Most of the song titles are in Japanese, and language-attuned readers may notice that several of the songs end in the character 川 (kawa), meaning river. Kurita has a habit of naming songs after rivers in Japan, and her recent album SOLO 5 (2023) even features a complete tracklist of ten songs named after rivers. Her profile explains, “I like crossing rivers. I like composing and I’m not good at coming up with song titles, so I often use the names of rivers as titles.” One of the songs from SOLO 5, “Karaborigawa”, is also included on this album. Like rivers, her music can flow and weave, smoothly drifting or rushing along depending on the environment. Here the environment is an unpredictable live setting with the banks, shapes, wind, and silt of Sotoyama’s rhythms.

On Duo, Kurita and Sotoyama perform together in a fun and flexible way. Here, the roles are generally such that the pianist sets up the musical and rhythmic framework using a foundation of bass lines, chords, and melodies tied to her original compositions. Activated by her lead, Sotoyama’s drums impishly strike and clatter, following or pushing the pulse elastically, stopping on a dime, and restarting on a whim. If this sounds like a familiar style, last week’s Melodies: Melodies also featured Sotoyama’s creative drumming style.

Now, on to the music itself. The album begins with track #1 “Hand of Time”, a fanciful rumbling experiment that quickly settles into melodic tumbles at a steady rhythm. Next, #2 “Heso” (navel) is a jovial winding and blur. #3 “Kumagawa” (the first river song on Duo) is splashing piano and risk-taking drums skirting the edges. #4 “Karaborigawa” (the second river song) is a delicate piano construction with spurring drum punctuations. #5 “Gyoraisen Game” (Torpedo Boat Game, a retro board game along the lines of Battleship and bowling) is mid-to-uptempo bouncing improvisation.

Track #6 “Mukashibanashi” (old folk tale) is a swinging clave-like piano groove with drums playing all around it. #7 “Tenryuugawa” (the third river song) is movement all over, wild striking and settling into a blissful groove. #8 “Jun” assembles from wavering rumbles into one of the catchiest songs on the album (there is also a great solo piano version of this song on Kurita’s Ko-tsu-ko-tsu from 2012). #9 “Changement F” is a bouncy march where the up-and-down piano notes are offset by Sotoyama’s particularly playful drum splatters, coloring outside of the lines with wide dynamics and time. Lastly, #10 “Kyou no Sabi, Ashita no Tabi” (Today’s Solitude/Loneliness, Tomorrow’s Journey) is hummably lighthearted, slightly bluesy with a simple beauty.

Audio and Video

• Live video for “Gyoraisen Game”, track #5 on this album (live in 2021 at Sweet Rain):

• Live excerpts from #8 “Jun” and other songs from a live streaming concert at Velvet Sun in 2020:

• Live video from a 2016 performance at Jazz Cafe Chigusa:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Hand Of Time”

This four-member group consists of Ichino on guitar and baritone guitar, Kenta Tsugami on alto saxophone, Minyen Hsieh on tenor saxophone, and Akira Sotoyama on drums. As this quartet has no bass player, they form a subtly floating, bass-less group sound. Yet Ichino’s guitar work fills up the space nicely, especially when he subs in baritone guitar. All of the songs on Melodies were written by Ichino, and the album was recorded at a live performance at Velvet Sun in Tokyo on June 24, 2024.

The eight songs on Melodies share a front-to-back sonorous quality built on Ichino’s signature electric guitar sound. It’s warm, mellow, and suffused with undistracting effects with a warble that is more felt than heard. It’s a very effective tone that, combined with Ichino’s melodious presence, works so well with the type of songwriting he produces.

With guitar and drums proving the framework for the music, out front, the two saxes split and coil, fork and unite, like tendrils rising from harmonies and rhythms. Much of the time, Ichino’s chordal movements and arpeggiated riffs set the scene, and his rhythm section partner Akira Sotoyama provides an incredibly interesting mix of solid rhythmic reinforcement and off-the-grid ornamentation on drums. Sotoyama leaves the strongest time pulses and placement to the guitarist, knowing when to reinforce Ichino’s pulse by joining in with accents, and when to let go and contrast with the guitar framework with a bass drum thud, a splash of cymbal, or a stagger on a tom drum and anything else within striking distance. The calm seas of guitar and frisson of drums combine, swelling and swaying like waves in a meditative rhythmic dance. Then, the two saxes dip and jump in acrobatic orientation, one moment together and another apart, twining and alive on the written melodies and individual improvisations.

A brief overview of the album flow: Opening track #1 “Conversation and Confession” is dreamy, ambient and catchy. #2 “First Dance” is a solid pretty waltz. #3 “Peace” is rumbling free group improv with rising tension leading to a great Ornette-style group statement at the end. #4 “Elephant Ride” is serious, exploratory and moody, an album highlight.

Track #5 “Spring” has the muted hopefulness of a timid flower blossoming slowly, wide-open and bright. #6 “Solid/Liquid” is another highlight with repeated chordal statements and cycles that transform into reversed echoes, sci-fi signals, and an ascending melodic liftoff. #7 “Tiny Little Waltz” is all flexible, hummable, dreamlike blurs and innocent smiles. Finally, the cute melodies repeated in #8 “Nice People” are a cheerful farewell, moderated, patient, and kind.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video with an excerpt from “Solid/Liquid”, track #6 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Conversation and Confession”

Links

• Album information

• Motohiko Ichino store link for this album

• Streaming services for this album