Kareha (枯葉, Autumn Leaves) in the modern day may have resulted in something that has not been heard before. Enjoy the thrilling exchanges between the trio with the dizzying changes of scene.

2. Mingus Stroll

This is my original song dedicated to the great jazz bassist Charles Mingus. Charles Mingus’s music contains nostalgic, romantic melodies that sometimes surge up with the passion of raging waves. At the time, it gave music new inspiration with free ideas and construction, and it still has that new quality today. The year 2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Charles Mingus, and we performed this song to commemorate the birth of a man who influenced many artists regardless of genre.

3. Surrey with the Fringe on Top

This jazz standard was originally written for a musical, and we started playing it as a homage to our beloved Ahmad Jamal. Typical of this trio, the tempo is extremely fast, like wheels spitting fire. We use an arrangement with a tempo change in the middle, just as the wheels are shaking wildly and coming off, making for an exciting song. Unfazed by this tempo, Takubo’s piano and Yamada’s brushwork are the very essence of breathtaking.

4. I’ve Got a Crush on You

This romantic number (meaning “I’m crazy about you”) is a masterpiece from the genius composer George Gershwin, who worked not only in jazz but also in classical music. It’s an exquisite ballad with a beautiful verse, the introductory part that precedes the main part of a jazz vocal song. Check out Takubo’s beautiful touch and melodic soul, and most of all, the romantic and melancholic harmony of the trio performance.

5. Recordame

This song by Joe Henderson is widely known as a jazz standard and is so cool when played just as written. In fact, this song was requested by a jazz student who is currently enrolled in my former school. This student was coming to my concert, so I asked them if there was a song they wanted to hear. It was a good opportunity for me to arrange a version of this song suited for this trio. I hope you get a real kick out of Yamada’s hidden reserves in the final drum solo, where he navigates complex riffs through to the end with ease.

Disc 2

1. Smooth as the Wind

This song is a hidden gem said to have been written for the trumpeter Blue Mitchell by the great jazz pianist, composer, and arranger Tadd Dameron. At the time, Dameron was imprisoned for drug addiction and was far removed from the jazz stage (drug use is a theme related to why the jazz genre unfortunately rarely appears in elementary school textbooks). However, Blue Mitchell relied on Tadd Dameron as an arranger who brought out the best in him, so Dameron wrote this song was written for him while incarcerated. His record was completed with this song as the title tune, and it became a beloved work of accomplishment throughout his life. The result is a breezy, melodic song that flows like the wind with the addition of the string quartet.

2. Lush Life

They say that this song was written by Duke Ellington’s renowned right-hand man Billy Strayhorn when he was about 19 years old. Although the title given in Japanese may be “The Life of a Drunkard”, it’s really an excellent song. This song has long been played by this trio as a feature for Takubo (who doesn’t drink alcohol, incidentally). It was also included in our second album. I hope that the sweet sound of strings gives a fresh view of another side of this famous song.

3. Invisible World

This was the title tune for our second album, Invisible World, released in 2020. Just as the album was released, the world came to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. We couldn’t go or perform anywhere, and the way forward looked pitch black. We were plunging forth into what seemed to be an “invisible world”. This song originated from the story of how music can find a small light in the darkness and allow an escape from the gloom. At the end of 2022, it’s with deeply felt emotion that we were able to play this song once again, and to say goodbye to the pandemic.

4. Star’s Duty

This is a song I wrote with the theme of “Working people all looking radiant.” The story is of a star who wakes up and reluctantly heads to work, but once they start working, they shine brilliantly. The combination of strings and the piano solo expresses the feelings of the star who does not want to go to work. The end of the song illustrates the star beginning to work and shining brightly. It’s a song to listen to when you are tired of the daily routine.

5. Sea & Ocean

The words “sea” and “ocean” both have the same meaning in Japanese as the word umi (海). This is an original song I wrote with a related theme: “The same thing can appear different as the way of looking at it changes.” Watching the words and behavior of lots of people during the coronavirus pandemic made me feel and think about many things. Depending on the viewpoint, good things can look bad, and bad things can look good. In this song, the same melody appears several times in different forms. Jazz music often has the characteristic of using the same chord progressions and developing on those. For this song, I composed using a new concept of developing the music by continuously changing the scene. I hope that you like it.

6. What a Wonderful World

It goes without saying that this is a famous song loved not only by jazz fans but by many people throughout the world. We performed this song as an encore for the live concert. I could only think of this song in light of the current situation, not only regarding the coronavirus, but with war, discrimination, and world instability in our modern times. As one who can only express themselves through music, I played this song with hope for a peaceful and beautiful world from now on. I think that the sound and minds of the group came together as one to deliver the best performance. Please enjoy it.

Obi Notes

A combination of daringly dashing piano trio and magnificently sweet strings.

A stunning 2-disc album that captures the stirring concert recorded live in high quality at Tokyo FM Hall!!

Audio and Video

• The Motoi Kanamori Trio playing “Lady Luck” live in 2021:

• The Motoi Kanamori Trio playing “No Fool No Fun” live in 2018:

• The Motoi Kanamori Trio playing “Aru Ame no Hi ni…” live in 2018:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Autumn Leaves”

What about both classical and jazz, together? Classical jazz, or jazz classical? Jazz-classical crossovers, fusion, or merges? (Pianist Ethan Iverson recently shared an engaging article on the “Jazz Brain/Classical Brain” divide, which aligned serendipitously with what I had been thinking about this week.)

Jazz-classical crossover albums, songs, motifs, and themes inevitably surface in a survey of famous recordings, performances, and musicians in jazz history. These can be helpful for newcomers to the genre who find footholds in familiar compositional elements, styles, or even jazzy covers of well-known classical songs. Naturally, there is Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” (Iverson’s “The Worst Masterpiece: ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ at 100” and his follow-ups TT 359 and TT 360 are also worth mentioning), but also bands and musicians like Modern Jazz Quartet (“jazz with classical music elements”), Dave Brubeck, Keith Jarrett (even with some specific classical music recordings), Duke Ellington, Kenny Barron (Classical Jazz Quartet Plays Bach/Tchaikovsky/Rachmaninov /albums), the fullness of albums whose titles ending /with Strings or /Orchestra/… and this is just scratching the surface.

Add to this colorful mix Japanese flutist Makiyo Sakai’s first two albums, Silver Painting from 2016 and Pictures at an Exhibition from 2018. Flutist, composer, and performer Sakai keeps a busy schedule with multiple different combos and solo performances, recording, and music composition in genres spanning jazz, Brazilian, pop, and more. However, her first two leader albums were focused specifically on introducing her through the medium of classical songs played by her jazz quartet.

Silver Painting is a fifty-five-minute album featuring Sakai on flute with piano, bass, and drums, with guitar joining on two tracks. The group plays ten songs from the popular classical music repertoire and the great composers. Bach, Beethoven, Borodin, Debussy, Fauré, Paganini, Ravel, Satie, and Tchaikovsky are featured, with one piece from each and two from Fauré.

It’s an attractive concept with a fun sound and attention to detail. The classical dimensions of the music are clear and in the forefront, starting off right from the gentle sway and beauty of track #1 “Sicilienne” (keen TV viewers may remember this piece as the music played briefly but movingly by Michael McKean’s character Chuck McGill on Better Call Saul).

Throughout the album, the group honors the composed classical framing with noticeable, but non-gimmicky, jazz alterations. There are mild jazz reharmonizations, sections for improvisation, and trading phrases between instruments just like any other regular jazz session.

While some moods are modest and retrained as might be expected of some classical settings, the most visible jazz influence slowly begins to appear through the pulsing beats: Swing- and Latin-time feels are set by the rhythm section’s adept jazz piano comping, bass line walking, and snappy drumset rhythms. Plentiful and exciting jazz improvisation is another highlighted jazz feature overlaying these classical harmonies and themes, and Sakai’s impressive technique, sound, and ideas are masterfully showcased on this introductory debut.

The mixture of song moods could be split into three sections of a pie, roughly. There are five classical-jazz set pieces (#1, 3, 6, 9, 10), three bossa or Latin-ish rides (#2, 4, 7), and laidback groovy-heavy moments with Fender Rhodes and funky grooves happening (#5, 8).

When laid out in album sequence, the flow moves through (from #1) calm, light and delicate with a hint of blues, to bright and peppery, relaxing, spunky, groovy, elegant melancholy, sweet, smooth, uptempo swing, and (to #10) jazzy scenes, ending the final song “Clair de lune” with a sprinkling of “Stardust” as a tender jazz quote.

As the album title suggests, these are ten scenes painted in silver by Sakai’s sterling sound, flying over the brushed backdrops from her jazz combo, and framed by a great selection of gorgeous classical compositions.

Liner Notes

(Translated from an excerpt of Masahisa Segawa’s original Japanese liner notes for this album. Segawa (1924-2021) was a highly influential and prominent Japanese jazz critic, historian, writer, and producer who wrote about and supported the jazz scene in Japan passionately for decades.)

…

About the musical program:

01 Sicilienne (Fauré)

French composer Fauré composed this piece for cello and piano in 1893. It was later incorporated into the fifth part of his Pelléas et Mélisande Suite. It is beautiful and distinctive when the flute plays the harp arpeggios, and has been arranged for the duo format of piano and a solo instrument. Makiyo Sakai’s flute starts with the pretty melody, the rhythm section joins quietly, and flute improvises delicately before returning to the melody.

02 Valse des fleurs (Waltz of the Flowers) (Tchaikovsky)

This piece is an extremely popular song, the eighth piece of the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. On this album, guitar enters with a bossa nova rhythm and flute plays the melody, coloring the mood skillfully before moving to light and relaxed adlibbing.

03 Gymnopedie (Satie)

Satie composed this three-song piece in 1888 at the age of 23 while he was working as a pianist at a cabaret in Montmartre. It became one of Satie’s signature pieces and used the name of an ancient Spartan festival as its title. The exotically tinged melody is decorated with a sweetly deep tone and elegant adlibs, and features a unison ending with the piano to close it out beautifully.

04 Caprice No. 24 (Paganini)

The legendary violinist Paganini made full use of his superior technique when composing the 24 Pieces for Solo Violin, of which #24 became the most popular. These have been used for solo performances on various instruments, as with Benny Goodman’s clarinet solo. On this album, an uptempo drum solo starts things off, flute adlibs with rapid phrases, and a long drum solo brings things to a boil.

05 Polovtsian Dances (Borodin)

This is a composition from Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, a song from the middle of the second act. It became very famous, and the melody was later used in the widely sung popular song Stranger in Paradise. The drums are arranged with a bossa-style back-beat rhythm, and the flute adlibs while decorating the melody slightly. The Fender Rhodes electric piano takes a long solo and ends with interchanges with the flute.

06 Pavane Op. 50 (Fauré)

This was composed as an orchestral piece in 1886 and later used as the final song in the opera Masques et Bergamasques. The pleasantly elegant and refined melody is often played by flute and similar instruments. Here too, the flute plays the tune with respect, and the bass takes a stately solo in the middle.

07 Pathetique Sonata - 2nd movement (Beethoven)

This was composed in 1798 and is one of Beethoven’s three great piano sonatas alongside Moonlight and Appassionata. The melancholy-laden melody is played movingly by the flute and rhythm section with added guitar. Improvisations in the second half expertly heighten the sense of pathos.

08 Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) (Ravel)

This is a piano solo masterpiece written in 1902 and represents Ravel’s early period during which he was studying at the Paris Conservatory. It is said that this composition was inspired by viewing a portrait of Queen Margarita, painted by the 17th-century court painter Diego Velázquez, at the Louvre Museum. Ravel himself arranged it for orchestral performance, and many others have produced arrangements for piano and solo instrument duos, string ensembles, and the like. It’s a short piece that is graceful and possesses a delicate beauty. It gained fame in America in 1939 when adapted into the popular song “The Lamp is Low”. The flute slowly sets up a romantic mood over a background of electric piano, and artful improvisation follows.

09 Siciliano (Bach)

Siciliano is a music and dance style that stretches back to the end of the Renaissance musical era and early Baroque music. The music in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana is one well-known example. Bach’s Sicilianos include two pieces. The one played here is the middle movement from BWV 1031, Sonata in E-flat Major for Flute (another is the ritardando section from BWV 1017, Sonata in C Minor for Violin).

Following a bass intro, the flute plays the melody slowly. The piano enters at a fast tempo for a change in mood. The flute continues adlibbing with quick runs, heating things up when trading fours with the piano and drums. It’s fun to see Sakai’s jazz sensibilities on full display.

10 Clair de lune (Debussy)

This is the third movement from Suite Bergamaque, a four-part piano solo piece written in 1890. Its easy-to-love theme has become extremely popular. The Bergamasque /of the title, meaning /Bergamo dance, was taken from a poem by Paul Verlaine. Piano and flute play the first half of the original music slowly, then take the second half at a faster tempo with free-spirited, intertwining improvisation.

Audio and Video

• Audio for track #6 “Pavane Op. 50”:

• Audio for track #1 “Sicilienne”:

• Excerpt from track #2 “Waltz of the Flowers” (at 1:00):

• Makiyo Sakai Quintet playing John Coltrane’s “Moment’s Notice”:

• Excerpt from track #9: “シチリアーノ (Siciliano)”

This particular album of hers was released under the Sayaka Kishi Trio name and is a follow-up to the same trio’s previous recording Life Is Too Great (2019). Also as such, the trio music on this album tends towards primarily jazz influences. Meanwhile, her other recent releases with various groups (piano/cello, piano/vocals, congos/vibraphone/piano, sax/organ/drums, etc) span colorful moods with different instrumentalists playing across genres.

Invoking the simple pleasures of chewing bubble gum with a playful, mild rebelliousness, the ten tracks start excitedly with the peppy opener “I Miss the Blue Sky”, pop-funk of “Bubble Gum”, and the calm and memorable “Noite Azul” moving in five-four time. The nine Kishi compositions (and one cover song) subtly reflect Kishi’s humorous personality while being mindfully crafted with nuanced changes, rhythmic surprises, and unexpected elements tucked away in corners throughout the album.

The opening track’s first section, for example, launches from a bouncing and carefree theme and immediately moves to a two-minute swinging conversation between bass and drums as the harmonic underpinning moves through several musical keys. Variety, twists, and sharp ideas continue to play out inconspicuously throughout Kishi’s music, like her unique spice or secret ingredient.

The next four songs “Wondering Bird”, “It’s My Jameson”, “Sora wo Kakeru”, and “Three Sails” continue to explore fun terrain with jazz moods infused with folky country, groovy shuffle, Bacharachesque emotive pop, and jazz/Latin bop in a Horace Silver hue. The music feels bright and brisk and is especially enhanced by the captivating dynamics, strength, and skills of Yasukagawa’s bass and Yamada’s drums.

Guest vocalist Hiroe Kobayashi (her partner in the group Sul Madrugada and their 2022 release Luar) adds evocative vocals and lyrics to the next song, #8 “Asas Brancas” for a cheery foreign trip, continuing into Chucho Valdez’s “Mambo Influenciado” for some rousing peaks. Finally, the album closes with Kishi’s “Hope of 2022” for a smooth and laidback finale, sweet as dessert.

Audio and Video

• Sayaka Kishi Trio playing her composition “Kin no Bitou” in 2019:

• D-musica page for this album with audio samples

• Excerpt from track #1: “I Miss the Blue Sky”

This album follows his previous release J-Straight Ahead after five years. The pianist and composer Kumagai regularly records as a trio on his albums, but his main motivation this time was to change to a quartet setting for all songs. Similarly, the overall sound changes very slightly as well, towards Latin-inspired modern jazz — not straight Latin jazz, but modern-day straight-ahead jazz with a variety of spicy influences. Like the playing and concepts that listeners loved on his previous releases, it’s still Kumagai’s music, combining his lively playing with hummable melodies and gripping beats, infused with hues of hip-hop music and personality. Particularly, Kumagai’s command of groove, gospel, and Glasper-inspired music is strongly felt as he pulls from his deep well of authentic and modern jazz, and the album is satisfyingly full of smart music, cool improvisation, and groovy bass lines and drum textures.

Kumagai’s originals are always interesting, balancing simple, catchy melodies with more complex rhythms and structures, often in those odd-time meters like 7/4 or 12/8 that invigorate musicians and listeners alike. Last Resort includes six of his new original tunes, with two additional cover songs wrapping up the set, literally: The entire album was recorded over one day with the songs played in order of the track listing. Capturing the day’s progression gives the album the feel of a live performance, and as the tracks progress, the momentum builds and the energy changes, much like a live band playing a setlist on stage. Even the final tune, “Caravan”, has the feel of an impromptu, high-energy encore as the song emerges out of an adrenalin-surging drum solo that had started on the previous song, recording both tracks in one continuous take and capping the album (and the recording session) on an intense high note.

Recording all together, in set list order, with a limited time window is challenging, but the quartet had performed together over the previous two nights at live shows, which worked like an extended warm-up and captured the feeling of a mid-tour performance in the recording.

Album highlights include the modern jazz beat of “Pirarucu”, the soca-inspired, dramatic “Conflict Areas”, and the adventurous abandon on the uptempo “Caravan”, an excitingly rearranged version of this familiar jazz standard. The other cover song on the album, “Quizás Quizás Quizás”, is the most clearly Latin-inspired choice and may be well-known to Latin genre fans (incidentally, the song may also sound vaguely familiar to those who remember 90’s alternative rock band Cake’s version of “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps”.)

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes written by Yasumasa Kumagai.)

Hey there, Yasumasa Kumagai here. Thanks for buying my CD. It’s actually been five years since my last album as a leader, the second album on my JAZZY BEAR label. The title of the album this time is Last Resort, 最終手段 (saishū shudan: last resort) in Japanese, and if you ask what I mean by that, it’s like this: There’s been a lot of talk recently about CDs not selling these days, so… okay then, I’d better create a crazy design for the cover, right? So I tried to make a jacket that looks like something from a rapper from the southern US. That’s all it means (laughs). For anyone who bought this based on the jacket, this may be like a time when you thought you were buying a cola but, upon tasting it, it turned out to be barley tea.

You can’t do something like this without having your own independent label, right?

By the way, the actual concept of this album is to include trumpet on all the songs. Since I’ve never made an album having a horn player on all the songs, this is a new attempt for me. So I compiled songs with the idea that Miki Hirose would be playing with me. I’ve known him since my New York days, and was often invited to play with his large ensemble over the past several years. His compositions and arrangements are so great that I thought I’d also like to write something similar someday. But suddenly composing for a large ensemble seemed impossible, so I resolved to start by writing with just one horn in mind, the trumpet. That was five or six years ago. Finally, I was able to make this one-horn album. So, on that schedule, I should be releasing a quintet album after another five years, and a large ensemble album in about fifty years.

Also, this time there are more Latin songs. I like contemporary Latin jazz, and Hirose often played in that style while in New York. I always looked forward to seeing him every time he returned to Japan with the authentic feel of that kind of music. And, after all this and that, I was finally able to release something with Hirose.

As for the two rhythm section members, I’ve been working with them for about eight years. Bassist Furuki may appear to be a cyber-terrorist on the album cover, but that’s not the case at all. He is a serious musician who deeply pursues music. When I first performed with him, he was about twenty-two years old and I thought “Wow, this is a great bassist.” I immediately asked him to join my trio. Plus, he’s also a great pianist to the point where he can play live shows as a piano trio, so if you think about it, it should make me pretty uncomfortable to play with him, right?

Drummer Yamada may appear to some as a delinquent or anti-social, but in fact, he’s not that at all. When I first met him, he was about twenty-one years old and so baby-faced that I thought “Is today’s drummer a child?” Steadily gaining more experience through the years, he’s become an excellent mainstay drummer leading a very busy life.

I like to include elements from a wide variety of genres in my compositions, and these two always are quick to grasp the music and make the songs evolve.

Recording with such great friends like these was perfect and over before we knew it, much like the rehearsals. It was so fun… I wish I could do it every month.

1. Pirarucu

This is a song with a Brazilian feel. Brazil brings to mind the Amazon River, and the Amazon River brings to mind the pirarucu (one of the world’s largest freshwater fish), which I chose as the title for this song. Although the chord progression is a little complicated, I hope that you can sense the Amazon somewhat.

2. Happy New Year

I finished this song at home right before a New Year’s Eve event, so gave it this title. Starting with a Cm7-5 intro, there’s a dark sound that contradicts the title. I wrote this with Hirose precisely in mind. Try listening to this in a set with Coltrane’s “Countdown” on New Year’s Eve, yeah?

3. Conflict Areas

I wrote this with the image of Africa in mind and recalling a soca groove from Trinidad and Tobago. There are so many areas around the world called conflict zones where people are forced to live in conditions unimaginable in Japan. However it doesn’t necessarily mean that I am somehow involved in these activities myself, but by starting to know about these things, I ended up choosing the title based on the meaning of conflict zone.

4. La Camiseta Hermosa

A song in 12/8 time with a Latin flavor. Hirose’s band often plays songs with a 6/8 or 12/8 feel, so I thought I would try to write one myself. Luckily, I’ve gotten quite a bit used to it. This song went untitled for a long time, but on the day of the recording, Furuki was wearing a t-shirt with the word “Hermosa” on it. Everyone thought that this word (meaning “beautiful” in Spanish) would be good, so that turned into the title. It means “beautiful shirt”.

5. Apologetic Blues

Blues of apology. One time, I had completely forgotten about a student’s lesson and missed the appointment. I wrote this song in the middle of that forgetfulness. It’s a minor blues sort of like Wayne Shorter in the Blue Note era.

6. Dough

In Japanese, it’s 現生 (gen nama: hard cash). It’s been said that Japan is lagging as the rest of the world moves towards cashless payments. There are still jazz clubs where cash is king and credit card and smartphone payments are not accepted. I tried to capture that 切なさ (setsunasa: bittersweet, wistful, sadness, pain) feeling in a ballad.

7. Quizás Quizás Quizás

I like Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s arrangement of this Latin standard number that I listened to in middle school, and I tried to arrange it for my style. The ending is the highlight, with such a changed atmosphere that makes you wonder what has been happening up until then.

8. Caravan

And, continuing from the drum solo of the previous song at the same tempo, it’s this familiar jazz standard number. I also tried to arrange this one with a vivid Latin color. The final two songs were recorded in succession, in one shot. The schedule is complete!

This was my first time to try something new, to record all the songs sequentially in order of the album listing. As for the reason why, I thought it would be interesting to capture the flow of the full day, from beginning to end, in the recording.

That’s all for now. We appreciate your support as we continue to release new albums in the future.

Audio and Video

• Live version of “Pirarucu”, track #1 from this album:

• Live version of “Conflict Areas”, track #3 from this album:

• Excerpt from track #5: “Apologetic Blues”

Presenting Taguchi’s sweetly mellow voice in an exquisite frame, Pianist Seiji Endo arranged all the songs on this album, and his vision combined with the front line of saxophone, violin, and guitar creates a lush, big band-style sound from the six instruments.

From thrilling and upbeat to smooth and slow, the musicians play together tightly, forming a solid foundation and spotlight for the singer. Listeners can easily imagine Taguchi elegantly standing on stage with a tall mic stand next to her and the Special Sextet decked out stylishly behind her. Taguchi’s delivery is direct but soft, rounded and sincere, verging on husky but always in balance. In particular, the positive attitude of her voice shines like a smile throughout the album.

Like the previous Special Sextet album, The Gift II is straightforward, cheerful, and classic jazz with big band sensibilities. The music emphasizes swing with a fullness of energy and brightness. Perhaps like other albums created during the gloom of the pandemic years, the musicians may have felt added motivation to create and spread joy through their music.

The Gift II abounds in swing and grace with jazz standards including “A Foggy Day”, “Cheek to Cheek”, and “Night and Day”. Other tracks like a dreamy “Misty” and an adventurous “Caravan” build up tension with dynamic changes and a slight sense of mystery. Closing the album, Chick Corea’s always-welcome composition “Spain” is slightly rearranged by Endo with tasteful finesse and performed exuberantly, supplying another exotic and sparkling gem in Rie Taguchi’s bejeweled offering.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes written by Rie Taguchi.)

After five years, a jewel box of spun notes…

Five years since the previous work “The Gift”!

A gift of sounds from the magnificent Special Sextet. After five years of accumulating live concerts and adding wonderful arrangements with each performance, we’ve arrived at repertoire of 40 songs. The universe of arrangements by Seiji Endo tells a story, song by song, each performed by the Special Sextet’s musicians with craftsman-like mastery. The world of the arrangements has expanded even further, unfolding on stage with thrilling excitement. I was thinking that I wanted to release this world on a CD!

Yet with the hurdles in moving forward and the unprecedented events of the coronavirus, the situation prevented us from easily creating music together as musicians on stage… I hit upon the thought that it was the right time to make a CD. After asking for support through crowdfunding, I received a whopping 250 people who graciously supported my idea.

Truly, truly thank you so much! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I truly appreciate everyone who participated in crowdfunding, and to each and every person who supported us in other ways throughout. Please accept this present, this gift of notes and sound.

Rie Taguchi

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “A Foggy Day”

Kanamori, a steady and constant sideman for jazz musicians both inside and outside Japan, built his skill and connections by playing nightly at local clubs around Tokyo in a wide variety of situations. Besides being a first-call bassist for local musicians, he also joins international tours with artists such as Eric Alexander, Vincent Herring, and others. With everlasting good humor and grinning stories, his positivity infuses his expert playing, propelling groups solidly with his deep and melodic bass notes.

The well-arranged album flows with vim and vigor, music devoted to satisfying listener as well as performer with a fine balance of five originals and three covers: Rogers & Hart’s “Little Girl Blue”, Tizol & Ellington’s “Caravan”, and Jobim’s “Luiza”. Kanamori’s originals also swing and surge on numbers like the opener “No Fool No Fun”, the thrillingly dramatic “幕開け (Open Curtains!)” and the manic “Metro Maniac”, which features a quintet with the addition of an alto sax and tenor sax front line. Wrapping things up softly with the album closer “Luiza”, Kanamori takes the spotlight in piano-bass duo format, where he adorns the melody with bowed strings in a liltingly romantic performance.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #7: “Metro Maniac”

Vocalist Joké purrs atop her jazz group with a confident grace, a breathy tank of soulful emotion and romance. Her solidly swinging jazz combos feature accomplished veteran musicians, with a different group performing for “Side A” and “Side B of the recording as if on a classic jazz vinyl LP.

The music is done right, with an honest, straight-ahead vision, swinging and sliding through jazz standards like “Cheek to Cheek”, “Fly Me To The Moon”, and “Caravan” with tender authenticity. Aside from jazz, a few bonus pop songs add to the variety with “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Still Crazy After All These Years.”

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Cheek To Cheek”

Active in many groups and collaborations, Kishi returns to the classic piano trio form on Life Is Too Great and leads a powerhouse jazz trio, showcasing talent and songwriting with new original tunes, with the ever-hardy, invigorating Ryoji Orihara on fretless bass and crisp rhythmic master Akira Yamada on drums.

From the swinging modern-jazz opener “DON PAPA”, the trio sparks a fire, and with such variety on the album highlights abound: the smooth fusion groove “Kin No Doto”, the darkly dramatic and tense “Madoka”, and the snappy up-beat samba “Palette” are all addictively ear-catching tunes. In addition, the album includes cleverly-arranged jazz on “I Have A Dream”, Sayaketts-style funky pop jazz on “Trip! or Tweet?”, and honestly sweet ballads on “Life Is Too Great” and “Dai Ni No Furosato”, a great album-closer full of emotion and charm.

In addition to her eight original offerings, three cover songs are included: Chick Corea’s “La Fiesta”, Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence”, and the jazz standard “Guilty”, performed as a dreamy piano solo.

On Life Is Too Great, Kishi’s tunes and performances are great and full of life, prismatic and memorable, befitting this polished modern jazz trio.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “DON PAPA”

Her sultry voice seems to crack smiles and reminisce on old times as she dips and sways through the music. Popular standards such as “I Wish You Love” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” convey her cheerful energy, hearkening back at times to a type of Las Vegas showroom jazz. Her bright charm describes a sparkling smile, perhaps even a tipsy grin as she gracefully sings the notes.

The album features delightful arrangements by Seiji Endo along with Taguchi’s pop-oriented originals. The music starts in full swing with a riveting “The Lady is a Tramp”, and finishes up the set with a warm “Close to You” followed by the vocalist quietly playing piano and singing her song “Voices”.

Audio and Video

• Television broadcast of Rie Taguchi singing in Tokyo:

• Excerpt from track #1: “The Lady Is A Tramp”