This debut album from NHORHM was released in 2015 and rereleased/remastered in 2024 when the first run was sold out, and both new listeners and fans who originally missed out were clamoring for copies. The album contains ten tracks, nine cover songs and one original by pianist Nishiyama. All arrangements are by Nishiyama, and this is not something to take lightly; the whole project hinges on the idea of a jazz piano trio covering heavy metal tunes, and the success of the endeavor relies a lot on bridging the gap between those distinct sounds, styles, and instrumentation, and on making the music appealing, listenable, and great, despite the obvious novelty aspect that may precede the experience. Yet, never fear, Nishiyama took the challenge seriously and put a lot of work into this project.

Although both jazz fans and metal fans may look on this type of crossover hybrid with understandable suspicion (both audiences appreciate musical purity and authenticity, or genuineness, in their respective forms), it’s a homerun from the trio, as the reinterpreted songs exist in a new dimension or sub-genre.

Based on just the sound of the music, and the piano-bass-drums trio sound that is common in modern jazz, NHORHM certainly has more of a jazz sound than a metal one. There are no distorted guitars, no double-bass kick drums, no ear-splitting cymbal crashes or hyperspeed electric solos.

But the material on New Heritage of Real Heavy Metal is all drawn from the heavy metal canon. The trio plays Nishiyama’s modified versions (reharmonized, restructured, re-instrumented) of original songs by the bands U.K., Pantera, Rainbow, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Angra, Babymetal, Deep Purple, and Mr. Big.

Being jazz, the solos are also improvised in the jazz style, not run-throughs of the original works. These songs are not covers in the sense that they aim to replicate or reproduce the original songs, structures, and guitar solos present in the original recordings.

Nishiyama also includes one of her own compositions, “The Halfway to Babylon”, setting up a story that will be continued on the follow-up II and III albums.

While all ten of the songs feature the trio, three of the ten also feature guest musicians. Vocalist Tomomi Oda sings on #4 “Skin O’ My Teeth (Megadeth)”, guitarist Takayoshi Baba plays on #5 “Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden)”, and trumpeter Hikari Ichihara plays on #8 “Demon’s Eye (Deep Purple)”.

The translated liner notes (further below) go into the song selections, so here is just a brief overview of the flow of the album.

Track #1, “In the Dead of Night” (from the band U.K.’s 1978 debut album) is progressive uptempo, getting slightly aggressive with power(-ish) chords, dynamic drums, and silky fretless electric bass dexterously covering the heavy metal guitar duties.

Track #2 “Walk” (Pantera, Vulgar Display of Power, 1992) is medium-heavy and dark, with powerful riffs, deadly serious drumming, and an attitude and sound close to the original song.

Track #3 “Man on the Silver Mountain” (Rainbow, Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow, 1975, with Ronnie James Dio on vocals) is a highlight of odd-meter, fantasy escapist metal, a more significant reinterpretation of the original hard rock beat.

Track #4 “Skin O’ My Teeth” (Megadeth, Countdown to Extinction, 1992) is another highlight for its close-to-the-bone edge and faithfulness to the original song, even with vocalist Tomomi Oda covering Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine role. It’s fun, uptempo 4/4 with some extra twists and reharmonizations, and, like the original, a relatively short song. The source Megadeth version also features a guitar solo from Marty Friedman, who contributed a blurb for this album along with some other famous metalers. This track may be the cleanest onramp for diehard metalheads, with the song’s catchy rhythms and riffs present in NHORHM’s version, not to mention the female vocals that are a perfect fit.

Track #5 “Fear of the Dark” (Iron Maiden, Fear of the Dark, 1992) is reformed as a slow-to-medium 4/4 ballad, starting softly with piano and acoustic guitar, then getting into a rock beat and changing meters for emotional impact. There’s an anthemic (Iron Maiden music perfect for this) yet meditative feel, and this song fills the important role of the sole ballad on an otherwise in-your-face heavy metal jazz album.

Track #6 “Upper Levels” (Angra, Secret Garden, 2014) is exciting, full of irregular signatures and complex moving lines and quick changes. It’s virtuosic, fulfilling the role that this song was chosen for. Their prog metal sounds are melodic with intricate licks, patterns, and different sections linked together. It summons the sounds of bands like Fates Warning, Dream Theater, and Queensrÿche, groups that blend classical, power, and progressive influences. This must be attractive for Nishiyama, who is often said to incorporate these styles and European music into her compositions and playing style.

Track #7 “Akumu no Rinbukyoku” [悪夢の輪舞曲, Rhondo of Nightmare] (Babymetal’s debut album, 2014) is quieter, lighter, and delicate, while still being a whirlpool of jazzy depth. The interesting band Babymetal invented the Japanese subgenre of “kawaii metal” (cute metal) by combining the sounds, power, and technique of heavy metal with the image of J-Pop vocals, theatrics, and culture. This medium 3/4 tune stands out as a highlight of the more straightforwardly modern jazz piano trio sounds on this album, and fits very well with Nishiyama’s personal style.

Track #8 “Demon’s Eye” (Deep Purple’s Fireball, 1971) is a bluesy and swingy hard-rock shuffle, and another song leaning towards the traditional jazz sound complete with walking bass and ad-libbed solos. It’s distinct on the album for a jazz stage centerpiece, especially with Hikari Ichihara’s essential trumpet tone and gut-pulling improvisation sharing the spotlight.

Track #9 “The Halfway to Babylon” is Nishiyama’s original composition, with a “Caravan”-like exoticism, darkness, and suspense combined with a “Parallax”-type sound (another of Nishiyama’s bands).

Track #10 “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind” (Mr. Big, Lean Into It, 1991) is all fun and groove, with extra tones delivered by guest saxophonist Hashizume. There’s the feel of a power pop/prog song, but also with glances of hair metal (as Mr. Big was included in, fairly or not) from the ‘90s. The mood is happy and infectious, and this tune serves as a great wrap-up, balancing the power and grit of the album as a whole by locking into the good times and disappearing in a volume fade-out.

Much more is described in the liner notes, translated below. From Nishiyama’s NHORHM song selection process and preparations (and going to see some of these bands live as a fan for the full experience), to her careful reformatting, rewriting, and rearranging, a lot of effort and energy was devoted to this. It resulted in a finely imagined and perfected product through NHORHM’s fantastic performances and the final recording. There are even extended notes on Nishiyama’s blog that go into further detail. It all goes to show how seriously Nishiyama, Orihara, and Hashimoto took this project. It may have seemed like just a quirky whim at first, not only to Nishiyama and the project director, but even to listeners who glance skeptically as such a monstrous hybrid, or rather, a musical experiment. Nishiyama puts a lot of thought and work into her projects, into her playing, composing, releasing new albums, and communicating her thoughts, and the fans rejoice, whether jazz or metal or both or other.

What is NWOBHM?

Although I was a mildly rebellious kid in America who was heavily into ‘80s metal and “The Big Four” Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax, the abbreviation NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) was not one I remember being familiar with. As far as those bands from overseas, I knew the obvious gods Iron Maiden (whom I also adored), and the British and European legends that would show up in videos on Headbangers Ball or through offers from Columbia Record Club: Motorhead, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Diamond Head (who was specifically raised to my consciousness by Metallica’s cover of their song “Am I Evil” on The $5.98 E.P.—Garage Days Re-Revisited)… And this is even glossing over the likely more influential ‘70s with groundbreaking bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Ozzy (and “Iron Man” is later covered by NHORHM on New Heritage of Real Heavy Metal II…), Deep Purple, UFO, Budgie, Queen, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, and on and on). In general, I didn’t distinguish too much between many American and overseas bands at the time, and this may have been why categories like NWOBHM passed me by. Apparently however, the youthful, raw, and energetic DIY influence of this New Wave (of British Heavy Metal) was definitely strongly felt in Europe, the Americas, and Japan—whether the abbreviation was prevalent as a category term or not—where the above-mentioned bands would sell out large arenas and influence Japanese metal bands like X Japan, Loudness, Bow Wow, and Ningen Isu.

There is some controversy and debate over whether the NWOBHM label is a legitimate label or merely a marketing term coined by a journalist in order to categorize bands and boost magazine sales. Still, the grassroots energy and group affinity this movement started is undeniable, musically and culturally, and what may have started as marketing eventually became useful as a shorthand and a cultural identity for the music fans and the bands themselves, not to mention a historical touchstone.

Enough of the history, and back to this NHORHM album.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the booklet quotes and Hitomi Nishiyama’s original Japanese liner notes.)

I made my debut in 2006 with “Cubium”, a recording made in Sweden and released on the Spice of Life label under the umbrella of the company Amuse, and have since released 13 more albums.

From time to time in various jazz magazine interviews and liner notes, I’ve touched upon the fact that, in high school, I was a fan of Yngwie Malmsteen.

I had been diligently studying piano up until the second year of high school, and then one day, something suddenly snapped, and I stopped playing piano completely for one year. During that time, the thing I was totally fixated on was metal.

I had a lot of friends who were in bands, so I developed an interest in the music that they were listening to and trying so hard to copy. When I heard it, it was tremendously interesting. I joined in on the listening and became absorbed in the music. In particular, by the album The Seventh Sign by Yngwie Malmsteen. I listened to it like crazy.

When I decided to record my debut album in Sweden, the first thing that I thought of was that it was Yngwie’s country.

Probably as a reaction to classical piano, I discovered the joy of the guitar. During the time that I was focused on Yngwie, I also listened a lot to others: Steve Vai, Dream Theater, Stratovarius, Mr. Big, and others. Going down this path, I also listened to a lot of Deep Purple and Rainbow. After that, when I entered the jazz department of a music college, I became so immersed in jazz that I ended up not listening to metal.

The idea for this project started from a conversation I had with Jun Abe, this album’s director, about making an album of covers of current animation songs.

As Abe and I were chatting, I mentioned that as far as animation song covers went, I liked the cool Animetal USA the best [Animetal USA is an American heavy metal group that plays animation covers in a heavy metal style, and is a tribute band to the original Japanese band Animetal]. About thirty minutes later, Abe said, “Going back to what we were talking about, I wonder if, in the opposite direction, you can cover metal songs with jazz?” I immediately thought, “I want to do that!” And so this project began.

In fact, for years I had been thinking that I’d like to cover the song “In the Dead of the Night” by U.K. with my band Parallax. This song, more progressive rock than metal, is one that I first heard on Yngwie’s album “Inspiration.” When I actually went and heard it live at a Yngwie concert, this cool song made the biggest impression on me. Plus, it was the first song we worked on with my first cover band, and for that reason, in addition to my memories of metal, it’s an extremely important song in my musical life.

Initially, Abe and I talked about how many jazz musicians have previously done songs by bands like Led Zeppelin and Frank Zappa, and how there is an affinity between jazz and the progressive side of things. Could we do something that had not been played much in jazz up until now?

As it worked out, I hadn’t really been into Led Zeppelin or Frank Zappa during my high school days. I was just listening to metal, and mainly Yngwie. Moreover, as an acoustic pianist and considering the instrument itself, there was absolutely no relation to the metal genre. With the thought that I might be able to create something interesting, I started to work on this project.

For the song selection, only the previously mentioned “In the Dead of the Night” was decided upon. For the rest, I re-listened to all of the metal CDs I had at home starting in January of this year, and I added some new ones. I selected the songs from listening to a grand total of about 100 albums.

I truly wanted to capture the spirit of that era of the early 1990s, and of those who started bands then and aspired to play metal. Most of the people in bands at that time must have played songs by Mr. Big, Megadeth, and Pantera, which I thought were essential to include.

In addition, I had to pin down some metal classics representing the kind of historical standards of that era, from groups like Rainbow and Deep Purple.

Then, as I was looking into various things after the project started, I bought an album by Babymetal that piqued my interest. It was so intense that I got completely hooked on it and promptly came up with a cover version. On a related note, producers will often tell artists to be sure to include one recent popular song in order to increase sales, which the artist ends up covering dispassionately. In this case, though, I chose to include Babymetal of my own volition. To be honest, at first I thought of them as a novelty idol group, but they are a truly wonderful project that is reshaping the course of the history of metal, and I’m a big fan. Director Abe had requested that I include one song tackling head-on the technical style of metal, so to that end, I decided to do a new song from Angra, a band I had re-listened to for this project and thought was interesting. I wanted to hear them live, too, so I went to listen to them on their Japanese tour. This was my first standing metal concert since seeing Ningen Isu [人間椅子] back in my college days, and I was worried whether I’d be able to handle it well physically, but it was very fun and I came away in high spirits. It was exactly what is meant by “They became what they were fighting against.”

I spent a lot of time on the song selection process. Something that was different from before was that I was listening not only from the perspective of a listener, but also as a player and a producer. When it comes to acoustic piano covers, instrument-wise, it’s impossible to imitate the essential metal qualities of “heavy, fast, strong.” Plus, the use of repetition to make the music stronger is somewhat at odds with the improvisational nature of jazz. So, I chose songs considering the song essentials—even if they didn’t have power chords, or guitar palm-mute chugging, or double-bass drums, or repetition—songs with strong melodies whose personalities definitely wouldn’t deteriorate, and songs that I could nevertheless arrange into my own music. And while it might sound smooth when it’s written out like that, in the end, these are just songs that I personally like. As a result, this selection includes a collection of songs from a wide range of generations, from Deep Purple to Babymetal, and I aimed to cover them from the standpoint of someone in their 30s as much as possible.

The trio’s members are all excellent players of the same generation and active at the forefront of the Japanese jazz scene. We all came through metal, of course, and at rehearsals we’d talk about those times, the songs we had listened to in common, and stories about those bands. It felt like we were high school students again.

With jazz, knowing how much and what to improvise according to the situation, and managing what happens on any particular day, you must maintain an extremely high degree of constant idling while in the midst of performing at live events almost every day. It can feel like living in a state of tension on a daily basis. Somehow, I had felt that the excitement and freshness of music was standing apart from myself. But when I began listening to metal again, I felt as if I were prostrating myself before its overwhelming power and perspective. A feeling of a “Wow, this is so cool, what is this!”-type of excitement returned. I had the sense that this stimulation, so critically important when starting out, had somehow become lacking in my daily musical life. But thanks to this project, my usual musical performance activities have become more distinctive as well, and I am deeply appreciative of this.

When putting together this album, there were songs we recorded but could not include, and other songs we wanted to record but already had too many. I’ve now already started fantasizing about the song selection for a second, follow-up album.

西山瞳 Hitomi Nishiyama

(These liner notes are from the time of the 2015 album release.)

Really Great approach to Angra’s song. The original metal version is very influenced by Latin Fusion, and it’s very cool to listen to it in this Latin jazz format. Excellent arrangement.

KIKO LOUREIRO (ANGRA/MEGADETH)

This is completely different from any metal cover album I’ve ever listened to…not to mention, jazz!

It exquisitely captures the parts familiar to fans of the originals and hard rock/heavy metal and transforms them beautifully into jazz.

This is a wonderful cover album that, in addition to making you realize the charms of jazz, also makes you want to listen to the original versions again.

Marty Friedman (guitarist)

All of the covers keep the original flavor while adding new melodies to the song themes, and it’s really fun, killer to listen to! Mr. Big’s “60’S MIND” is especially great!!! As a true metalhead, after listening to this “NHORHM”, I have the feeling that I’ll start getting addicted to jazz too!

大村孝佳 Takayoshi Ohmura (guitarist from C4, LIV MOON, BABYMETAL, etc.)

When I listen to NHORHM, I am surprised to hear that heavy metal can be so stylish! All of the arrangements are very nice. As a metalhead, I always thought that jazz musicians didn’t recognize metal as music, but in this case, I could feel their enthusiasm and respect for metal. And the melodicism of the accompaniment is even more interesting than the original songs!! Unbelievable! (laughs)

鈴木ヤスナリオ Yasunario Suzuki (Koenji Metal Meshi)

Extended Liner Notes

As an extension of the liner notes, Hitomi Nishiyama’s post on NHOHRM goes into more detail about this release. This page also contains links for Nishiyama’s track-by-track notes (links are in the 曲解説 section), with a few extra video links and behind-the-scenes photos of the recording. Some quick excerpts:

• #1 “In the Dead of the Night” - From the very first song, you might say, that’s not metal!…
• #2 “Walk” - Swing, groove, and timing in jazz and metal.
• #3 “Man on the Silver Mountain” - Yngwie, Rainbow, Dio, and impressions of this song.
• #4 “Skin O’ My Teeth” - Keeping true to the original, bridging the gap between jagged metal and the smooth sound of piano by using vocals.
• #5 “Fear of the Dark” - How Iron Maiden was one of Nishiyama’s first inspirations for songs for the album. Also explains the NHORHM initialism a bit, and how acoustic guitar over electric was chosen for this jazz/metal hybrid.
• #6 “Upper Levels” - About tackling the technical side head-on, and how producer/director Abe is not by nature a metal fan and left those decisions (song choices, etc) completely up to Nishiyama. Also, about Nishiyama’s love and respect for Angra’s album Temple of Shadows (2004).
• #7 “悪夢の輪舞曲” - Nishiyama’s exposure to new music and metal through MTV, and how heavy metal became uncool as new trends (grunge, alternative) took over. And how Babymetal links back to Amuse, a company under which she released her debut album.
• #8 “Demon’s Eye” - Including the hard rock roots of heavy metal to do heavy metal properly, and how the trumpet lends an immediate jazz tone to the music.
• #9 “The Halfway to Babylon” - Answering the question “Why did you include one song you composed yourself?” and a deep exploration of genres and open-mindedness.
• #10 “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind” - On the famous guitar-tapping intro, the fusion feel, the addition of sax, and the laugh-out-loud elements
• Member Q&A - Brief bios, influences, and recommendations from each member of NHORHM.

Obi Notes

Groundbreaking! A jazz pianist releases a cover album of famous heavy metal songs!!! Hitomi Nishiyama’s new project “NHORHM” begins! <Cover model: Lukino Fujisaki>

Audio and Video

• Promotional video with #1 “In the Dead of the Night (U.K.)”, #6 “Upper Levels (Angra)”, #7 “Akumu no Rinbukyoku (Babymetal)”, and #4 “Skin O’ My Teeth (Megadeth)”:

• “Walk (Pantera)” (track #2) — live version:

• “Man on the Silver Mountain (Rainbow)” (track #3) — live version:

• “Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden)” (track #5) — live version:

• “The Halfway to Babylon” (track #9) — live version:

• “Highway Star (Deep Purple)” (album outtake) — studio version:

• Excerpt from track #6: “Upper Levels”

Links

• NHORHM Information

• Hitomi Nishiyama’s post on NHOHRM (December 10, 2015)

The music on this album is straight-ahead jazz built on the familiar format of trumpet-sax-piano-bass-drums hard-bop quintets. The playing style has a modern jazz feel with a mix of swing beats and straight-eights that is rooted in an energetic, soulful style, the kind that fans of Jazz Messengers and similar classic Blue Note era albums will find immediately appealing.

Adding to the attraction is the group’s new material composed by the members of this band. This is solid contemporary jazz, modern with a base of expressive hard bop, exciting ad-libbing, and fun arrangements. Many songs are straightforward soloing showcases that swing with fun and energy, but there are also slower pieces and ballads where Ichihara’s mellow trumpet and flugelhorn lines especially shine. Despite having her name in the group, Ichihara is an equal partner, and above all, she is gracious about sharing the spotlight. Much of the time, she does not take the first solo slot, and even skips her turn on some tunes to let her partners take the lead, or uses her turn for trading interactions with saxophone or drums.

Ichihara’s six excellent compositions cover a great range from swinging good-feeling fun (#1 “Coati”, #2 “Dorje’s Life”, #6 “Brain Weather”, #9 “The Laughing Stock”) to delicately moody (#7 “SCHEMA”) and sinister (#4 “Doom”). Adding to the palette is a composition each from pianist Hideaki Hori (the beautifully atmospheric #3 “Oslo”), saxophonist Ryosuke Asai (the soaring #8 “Toki”), and bassist Kunpei Nakabaya, whose two-part suite #5 “Sink - Flow” is an evocative highlight on the album. The selection of these songs shows Ichihara’s range and her taste in shaping the mood and attitude of the project, all strengthened by the group’s well-put-together ensemble sound that was very attuned and responsive after touring together and honing their musical craft.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Hikari Ichihara’s original Japanese liner notes.)

1 Coati

Coati is another name for the animal called a “civet”. One night, there was a loud rumbling noise coming from the attic of the house where I live. I wondered if this was the “raccoon dog” civet that I’ve heard a lot about on talk shows recently, so I immediately called an extermination company to get a quote, which was a whopping 100,000 yen. Oh great, someone’s living in my house without permission and won’t leave unless I pay 100,000 yen… I was pretty dejected. I complained about this on the popular Twitter platform, and someone suggested the brilliant idea of writing a song called “Civet” in order to earn 10,000 yen in royalties. That’s why I wrote this song. Of course, “Civet” was too straightforward, so I chose a different title. In the end, the problem was revealed to be rats, and the bill was 40,000 yen… so that’s three more songs for me to write. For now, please check out “Coati”.

2 Dorje’s Life

I’m someone who pretty much reads one book every two days. I particularly like Kotaru Isaka and have read all of his published work. I tried to create a song to express how I view the world of Kotaru Isaka. Dorje is the name of a fantastic character that appears in the book Ahiru to Kamo no Koinrokka (The Foreign Duck, the Native Duck, and God in the Coin Locker).

3 Oslo

This is a number by a composer that I love, Hideaki Hori. It was written on February 2, 2010, the day before a duo gig that we had scheduled, and he seems to have had the sound of my flugelhorn in mind. I poured my heart and soul into this beautiful melody for the recording. I hope it can summon the scenery of Norway.

4 Doom

In these times, it feels as if our country Japan is facing difficulties in many areas. I strive to keep an awareness that our country is a responsibility of our generation, as we must try to make it better. I wrote this song from these feelings. Although this song was written before the great earthquake disaster, I would like to take this opportunity to honor the souls who perished in the calamity and to pray for a speedy recovery.

5 Sink - Flow

This is a number by bassist Kunpei Nakabayashi. It follows a suite form as two songs in one piece. Nakabayashi is a man of few words and does not explain much about his songs. It’s an honor for me to be able to include this very detailed and emotional piece of music on my album.

6 Brain Weather

Brain → 脳 (nou) / Weather → 天気 (tenki)/

It’s easy-going and carefree (能天気 noutenki). I attempted to write a song about my personality. Ahh, I hit upon a great title.

7 SCHEMA

Schema (organization of long-term memory): A module of information stored in long-term memory. It’s a term in clinical psychology that can be understood to represent fixed beliefs or assumptions. When I’m composing music, I often find myself wondering if I should write the hook or chorus in a certain way to increase the excitement. This is a 10-bar ballad that I wrote after clearing away those preconceptions.

8 Toki

This is a number by saxophonist Ryosuke Asai. This group performed this song once in Niigata, when Asai, a lover of large wild birds, was very excited because the Japanese crested ibis (朱鷺 toki) was released on that day. He said to the people then, “I promise to write a song called Toki by the time I return to Niigata”, and he has wonderfully fulfilled that promise. None of the band members has ever seen a crested ibis in flight, but we imagine it in our own way as we perform this song. It’s a masterpiece with a rich sense of scenery.

9 The Laughing Stock

Although the meaning is “an object of ridicule”, I played this song with all my heart and hope that you enjoy this album all the way to the end.

Thanks to your support, we were able to release our second album under the name “Hikari Ichihara Group”, recorded after many tours together. I want to thank the amazing members who stuck by me, the clumsy Hikari Ichihara, and I am deeply appreciative of the many live houses and owners who graciously invited us to perform, and to all the audiences who warmly gave applause. I want to thank all the staff at Pony Canyon who allow us to share our music, engineer Saka-san who records our music so realistically, designer Kitagawa-san who makes the album even better, and photographer Yoneya-san. And above all, I would love to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who listens to this album. I wish the best for you, today, and tomorrow, and with Unity by your side, nothing would make me happier.

Ichihara Hikari

Audio and Video

• Audio for “Coati”, track #1 on this album:

• Audio playlist for all tracks on this album

• Excerpt from track #9: “The Laughing Stock”

Ichihara’s group on this album is formed by drummer Lewis Nash, bassist Peter Washington, and pianist Adam Birnbaum. While the music is mostly played by the trumpeter’s quartet, the group expands with trumpeter Dominick Farinacci or sax player Grant Stewart stepping in to play with Ichihara on certain songs. Ichihara also switches between trumpet and flugelhorn for further variety in her playing and sound.

Beloved orthodox swing and bop tunes make up about half of the album, with songs like #1 “Cleopatra’s Dream” and #4 “It Could Happen to You”. These jazz pieces are perfect showcases for Ichihara’s naturally stylish and standout jazz improvisation, whether fronting her quartet or going up against her virtuoso horn teammates in quintets.

Adding to the locked-in swing beats and walking bass lines on standard tunes (a deep jazz pulse that is especially felt on #3 “Blue Prelude” and #7 “Golden Earrings”), are Ichihara’s own compositions #5 “I’ve Got It”, a funky rock groove, and #8 “Intro” a cheerful samba written to start her live shows with an impact.

Pop and soft rock also get special attention from Ichihara’s band, complementing the album’s melodic depth with the band’s expert expressive touches. The musicians play tenderly on #2 Sting’s “Fragile”, #9 Bacharach’s “Close To You”, and the unforgettable title track #7 “Sara Smile” by Hall & Oates. These three songs, with skillful arrangements worthy of the original composers’ songcraft, fit incredibly naturally with Ichihara’s mellow, authentic sound. Just as with the jazz tracks, these are captivating moments filled with soulful playing.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Shinya Takagi’s original Japanese liner notes.)

Introducing 23-year-old up-and-coming trumpeter Hikari Ichihara’s second album Sara Smile.

Her debut album Ichiban no Shiawase (August 2005) is a collection of original songs that showcased 22-year-old Hikari’s sensibilities through the sounds of Shigeru Suzuki (guitar) of Happy End and Hiroshi Sato (piano) of Hucklebuck, who led the Japanese pop scene.

This second album is Hikari’s first recording made in New York and is a minor masterpiece where she competes head-on with the local cream of the crop. Even so, it’s hard to believe this is her first “real jazz” album. Her storytelling-like performance is confident and amazing. By any measure, she is not just a superficial talent.

Hikari Ichihara was born in Tokyo on December 12, 1982. Her father is drummer Yasushi Ichihara and her mother is a wedding planner. She advanced straight through Seikei Elementary School, Seikei Junior High School, and Seikei High School.

She began classical trumpet upon entering junior high school, enjoying the playing of Wynton Marsalis (only hearing Marsalis’s classical playing at the time) and Sergei Nakariakov. Both are geniuses with superb technique, high musicianship, and simple beautiful performers.

Then, in her third year of junior high school, she was greatly influenced by hearing the trumpet playing of Eric Miyashiro, and she resolved to play jazz. She enrolled in the jazz course at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music and studied jazz trumpet under Hara Tomonao for four years.

In August 2004, she participated in the Waseda University High Society Orchestra and entered the 35th Yamano Big Band Jazz Concert, where she was awarded the Outstanding Soloist Award and made a great impact. She graduated from university in March 2005 and went straight into a professional music career.

Her favorite trumpeters are Till Brönner, Rick Braun, Chris Botti, and Dominic Farinacci, who participated on this album. She doesn’t seem to have an end-all, be-all idol, however.

This album was recorded in New York on June 24-25, 2006, and has gathered the best members. First of all, the rhythm section is made up of a group of battle-hardened veterans.

Bassist Peter Washington was born on August 28, 1964, and is 41 years old. In 1986, he was selected at the young age of 21 to play with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Drummer Lewis Nash was born on December 30, 1958, and is 47 years old. In 1985 he moved from Arizona to New York, where he worked under the renowned vocalist Betty Carter and raised his profile. Together, these two have played on over 3000 recordings.

The other three members are young and talented musicians who are attracting attention. Pianist Adam Birnbaum was born in 1979 and is 26 years old. He released his debut album Ballade Pour Adeline in February of this year. Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci was born in 1983 and is 23 years old. In 1999, he caught the eye of Wynton Marsalis at a clinic in his hometown of Ohio, which led to him performing with the Wynton Marsalis Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra the following year. At the age of 19 in 2003, he released his debut album Manhattan Dreams, quickly turning heads for a style based on traditional playing techniques.

Both Adam and Dominick, with the support of Wynton Marsalis, became graduates of the New York Juilliard School Jazz Studies Program that had just started in 2001.

Tenor saxophone player Grant Stewart was born in Canada on June 4, 1971, and is 35 years old. He moved to New York at the age of 19 to pursue jazz. As well as gaining popularity through his melodic playing style that could be called “singing tenor”, he’s also fired up by “Knockout! Eric Alexander”.

So then, on to listening to Hikari Ichihara playing New York jazz.

Track #1 [“Cleopatra’s Dream”] is Bud Powell’s most famous song. Up first is Grant’s tenor, dynamic playing reminiscent of Sonny Rollins. Next is Hikari’s wonderful trumpet bearing delicate nuances with subtle shadows, followed by a solo from Adam.

#2 [“Fragile”] is Sting’s iconic ballad. It’s a profound song expressing Sting’s anti-war and human rights wishes. Hikari thought that the flugelhorn would definitely match this song which she arranged with care and plays with emotion. Hikari’s solo begins, placed between short solos from Adam. She plays sensitively and makes full use of the mid-range of her instrument.

#3 [“Blue Prelude”] was a big hit song in 1933, sung by Bing Crosby. It sets a perfect late-night mood, just like Miles Davis’ version of “Round Midnight”. Hikari’s ‘pet and Dominick’s muted ‘pet face off. It’s a battle of beautiful bluesy melodies and a song that shows Hikari’s development.

#4 [“It Could Happen to You”] is a love song known from the music for the 1944 movie And the Angels Sing. It was included in Miles Davis’ Relaxin’, although Hikari did not know about that. Hikari’s flugelhorn solo is filled with exquisitely poetic playing and worth listening to.

#5 [“I’ve Got It”] is a stylish original by Hikari. She also has a talent for composing, and eight of the ten tracks on her debut record Ichiban no Swiawase were originals. (She composes songs on piano.) A bass solo from Peter Washington is also featured.

#6, “Sara Smile”, is a famous hit song from 1976 by Hall & Oates. Along with being the album title, it is also the album highlight. A fiery Hikari on flugelhorn mindfully goes head to head with Dominick on trumpet. The wonderful arrangement was written by Dominick. Let’s listen closely. The intro is by Hikari’s flugelhorn. The first statement of the theme starting at 23 seconds is Dominick’s ‘pet. The second statement (from 1:20) is Hikari, after which she starts her adlib solo. At 3:02, the two cross paths, and Dominick begins his solo at 3:10. Dominick continues on and plays the last theme statement (3:48). Hikari joins with an obbligato. The two continue to play simultaneously and chase one another as they head towards the ending. It’s a spectacular performance. Even with close listening, it can be difficult to tell who is Dominick and who is Hikari. This alone is surely more proof of Hikari’s tremendous growth.

#7 [“Golden Earrings”] is the theme song composed by the legendary Victor Young for the movie of the same name. This is the jazziest song on the album. Hikari takes care to play out the melody line with peak lyrical qualities. It’s a definitive tour-de-force together with and following the previous song. The beautiful single-tone line by Adam which follows is also excellent. The great solos from Hikari and Adam… this is jazz. Louis’s brushes and Peter’s bass also feel so good.

#8 [“Intro”] is an original samba by Hikari. She wrote this as the first song for a live performance about three years ago, and so it was named “Intro”. It’s a fun creation. Her father, Yasushi Ichihara, also recorded it as track #5 on his Love is Here to Stay / TRIO’ release from last July.

#9 [“Close to You”] is a Burt Bacharach song that Hikari knew of through The Carpenters. She sings out loudly and bright.

Going to New York seems to have been an opportune time for Hikari’s growth. This record is also a document of the big step forward taken by Hikari, bringing along a sense of vigor with it.

On the day before the recording (June 23rd), Hikari went to Roth’s to listen to Satoshi Inoue’s show. She also joined in and played about five songs, and the New York audience was delighted. Lewis Nash, with whom she played alongside that night, praised her and said “How old is she? She’s [already] great and amazingly talented.”

On the night of the first day of recording (June 24th), she went to listen to Wynton Marsalis. Backstage, forty minutes before showtime, Wynton asked her, “Play a little something”. She played boldly. Uttering just a few words, Wynton said “Your sound is good!” and smiled. It was in a small room for just a short time, but an extraordinary lesson began. Hikari also smiled. And she began to feel an intense desire to live in New York. She began to feel a strong desire to study in New York.

Hikari’s jazz journey has just begun. We look forward to what will come.

(2006/7/16 高木信哉 [Shinya Takagi])

Audio and Video

• Audio for “Cleopatra’s Dream”, track #1 on this album:

• Audio for “Golden Earrings”, track #7 on this album:

• Audio for “Close to You”, track #9 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #6: “Sara Smile”

The quintet consists of strong, like-minded players who play with a polished yet intimate feeling, creating a solid framework for the improvisers to gracefully leap and flow over. Ichihara’s trumpet solos consistently capture attention, full of impressive decorative swoops and turns, loaded with dramatic soul and a beautifully fluid and organic sound.

Closing brilliantly with pianist Hideaki Hori’s upbeat composition “Inspiration”, this album’s positive energy and satisfying sound will surely have listeners inspired to listen again, and to move on to explore more of Hikari Ichihara’s music as well.

Audio and Video

• Video of Hikari Ichihara playing “Can You Repeat the Past” from the 2014 album “Dear Gatsby”:

• Excerpt from track #1: “やみくろ (Dark Black)”