The seven songs included on this album are modern sounding with straight-beat and brushed swing feels. Most songs are in the 9- to 12-minute range, and there is plenty of space for the soloists to explore their improvisations and raise the thrill levels (or deepen the mistique, as the case may be) while the trio propels forward as a group. Most of the solos here feature Yanagihara on piano and Ito on bass, but drummer Kimura also gets a few spots where he trades measures with the pianist or plays dynamic drum solos over rhythmic vamps. This trio is well-suited to one another, tightly-locked and exciting, and the energy of performing live is a visceral force present in their playing.

Wrapping up the live set is track #7, Ito’s “Hinageshi” with a beautiful melody that also appears on some of her other albums: Retattanni no Mori (for solo bass), and Shiro o Matoeba (“Koto Ha, To” vocal/piano/bass).

Semendo Sementes was recorded live in 2021 at the Tokyo jazz club Plus Eleven in Ageo. Included below are videos of the making of this album and the trio’s concerts at Plus Eleven.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for Semendo Sementes from Yuki Ito Trio:

• “Snow Goose” - track #5:

• “ひなげし (Hinageshi)” - track #7:

• Full playlist (YouTube)

• Excerpt from track #1: “Aderante”

Joining Kimura’s rhythm sections are the front-line members consisting of three horn players who alternate and unite on different tracks. Alto and soprano saxes are played by Akiha Nishiyama and Kohei Ando, and trumpet by Mao Sone, who also switches to piano and Fender Rhodes for two songs.

Most of the songs feature a quartet form with sax, piano, bass, and drums, with Nishiyama and Ando switching off between the two rhythm sections. The two sax players even join up on one song with a burning back-and-forth sax dialogue on the addictively chunky #4 “Updraft”, where the reverse-step riffs and rhythms with the steadily rising notes of melody and improv appear as upward-flowing tendrils of smoke or air.

Along with his crystal clear and clean-cut drumming, this debut from Kimura also showcases to a large degree his writing style with jazz, mainly, but also pop and Brazilian musical influences. There is straight modern jazz composing with personality (#1 “Winter Pillow”, #2, “Groundwater”, #3 “Enrai”, #4 “Updraft”), melancholy infused with folk or ethnic influences (#5 “K’s A Major”, #6 “Gijibato Blues”), and cool-down, laid-back grooves (#8 “Time After Time”, #9 “When It Was New”).

While this is a drummer-led album, Kimura shares the stage generously with all of the members in these trios, quartets, and quintets; his humility extends even to the album credits where his own name is placed last in order. Aside from his locked-in drumming skills, fans of great drummers will also notice several moments on the record when he takes the spotlight. Kimura’s drum solos are featured on track #1 “Winter Pillow” and #4 “Updraft” after the horns and piano finish their solos. In addition, his propulsive percussion intros to #4 “Updraft” and #7 “Overrun” set the mood perfectly and crank up the engines for two of the dynamic highlights on the album as well.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Hiro Kimura’s original Japanese liner notes.)

First of all, thank you for checking out this album.

A warm welcome to those who may already know my name or the musicians on this album, and also to those who are hearing us for the first time. Also, to any young people who may have discovered this CD on their parent’s bookshelf someday decades in the future.

Because this is instrumental music, you can use your imagination freely however you like with this music. But when it comes to me, I enjoy looking at the descriptions on the package while I’m eating, so here I’ll write down just a bit about the songs.

Winter Pillow

From the bed of a room in the cold of winter, a world of music spreads out. This is what I imagined for this song. I wrote this song for my composition class’s final assignment while studying abroad in Boston, and I’ve been playing it ever since I returned to Japan. Come to think of it, Mao Sone also played on it when we played it for the first time in class.

Groundwater

This has the feeling of melted snow which turns into groundwater and gushes out. The members’ love for jazz also oozes out from their performance.

遠雷 (*/*Enrai, distant thunder*/)*

I wrote this song about one summer’s sudden heavy downpour. Dark clouds appeared in the distance and steadily approached, turning into a violent rain. When they eventually departed, they left a slightly chilly air behind.

Updraft

Since two of Japan’s leading sax players are on this album, we recorded this song for the two horns to show their stuff. The two players intertwine and rise to the top much like the title “Updraft” suggests.

K’s A Major

K stands for bassist Keisuke Furuki. It’s a ballad based on a memorable phrase he often plays.

Kijibato Blues

When I was stuck at home in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, I kept hearing the sound of Kijibato (Eastern Turtledoves) singing in the neighborhood. Their listless cries created an unsettled feeling and led to this melancholic melody.

Overrun

One day, there was an internet news article that read “○○ Subway Train Overruns Station Platform”. It stopped only a few meters off, and no one was injured, so I was surprised that this made the news. On the other hand, there are big accidents that occur every day during jazz performances (haha). That’s also one of the best parts. Each member overruns.

Time After Time

This is the only standard tune on this album. Some lyrics include “The twilight at one day’s end.” This arrangement somehow conveys that image of a sunset, as the end of the album also approaches.

When It Was New

This song takes the role of the album’s end credits. I hope that the soft reverberations linger for a little while.

June 20, 2021

Hiro Kimura

Audio and Video

• Video for “Winter Pillow”, track #1 on this album:

• Video for “Enrai”, track #3 on this album:

• Video for “Catch The Flow”:

• Album playlist (YouTube)

• Album stream (TuneCore Japan)

• Album stream (Songlink/Odesli)

• Excerpt from track #4: “Updraft”

Written in Japanese, Reiko Yamamoto’s name is 山本玲子. Reiko (玲子) contains the kanji character 玲 which represents the sound of jewels and is used in several aural words invoking tinkling and chiming sounds. Whether or not that character had a direct influence on the musician’s life, it’s an appropriately fitting context for her masterful playing of this brilliantly translucent instrument.

All of the songs are by the group leader Yamamoto, whose musical ideas are let loose on the nine tracks’ creative arrangements and solos. The music is typically modern sounding with mostly straight-eight rhythms adorned with interesting meters, melodic placements, and musical structures.

Joining Yamamoto is her “Square Pyramid” quartet (distinguished from her previous two “Tempus Fugit” swing/bop quartet albums) featuring Sumire Kuribayashi on piano, Keisuke Furuki on bass, and Hiro Kimura on drums.

The flow of the album is like a three-act storytelling arc, with thrilling action in acts one and three and calm respites in the middle. The opening is all excitement delivered through the propulsion of heart-racing notes on #1 “Vibrant Line” and #2 “Midnight Blue”.

Next, the mellow #3 “Staring at the Rain” and the melancholic #4 “Missing Piece” are both pretty creations placed to introduce different moods and moments of peaceful reflection.

Nestled in the middle of the album is a set of three conceptually linked tracks: #5 “Piano Songs No. 2”, #6 “Piano Songs No. 3”, and #7 “Short Stories No. 5”.

These three songs examine more sides of the tinkling gem (or faces of the pyramid) and showcase compositional traces of classical, progressive, folk, rock, and mystery, with a lyrical touch resembling a poetic, possibly Jethro Tull-ish, personality.

Incidentally, more numbers from the Piano Songs and Short Stories series appear on Yamamoto’s other musical projects and albums including Sumireiko, Yamako, Jazz Resort, and Magnolia (coming up in future articles here).

The last two tracks, #8 “Black Forest” and #9 “That Blue Bird” seem to blend into each other and share some musical traits, (not to mention the background that these two tracks share, explained in the liner notes), confidently bringing the album to a close for a theatrical conclusion.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Reiko Yamamoto’s original Japanese liner notes.)

1. Vibrant Line

This is a song originally written for a vibraphone ensemble. The word vibrant has the same etymological root as vibrate, which is also the origin of the name of the instrument vibraphone. In addition to the meanings of vibrating and trembling, it also includes the meanings of being active and energetic. I chose this title hoping to make you feel the music’s dynamics from the percussive approach and the reverberation of the vibraphone.

2. Midnight Blue

It’s characteristic for instrumentalists to frequently travel by car, especially on the roads at night. This song portrays going down the Metropolitan Expressway in the dead of night… Imagine driving with the feeling of sprinting. In actuality, the color of my current car is called midnight blue, which is where I got the name of this song.

3. Staring At The Rain

This song’s title “Staring at the Rain” depicts a house in Europe with a woman inside, sitting by the window, resting her chin on her hands, and looking out at the gloomy rain outside. I wrote this song while imagining that scene. It was a rainy day when I wrote this song, and I didn’t want to go outside, but if I didn’t go out I wouldn’t get things done… I was wavering. In that mood, I gazed at the rain and imagined what this European woman would be feeling while staring at the rain.

4. Missing Piece

For a jigsaw puzzle with even just one piece missing, it cannot be said to be completed. I gave this song this title to express the instability of those times when something is lost, as with this melody that seems to be headed to a resolution somewhere but ends up being unsettled.

5. Piano Songs No. 2

Subtitled “/Kiseki” (trajectory, the path one has taken/). In 2017 I went to see Gary Burton’s last concert before his retirement, playing in a duo with pianist Makoto Ozone. Ozone’s piano at that time was extremely lovely, but also very heartbreaking… I wished at the time that it could never end. This is a song of a pianist who follows closely their mentor’s life trajectory.

6. Piano Songs No. 3

I usually compose with the sound of the piano, so sometimes the resulting songs will be closer to the image of a piano playing style rather than melodies played on a vibraphone. The Piano Songs series is a collection of such songs. Around the time I wrote No. 3, I was listening to a lot of European pianists like Enrico Pieranunzi and Michel Petrucciani, so this song was influenced by that period.

7. Short Stories No. 5

This is a song I wrote while playing Short Stories on vibraphone. Short Stories is a collection of short pieces for solo vibraphone. This “No. 5” is based on something I improvised somehow or other while playing at home one day. I hope you can closely hear the vibraphone’s characteristic approach of having such a resonant sound combined with its limited pitch range and number of chord voices that can be played simultaneously.

8. Black Forest

After listening to the next song “That Blue Bird”, an artist imagined the moment that song was born and created a painting for me entitled “Black Forest”. The painting shows a pitch-black forest with a large reflecting lake, glowing beautifully with moonlight and glittering with the surfacing of fragments of musical phrases. From this, I set that title to music, which resulted in this song’s creation.

9. That Blue Bird

The story “Blue Bird” describes how Tyltyl and Mytyl travel on a long journey searching for a blue bird and concludes with them finding that blue bird, which then flies away and ends the story. We may realize that happiness is always close to us but, just like the blue bird that flies away, can also disappear in a flash. Although I named this song after a story with quite a philosophical significance, this “Blue Bird”, at least for me, has brought a lot of happiness.

Obi Notes

A new page in the history of jazz vibraphone sound.

The long-awaited all-originals release from the new band debut.

Reiko Yamamoto has released two albums with “Reiko Yamamoto Tempus Fugit” (Terasima Records), participated in genre-crossing collaborations, and has become known for the endless possibilities of her vibraphone sound. She now releases a full album of her original compositions fully unleashing her well-established compositional and arrangement techniques. Throughout jazz history from swing to hard bop, fusion, and contemporary genres, the vibraphone has produced many songs and has been incorporated into many bands as a novel instrument. Here again, a new part of this history will be recorded.

Audio and Video

• Live performance of “That Blue Bird”, track #9 on this album:

• Live performance of “Piano Songs No. 2”, track #5 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Vibrant Line”

From song to song, the combination of musicians and styles changes, shuffling between quartets, trios, and duos. Throughout, relaxed easiness and vintage swing arise from classy ensemble playing and spotlit guitar improvisation. As for the changing combos, a guitar quartet is featured on track #1 (guitar, piano, bass, drums), then a trio on #2 (guitar, bass, drums), a guitar & guitar duo, a quartet, a trio, a guitar & piano duo, a quartet (guitar, alto sax, trombone, bass), a sextet, and finally a guitar solo. This variation of players and combinations of instruments keeps things interesting while introducing Asari’s musical vision for her debut release.

The first two tracks on Introducin’ are instantly welcoming, with the nice bossa group sound on “Triste” followed by a bluesy jazz groove on Asari’s original “Summit”, a song with a classic vintage vibe recalling the feeling of Grant Green or Sonny Clark albums. Next, “Black Orpheus” pairs Asari with guitarist Sadanori Nakamure for the hypnotic sound of two guitars playing off of each other. (Asari is also featured on a 2022 release entitled /Generations Guitar Trio /with Nakamure and guitarist Mitsukuni Tanabe, expanding on this layered guitar sound with a full album).

Other highlights include a comfortably swinging jazz quartet on “Bluesette”, up-tempo excitement on “Daahood”, and even some pop easy-listening with two Carpenters songs played back-to-back near the end of the album. Asari ends with an especially sentimental guitar solo on “But Beautiful”, leaving a warm impression as a lasting introduction to her music.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes written by Hiro Yamanaka.)

In the summer of 2015, I was in Ochanomizu covering the finals of the Gibson Jazz Guitar contest. While exchanging pleasantries with an acquaintance who was a jazz guitarist, she told me about a wonderful young woman, a guitarist who was appearing that day. That was the day I first heard the playing of Fumika Asari.

It was also the day that signaled to me the coming of a new generation, as I heard the traditional old-style playing (in a good way) of a guitarist still in her early 20s. After that, I had the opportunity to interview her several times for jazz magazines, and as I got to know her personally I could sense her unchanging honest characteristics, and perhaps a slightly stubborn side as well, if I may be so bold. I was happy as I sensed the progress of her guitar playing over time as if it were my own accomplishment. As she was polishing her skills accumulating many live performances with excellent musicians, it was not only this writer but many jazz guitar fans who were looking forward to her debut recording. And now that time has come.

Anyone listening to this work Introducin’ will certainly feel happy. You can understand how she loves jazz, and how she studied the playing styles of many legends. Rather than writing liner notes in the old style of a track-by-track explanation, it seems unnecessary because the listener’s heart and ears will judge while enjoying the music. So here I will write mainly about my honest feelings.

There are many jazz guitarists in Japan’s jazz scene now expressing themselves in different styles. In particular, young guitarists seem to prefer a traditional style. Of course, there are guitarists such as May Inoue who pursue new expressions and styles, which is an attractive part of the future of Japanese jazz guitar.

Fumika Asari’s jazz origins were most likely influenced by Mingus, an old jazz cafe in her hometown of Fukushima City where she heard the music of players like Grant Green and Jim Hall.

As those who know these two legends are aware, their musical sensibilities vary widely, yet she absorbed them simultaneously. For example, you can hear a strong Grant Green style in the straight melodic expression in “Triste” and “Bluesette”, but when it comes to ad-libbed improvisation, within the Grant Green style you can hear some Jim Hall coexisting in the construction of harmony and flow of her phrasing.

Emily Remler is another guitarist who influenced her. In addition to Remler’s hard-picking and powerful swing, perhaps the recording of “Daahoud” here is influenced by Remler’s recording of “Daahoud.” As for “Daahoud,” the name comes from a colleague of composer Clifford Brown, the trumpeter Talib Dawud. This must be an expression of respect characteristic of jazz players.

This album contains two original songs, both of which are excellent and fully express Asari’s sensitivity. Surely I’m not the only one who can also feel the good sensibility of Emily Remler here. And the seventh and eighth songs are arranged like a medley of two hit songs by a band she loves, the Carpenters. It’s a really smart, crowd-pleasing technique.

Picking highlights is difficult when all the tracks are so good, but the duo on “Black Orpheus” with Japanese jazz guitar god Sadanori Nakamure naturally deserves special mention. In recent years, Asari has been performing regularly in a guitar trio with Nakamure and Mitsukuni Tanabe, and knowing their minds so well they breathe life into the songs head-on. It’s quite admirable. Incidentally, both Asari and Nakamure were born in the Year of the Rooster, yet there is a sixty-year age difference!

How is Fumika Asari’s debut album? The guitar tone is incredibly beautiful! Plus, the importance of the melody and poetic sentiment is conveyed. And, the special attention paid to the various formations, and the support of the participating musicians really shines through. In the 1947 American film Road to Rio, Bing Crosby sings the song “But Beautiful” with lyrics comparing the aspects of love. I don’t think that this meaning here of the word “beautiful” is the same as the Japanese word “utsukushii” (beautiful). As this “beautiful” is expressed by the meaning of the lyrics as “subarashii” (wonderful), such is Fumika Asari’s solo guitar beautiful.

Jazz journalist Hiro Yamanaka 山中弘行

Audio and Video

• Fumika Asari playing track #4 “Bluesette” with ceramic art by Mika Noguchi:

• Fumika Asari Quartet playing “Daahood” live, track #5 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Triste”

Folds is a live recording of Kimura’s quintet playing in Kobe in 2022. Drummer Kimura leads the group featuring special guest Kazuhiko Takeda, whose melodic, soulful jazz guitar is exquisitely framed by the relatively younger musicians. Regardless of age, the unit displays talent, harmonious energy, and reverence for the music they create together.

The album contains eight tracks, seven jazz standards and covers plus one original composition from Kimura. Starting with the slow ballad “My Ideal”, the music is straight-ahead, satisfying jazz with a few members each soloing on specific songs.

Takeda’s guitar shines throughout with a warm tone and superb improvisation, a mellow sound that is well-balanced against Hirose’s excellent trumpet notes full of real jazz spirit. The piano sound may seem understated at first, but Naoko Tanaka exhibits a high level of skill with her impressive, jazzy lines and confident comping.

Bassist Yuji Ito and leader Kimura hold down the impeccable bass lines and rhythms throughout the album, and each takes the spotlight on later tracks. Kimura especially, as the leader and rhythmic director, adds ear-catching dynamic variations, rumbling textures, and splashes of sound throughout to support and respond to the musicians as they ad-lib in the moment.

Besides the slow ballad “My Ideal” and the bossa nova “Triste”, most of the songs are mid- to up-tempo numbers that swing with real live vitality, music created in the moment before a rapt audience with fun interplay and imaginative improvisation. Highlights like “Summertime”, “Someday My Prince Will Come”, and “Our Delight” invoke the live spirit and sounds of combos like Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Similarly, the drummer’s original song “Face to Face” has a distinctive Cedar Walton hard-bop style and is a standout with its catchy structure and thrilling solos.

This straight-ahead music combines respect for the art form with modern influences, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Hiro Kimura’s original Japanese liner notes.)

1.My Ideal

This is a ballad with a cute melody. This song was played as an encore for that day’s second set. Listen to the warm sound of the band.

2.Face to Face

This is the only “Kimura original”, played here by the quartet without Takeda. It’s a song I wrote during a self-restrained lifestyle imposed by the corona pandemic while thinking about the enjoyment of playing with people. This song was the first song of the first set.

3.Summertime

This is George Gershwin’s well-known melancholic song. We played it simply with a medium swing feel.

4.Triste

Antonio Carlos Jobim’s refreshing song. You can feel the early summer atmosphere present on the day of the recording.

5.Povo

A funky song by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Hirose explodes! And definitely check out Takeda’s musical interjections near the end of the last melody statement… it’s so cool.

6.Someday My Prince Will Come

The very famous Disney song. I wonder if it’s rare to be playing this song in this way in the 2020s. We play the song vigorously and at a faster tempo compared to Miles Davis’ famous take.

7.Willow Weep For Me

This is a bluesy song that’s a favorite of Takeda. As for me, when I think of this song I think of Takeda. It’s a beautiful ensemble with him. Please check out the only bass solo on this album.

8.Our Delight

This is a 1964 song from pianist Tadd Dameron. Takeda often played this song in the past, but on this day it seems that it had been several years since he played it. During the rehearsal, we confirmed the melody bit by bit, and we were all moved by the wonderful performance.

Miscellaneous Notes:

I’d love to record with Kazuhiko Takeda.

This has been my [Kimura’s] secret dream for the past several years.

The performance of Kansai’s world-renowned guitar master Kazuhiko Takeda is one of a kind, with frightening sharpness and speed and an original sense of melody that is deeply rooted in jazz.

After meeting Takeda in 2014 we played together many times, but the 2020 corona pandemic made me unable to meet him for over a year.

In the fall of 2021, we finally performed together again. I was astonished by that performance and decided to make a live recording.

The venue was 100Ban Hall in the Takasago Building, a historic building in my hometown of Kobe. This is the spot where my father had an office when I was a child and where I used to come to play, so I feel a strange connection to this venue.

The members for my first album include the ever-reliable pianist Naoko Tanaka and bassist Yuji Ito who I’ve played with the most. In front is the strong trumpeter Miki Hirose, who makes that day’s music the best whenever he is there.

Tanaka and Ito met Takeda for the first time the day before the recording. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime recording.

As for the results… let your ears be the judge.

Hiro Kimura

Audio and Video

• The Hiro Kimura Quintet playing “Triste” from this album:

• Excerpt from track #2: “Face To Face”