This album was recorded at Virtuoso on the night of October 1, 2020. Fe is made up of guitarist Yuta Ikedo on guitar, Ko Omura on drums, Keisuke Furuki on bass, and Shinobu Ishizaki on saxophone. Guitarist Ikedo and drummer Omura are co-leaders of this group and also two-thirds of a different trio called “Atman”. These two musicians have a long history of playing together with a friendly and close relationship that can be summed up by the quartet’s name, “Fe”, which originated from a humorous accident. As Ikedo was typing up some information about the group, the intended “ds” (for drums) became “fe” due to quick fingers and an incorrect alignment on the keyboard. The typo amused the group and stuck as the trio’s name. Omura’s liner notes also playful improvise on “f” and “e”:

Fundamental elements are forever evolving, foreseeing equal fractals extracted from each feasible experience.

Furthermore, eloquence is finite, enveloping filtered eons fabricated eternally or forever.

Finding existence fatigues energy, feeling exhalation for ectstastic flow.

For each face, ephemeral factors exists, forever engaging fond experiences.

The songs on Live at Asakusa are original compositions by co-leaders Ikedo and Omura, with Ikedo contributing five songs and Omura two. Along with their individual solos, Fe’s music also features guitar and sax pairing up on some melody lines. It’s a doubled jazz sound that works so well in a live setting with the attention-grabbing duality of the sharp blade of Ishizaki’s sax and the warm glow of Ikedo’s guitar. Some of the improvisational highlights also feature Ikedo and saxophonist Ishizaki trading ideas and solos back and forth in ad-libbed, engaging conversations.

#1 “Invisible Essence” (Ikedo) is energetic and bright (the audio for this track is available in the live recorded video included below). #2 “Flow of the Circumference” (Ikedo) leans towards a lush fusion sound through an adventurous circuit. #3 “Sheepwash” (Omura) is comfortably warm, memorable, and unique. #4 “Flux” (Ikedo) has irresistible angles with openness and a drum solo by Omura over a final vamp. #5 “Ebb and Flow” (Omura) sways sweetly like a hammock nap on a ship at sea before threatening waves appear with Ishizaki’s roiling sax. The subtle asymmetry of #6 “GMM” (Ikedo) constructs a fascinating portrait dedicated to Ikedo’s grandmother Misao-san and serves as the perfect magnum opus of the album, along with the initially placid but increasingly intense scenes of #7 “Irreversible” (Ikedo), a song inspired by the harrowing Gaspar Noé movie.

Audio and Video

• Video of the live recording of “Invisible Essence”, track #1 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #3: “Sheepwash”

Fun and catchy but with a serious musical depth, the music covers both cool and bittersweet moods, at times evoking influences from Robert Glasper’s style of gospel-inspired hip-hop jazz. Kumagai’s songwriting skill and precision playing make for a high-quality J Jazz album, full of soul and passion rooted in authentic jazz with ultra-modern sharpness.

Kumagai’s original songs fill the album, along with a cover of the R&B song “I Wanna Know” and a reworked version of Sonny Rollins’s “St. Thomas”, built on an extended tease vamp breaking into high-intensity jazz changes. Most of the songs feature the piano trio, with guest players including alto sax on two tracks, trumpet on one, and a duo track featuring piano with a talented beatbox vocalist as well.

Liner Notes

(A translation of Tabu Zombie’s original Japanese liner notes.)

Yasumasa Kumagai. I first heard his name about one year ago.

It was a name that I had often heard spoken around. After about a year passed, I heard him for the first time, playing live at a jazz club that I happened to drop by. I suddenly understood at that time what people had been talking about. His sensitive style and tuneful melodies flowed naturally to my ears.

After a while, I heard that a friend of mine was going to release Kumagai’s CD on his own label, so I begged him to let me be involved in some way. This was how I came to fill the role of producer for this project.

When creating this work and reaching the stage where I listened to the demo, his vision was complete, and he knew clearly the best direction to go at any point. What surprised me most was his good taste in the songs that he wrote. There’s a melodious delicacy that may be hard to imagine from appearances. In this day and age, players who are blessed with a balance of good playing ability and musical sense are extremely valuable.

The type of jazz that evolved in Japan’s mixture culture has again been subdivided, segmented, and continues to change. Kumagai skillfully absorbs and accumulates various genres of music and expresses them in a wonderful way. With this recording as an impetus, definitely keep an eye on Yasumasa Kumagai.

Tabu Zombie (SOIL & “PIMP” SESSIONS)

Audio and Video

• Yasumasa Kumagai Trio playing “Bolivia” live in 2017:

• Excerpt from track #2: “iI Need achange,too”