Among the selections, the Sato and Nakajima duo plays two songs from the Great American Songbook, the sweetly loveable #1 “Young at Heart” and the pretty ballad #6 “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face”. These two songs, along with the tender tribute ballad #3 “I Remember Clifford”, are played at a slow pace, and the two musicians play with a feeling of comfortable relaxation that sinks in easily. Three other popular jazz standards played as a duo are #2 “The Dolphin”, #4 “Stablemates”, and #5 “Invitation”, where Sato and Nakajima moderately turn up the gas and tempos with more advanced changes and adventurous playing.

The final two songs are Japanese pop ballads from different long-ago eras. Track #7 “Itoshi no Ellie (Ellie, My Love)”, is a classic love ballad released in 1979 by the popular Japanese supergroup Southern All Stars (video). Here on Longing, Ema and Nakajima introduce the song in a nice-and-bluesy rubato style as the singer melodically storytells in English and adds some Japanese in the second half, where Sato brings in a rousing sax solo.

Track #8 “Soshu Yakyoku” (“Suzhou Nocturne”, 素週夜曲, video 1, video 2) was written by the innovative composer Ryoichi Hattori in 1940 for a movie set in the ancient Chinese city of Suzhou. It has the feel of a sentimental ballad from a different generation, fitting the Shangai Jazz Age mood in this “Paris of the East”, and the song’s softly moving harmonies, pentatonic scale notes, and structure romantically evoke a bygone Asian era. On Longing, Ema sings the song entirely in Japanese, and the musicians play with a melancholic feel that is suitably dusky (yakyoku as nocturne, night song) and lovingly nostalgic.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes.)

PROLOGUE

About founding the Pochizou label

The “Pochizou” name was born when I began uploading videos as an art teacher/Youtuber for my students while my school was closed during the Covid pandemic.

I first met Sato and Nakajima in 2019 at the jazz bar Coquelicot in Funabashi, just before the coronavirus turmoil heated up. I was the only customer, but I can still vividly remember the impact of hearing their live jazz performance for the first time. I said at the time, not jokingly, “I wish everyone in the world could hear this!” The dark period of Covid continued for the next three years, during which these musicians would still regularly come out to Funabashi to play. Ema joined them later, increasing their impact which resulted in an even more wonderful performance. At the end of 2022, as my teaching career was winding down, I boldly confided my thoughts about making an album to the three musicians, and they readily agreed. That is how this album was born.

I would like to thank everyone who was involved in the making of this album. I hope that this label can make progress in supporting those involved in Japanese music.

Sexagenarian Youtuber “Pouchizou Sensei”

MUSICIAN PROFILE

YOSUKE SATO

Yosuke Sato moved to the US in 2008 and started playing in New York. He won Grammy Awards in 2013 and 2016 as a member of singer Gregory Porter’s band. He has received high acclaim as a jazz saxophonist and has participated in hundreds of jazz festivals up through the current day. Sato departed the band in 2015 and moved his base to Japan to pursue his music, actively participating in musical events domestically and abroad.

GEORGE NAKAJIMA

George Nakajima was born in 1981 in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture. He studied jazz piano under Masayasu Tzuboguchi at Shobi University. He has released two albums as the duo Shinpei Ruike & George Nakajima, N.40° and Duo. His first leader album, First Touch, was released in April 2021. Nakajima has participated in overseas performances in the Republic of Slovenia, China, and elsewhere, and is active in many groups and his combos both inside and outside Japan.

EMA

From an early age, Ema has appeared in musicals and dramas, learning the joy and importance of expression while encountering various musical genres. She started with a single-song demo tape and continued under the guidance of producer Tomoaki Ogura to release her debut record with Sony Music Ariola Japan and perform at the Blue Note Jazz Festival. In recent years Ema has starred in musicals and expanded her range into genreless activities.

Audio and Video

• Live duo performance of “The Dolphin”, track #2 on this album:

• Live trio performance of “Peel Me a Grape”:

• Live trio performance of “Our Love Is Here to Stay”:

• Live duo performance of “There Will Never Be Another You”:

• Live duo performance of “Body and Soul”:

• Excerpt from track #4: “Stablemates”

Like their previous release N.40° (a reference to their mutual hometown of Hachinohe), the music on Duo is atmospheric, moody, and mostly dark. The sound of Ruike’s trumpet is extremely evocative and textured. Like colors from a paint pallet, he mixes tones from husky to muted to bell-clear as his inspiration unfolds. Layers of emotion surface and mingle in his trumpet sound, as captivating as an audible patina cultivated through age and exposure like the surface of a brass horn.

Perhaps influenced by their bonded background, the flow and time sensitivity between Ruike and pianist Nakajima seems innately linked. The two musicians have a sense of how to slightly stretch and subtly bend time as they play, yet they lock into rhythms naturally, without falling off the tracks.

Duo is overall a melancholy affair, with most songs taken at a slow and serious pace. This is an album that sets a scene of deep contemplation for a listener, whether they are fully absorbing the music or setting it as an unobtrusive aural backdrop. If this music were interpreted as love songs, it would be love laced with pain, as loneliness, longing, or memories keep a vulnerable flame of hope alight and protected.

With eleven tracks running for about an hour, the majority of songs are interpreted covers of music from artists including Paul Motion (“Blue Midnight”), Miles Davis (a free-range “Bye Bye Blackbird”), Duke Ellington (“In A Sentimental Mood”), and Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Luiza”). Personal highlights include the beautiful and slightly painful “Amarilla Flor” from Luis Alberto Spinetta and the pushed-through-the-horn, breathy sound on “Plus for que nous”, a song on Duo that most strongly evokes the expertly controlled tone and feel of Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko.

Also included are three wonderful originals from Ruike: the boiling cauldron of “Ambargris”, the pretty, fresh feelings in “Dear”, and the haunting and desolate “Vida”.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes visible in the photo above.)

It seems like the relative size of humans to viruses is about the same as the earth compared to humans. And yet, while humans and viruses are insignificant and extremely small, nevertheless they can cause great damage to the environments in which they live. In this way, truly negligible differences can be made in the world by such tiny human beings, especially those who make a living through self-expression. However, living through the situation in the last few years where there were so few live performances and opportunities, there was plenty of time to strongly feel the importance and necessity of preserving recorded works. I don’t know if I can contribute anything, but I believe that this recording can serve as proof that somehow we were able to survive through these conditions. I’m so happy that we can leave this irreplaceable record that was made together with friends from my hometown, everyone from the recording engineer to the jacket designer. Thank you to everyone who was involved.

Shinpei Ruike

Audio and Video

• Live recording of “Suiren”, track #10 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #4: “Plus fort que nous”

Joining the pianist are Nakajima’s long-time musical partners Yoshida Yutaka on bass and Masanori Ando on drums, a trio with a locked-in feeling created through years of performing together in Japan’s live scene.

Perhaps unexpectedly trepidatious for a debut album, Nakajima bucks the natural impulse to open with a high-energy song and starts with the very lovely ballad “But Beautiful”. This patient approach seems to subtly invite the listener to tune in gradually and focus their attention at one’s own pace.

In fact, slow ballads are chosen for the opening, middle (Ellington’s “Prelude to a Kiss”), and ending songs, establishing a gentle and moderated baseline for the album as a whole. These anchor points set up a reassuring center of gravity with a throughline of unhurried piano and bass notes supported by soft drums brushes, a very enjoyable relaxed jazz trio in a quiet mood. Burt Bacharach’s masterful tune “A House Is Not a Home” closes the album and is an especially impressive highlight, expertly played with finesse and respect.

In between the ballads, the songs lift from this foundation with the uptempo bop of “Relaxin’ at Camarillo” and the jangly playful “Evidence”. Similarly, the exoticism of “Nardis”, a song often associated with Bill Evans’ melodic trio, is performed here in a slightly slower, otherworldly setting. Alongside these jazz standard tunes, Nakajima’s original composition “First Touch” complements the setlist with its simple heartbeat melodic motif with comfortable waltz-time ease.

With a respectful length and a perfect song selection honoring great jazz musicians, George Nakajima’s First Touch leaves a heartwarming impression with its modest yet stimulating approach, a compelling initial statement that tempts with future possibilities for sharing his gratifying music.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes written by George Nakajima.)

Thank you very much for listening to my first album “First Touch”.

I’ve been working with the wonderful and dedicated trio members Yoshida Yutaka and Masanori Ando for the last eight and a half years, all the while thinking about making a CD. Somehow the days passed, but the timing was never right.

At some point, I received a call from jazz pianist and CEO of Own Wing Records Yuichiro Aratake, and this resulted in my recording this album.

Needless to say, releasing a jazz CD requires a lot of courage, so I felt like recording in the pattern of our regular live shows among the background of our ongoing live efforts.

I hope that you enjoy these sounds, notes that were only produced once and at that time.

As for “First Touch”, this is my only recorded original song.

In soccer, the term first touch refers to the moment when a player first touches the ball.

I don’t usually write originals, but this is a song that resulted when I challenged myself to write a composition a few years ago.

I tried to write a simple form using various feelings from the time to create a fresh feeling.

As the world is still unsettled due to corona, I continue to pray for a steady resolution, and I sincerely hope that this CD can be delivered throughout the country as soon as possible.

2021.4 George Nakajima

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #3: “First touch”

The album contains 16 songs, an engaging mix of standards and original tunes. Seven shorter solo improvisations (1-2 minutes apiece) of piano or trumpet are found among the fuller, composed songs, providing interesting breaks of splashy free expression to the overall album experience.

Nakajima’s skillful piano provides the cool rhythmic and harmonic underpinning with a sensitive, fun touch, while Ruike’s mysterious and breathy trumpet calls to mind the famous Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko at times with its skillfully edgy and elastic sounds.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Nearness of you”