This is her twelfth album spanning those many years, but her prior album Solo was released in 2018 so it’s been several years between that and this 2024 work. In her online notes for this album, she explains how the unsteady times for musicians during the coronavirus period sparked a period of reflection on her Tokyo-based musical life and introspection about her next musical statement. For this project, she choose nine new songs she had written during that period, and settled on the musical partners she would bring this new record to life with. The process involved thinking back over those formative years spent with these and other co-musicians, and especially her hometown of Kobe where it all began.

The songs are all originals by maiko, with one song co-written with Aya Kurosawa. Tied to the album’s theme, there is a sense of reflection overall, with a depth of feeling that could even be called a gentle moodiness to much of the music. Moodiness is not the best description as it’s not of a gloomy quality, but of a deeply connected awareness to the changes that time and situation bring, with both longing and hope in the memories.

The first half of the album ranges through maiko’s violin arranged with different combinations of duos and trios to paint images of haziness (“Mirage”), wisps of breeze (“Windmill”), and peaceable jauntiness (“Migratory Bird”). Track #4 “Futo,” features the duo of maiko on violin and Aya Kurosawa on piano and vocals unwinding an emotional ballad, a piece followed by the spinning complexity of “Rotating Sphere” where the ten strings of violin and guitar conjure up something exciting and mysterious.

From here, the album’s emotional directions turns further inward with slow to medium songs that embody the images conveyed by their titles: “Remininscence”, “Toi Kioku (Distant Memories)”, “Far away”, and “kiteki” all breathe with the feeling of nostalgic remembering and reflecting. As a final piece performed bravely alone and with a huge presence, Maiko plays track #9 “kiteki” as a violin solo, a heartfelt tribute to memories of her hometown shared intimately with her listeners.

Album Notes

(Translated from maiko’s online liner notes for this album.)

01.Mirage

A song created out of the pattern in the introduction. Feeling the haziness of a mirage, I wrote this song with the desire to express that sense of temperature and texture. Recorded as a trio of violin, piano, and bass, with guitar layered in.

02.Windmill

A song to represent something ever-turning and the wind. In the end, the image is one of wind power generation more than a windmill. Recorded with violin, piano, and voice.

03.Migratory Bird

This is a song I wrote for the trio with Shikou (piano) and Yuki (bass). I was inspired by Shikou Ito’s song “啼く鳥を探して” (Search for Singing Birds). This song developed through live performances, so this take is filled with that sense of playing a live concert.

04.ふと、 (Suddenly,)

Aya (piano/voice/vocals) and I wrote this song together. Initially I wrote a rough sketch of the song, and after that, Aya added poetry to the music. Aya and I started in May and continued with the season, a backdrop that is depicted in the music.

05.Rotating Sphere

A song I wrote for the duo with Kazuma (guitar). I was inspired by Kazuma’s song “Particle Dance”. As two different phrases ring out simultaneously like turning circles.

06.Reminiscence

This is a song I wrote when 20 years had passed since I came to Tokyo. It reflects back on the events that occurred during all that time and is filled with hope for the future.

07.遠い記憶 (Distant Memories)

The impression of pulling in memories from long ago. The duo with Shikou is two parts of a whole, recorded with the same sense of the wavering of time.

08.Far away

While thinking fondly of someplace remote, something far away…

09.kiteki (Steam Whistle)

This is a song that was originally expanded from a motif that was born during a violin improvisation solo concert. There is the sound of a boat’s steam whistle somewhere in my memories. I recorded this song at the end of this album as I thought about my hometown.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Aya Kurosawa’s lyrics for track #4 “ふと、 (Suddenly,)” printed on the CD cover.)

Suddenly, (lyrics: Aya Kurosawa)

May’s chilly spring weather, suddenly, overlapping
As if guided by a single melody
Forward in time

Until these flowers bloom, let’s walk together
Until this pain is gone
Just like this
The color of tomorrow’s sky… no one knows
Blurred, dimmed, tied together

September’s swift winds, suddenly, hearts race
Like holding hands for the first time
Heartbeats resonate

Until the blue night is gone, I want to be together
Until this prayer comes to an end, just like this
The color of tomorrow’s sky is someone’s
Confirming our linked memories

February’s snow flurries, suddenly, burst forth

Obi Notes

Arriving somewhere warm
And the journey continues

maiko’s 25th anniversary album!

This album was created upon a foundation of the many encounters that have shaped her musical perspective, and maiko’s own now-established personal style. It’s a gem-filled collection packed with maiko’s musical life itself.

Audio and Video

• Excerpts from “Mirage” (track #1), “Windmill” (track #2), and “Rotating Sphere” (track #5):

• “Reminiscence” (track #6) - excerpt:

• “Mirage” - live performance (track #1):

• “Windmill” - live performance (track #2):

• “Migratory Bird” - live performance (track #3):

• ふと、(Futo,) - live performance (track #4):

• “Rotating Sphere” - live performance (track #5):

• “Reminiscence” - live performance (track #6):

• “遠い記憶” (Toui Kioku) - live performance (track #7):

• “Far Away” - live performance (track #8):

• Behind the scenes: Recording “Far away” (track #8):

• Excerpt from track #1: “Mirage”

The music spans ten tracks over fifty minutes, mostly original compositions from the trio. It’s emotionally stimulating music where dramatic moments arise from the structure of the compositions brought to life through the many vibrating strings. In particular, the bowed notes of Maiko’s violin and Yasukagawa’s double bass are viscerally stirring and penetrating, and beautifully supported by the strings of the piano delicately percussed by felt hammers.

There are eight original songs, four from Nishiyama and two each from Yasukagawa and Maiko. These are mostly slow to medium pieces, audio paintings of romantically peaceful or melancholic scenes. Their music is adorned with various touches of classical and pop on a backdrop of jazz structures, like sturdy branches spreading out from a solidly rooted tree. Mostly patient explorations and ballads, there are also several upbeat moments with bright colors for contrast. In addition to the original music, two covers of traditional folk-hymn songs, “Shenandoah” and “What A Friend We Have in Jesus”, add soulful depth and are graceful additions to the program.

Audio and Video

• “A Day Before The Last Day Of Summer” (track #1):

• Full album (YouTube playlist)

• Excerpt from track #8: “飛び立つ水鳥 (Waterfowl Taking Flight)”

There are seven songs on Echo which run from about six to ten minutes each. Nishiyama’s piano trio with bassist Toru Nishijima and drummer Ryo Noritake constitutes the core of the sound, with colorful layers added by the extra trio of Takanori Suzuki on clarinet, Ryosuke Hashizume on tenor sax and flute, and Maiko on violin. Much of the music has the piano trio buffeted by the texturally slow-moving audio pads of clarinet, sax, and violin, creating a plush ambience and quiet invitation to sink into /Echo/’s layers.

One unmistakable strength of these two recent albums is how Nishiyama’s composing style has shifted slightly from her previous modern jazz trio writing, which was often compared to classically tinged European-style jazz and sometimes called richly emotionally or even “sad music” at times. Of course, there are still overtones of introspection on Echo that run throughout. Several of the song’s melodies feature chromatically interesting accidentals or scales with intervals that are subtly surprising and pleasing. Jazz swing beats are rare here, with straight-eights or soft rock drums to enhance the easy movements and slow-to-medium tempos. The violin, clarinet, sax, and flute accompaniments are paintbrushes for the borders and backdrops of Nishiyama’s canvases, where the frontward trio of piano, bass, and drums collaborate on creating and transforming the objects of direct focus. Although the so-called background instruments also come to the front at times, this is moderately done, and the use of their layers and textures as sonic ground and textures is beautiful and effective.

The compositions also feature slow-moving ambient sections that are superbly enhanced by Nishijima’s bowed contrabass, and rock-beat riffs that recall her style on her separate heavy metal-inspired jazz project NHORHM. There are sections of songs where the pianist’s left hand plays solid guitar-like chords, catchy quarter-note pop rhythms, or delicately spun ostinatos to great effect. The overall energy level is calm, somewhat muted, and taken at patient tempos. It’s more like a deeply absorbing novel or modern art piece with layers to uncover, rather than the fast cuts of an action movie or high-paced show. Yet interestingly, parts of these songs feel as if they would fit perfectly as scores to accompany moments of drama or discovery in movie scenes.

Like the design and concept, the songs themselves naturally summon evocative images through Nishiyama’s writing style, orchestration, and arrangements (and her particular choice of song titles, as well). Tracks #1 “Echo” and #2 “West World” (no relation to the recent drama series) are the opening chapters, where she is directed towards aspects of pop music catchiness, hooks, and musical movement that make such affecting hit songs. #3 “Ants” is slow, sparse, and semi-experimental with suite-like section breaks. These characteristics are shared and expanded upon by the grand displays in #4 “Arrakis”, dynamically crystalizing the oppressive tension of the Frank Herbert world-building fantasy with power and exotic mystery.

Track #5 “Raindrops”, the sole piano/bass/drums trio track on the album, explores an absorbing nine minutes of free but coordinated scenes in flexible time, gracefully Debussey-ish arpeggios, bowed contrabass, and hints of ambient music. #6 “Cobalt Blue” features slow chord cushions and subtle piano power chord riffs to allow the background instruments to come to the front for some in-turn and simultaneous improvisation. Finally, the last track #7 “River” moodily balances the major/minor shifts of the album’s overall feel with a soundtrack-like song for a sweet goodbye to a moving and memorable album. The reverberations of both Dot and Echo linger, though, and ensure anticipated return journeys to Nishiyama’s distinctive and penetrating musical worlds in the future.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Live performance of “Echo”, track #1 on this album:

• Excerpts from a live performance of the Hitomi Nishiyama Trio +3 from 2024:

• Streaming services for this album

• Excerpt from track #4: “Arrakis”

Nishiyama has released many great albums since 2004, and yet it is tempting to call this significant Dot her masterpiece. As a prolific composer with consistent album releases over two decades, many peaks have been reached. Dot forges into some bold new territory, and successfully so.

With an acoustic piano trio as a base, Nishiyama’s concepts are wider, open, more abstract. Four tracks feature a piano/bass/drums trio, and five tracks add clarinet, violin, and saxophone/flute for extra layers of artistic splashes. The sextet, with wind and strings, paints dappled backdrops and textured backgrounds on her canvas, and at a few particular moments, even converges as the ethereal resonance of metal fatigue and shearing.

Although not purely ambient nor experimental, some of her music on Dot verges more in that direction with ECM-style touches than ever before. As an example, regular in-time rhythms played by drummer Noritake are balanced with long periods of free and abstract swashes of sound, fluid spaciousness reminiscent of Paul Motian.

Take the beginning, with dreamy blossoming and dissolving on track #1 “Turtledove” and continuing into the hypnotic spell of track #2 “Dot”, a steady drum beat doesn’t appear until the last third of the absorbing, multi-part second track. “Dot” (available to listen to in a video included below) starts with a moderated stream of repeated piano notes, played like the careful picking of a single guitar string. It’s almost like a guitar riff, chugging and shifting through four frets to build the four-pitch melody with an embedded offset. Nishiyama’s attraction to heavy metal music likely influenced her here, as with her separate acoustic jazz piano trio project N.H.O.R.H.M. which focuses on heavy metal covers.

This riff-based approach is subtle and not overplayed, but also appears on another highlight, track #8 “Baroness”. With an edgily modern, semi-medieval feel, lightly crunching chords turn around four corners similarly to set up a riff, the harmonic frame for a melody to play out in graceful curves and more repeated-note dot patterns.

Other songs on the album plunge on in swing and straight eights. #3 “The Rider” and #6 “Red and Yellow” are particularly catchy and comfortably grounded with Mehldauesque intricacy and depth, comfortable stops between the more unbounded reaches of the album.

Those adventurous corners include the dramatic, up-close experience of #5 “Tidal”, where vamps of rolling chords and turbulent drums together with the sextet’s improvisations summon ominous waves of sound like oceanic forces.

For more variety, there is even slight melodic and rhythmic quirkiness included. Track #4 “To Return” is a playful swing with an unhurried, Monkish sense. Track #7 “Pigeons” reflects the bouncy personalities of those odd birds, a comical jazz waltz on cobblestones.

The journey leads to the last track, #8 “Lighthouse”. This restful end provides an adventure’s conclusion through a liltingly pretty melody passed from clarinet to bowed double bass, to piano, and back again as drums lightly color in accents and timbres across the set.

What about Dot? Is this innocent word a hidden theme or message for the album? Music notes written as dots on a staff? Pointillistic art that approximates waveforms and curves, backgrounds and landscapes? A blemish, a beauty mark, a pixel, typographic symbol, piece of code? Atoms creating form as they group and assemble? The repeating, somber yet heartening beep of a machine monitoring a pulse? Or maybe, simply the end of a sentence.

There are also the dot-like sequences of melody in some of the songs. And, there is the single extended note that ends the album, the last note of “Lighthouse” played in unison by the sextet, a fading dot beamed out to show the way home.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for “Dot”, track #2 on this album:

• Promotional video with excerpts from #5 “Tidal”, #4 “To Return”, #7 “Pigeons”, and #2 “Dot”:

• Excerpt from track #3: “ザ・ライダー (The Rider)”

This five-song, 39-minute album has resulted from the accumulated experience as Nami Kano’s quartet, playing creative jazz and original music together for years around Japan. As a unit, they’ve performed their own great compositions and arrangements of music from innovative musicians like Keith Jarrett, Jaco Pastorius, and Carla Bley. Kano recently adopted the mawsim moniker for her group and album name, as their vision locked into a comfortable and multi-layered repertoire.

As the recording starts, regular jazz listeners who are used to the quartet’s live sound may be surprised. The first song kicks off with some unexpected layers such as electronic drum beats establishing the framework for the sometimes-acoustic, sometimes-electric band (at live shows, Fender Rhodes, electric keyboards, and electric bass are often used along with acoustic piano and wood double-bass). Also surprising, Kano’s own pure voice joins her saxophone sound on the irresistibly playful melodic motif repeated through the first track’s melody line.

Later parts of the album extend the sound palette even more with simple, gorgeous orchestration of a violin and cello string section, and ambient sounds and programming add a sense of mystic soul to the groovy and soulful music.

Within just five songs (all composed by Nami Kano, roughly seven to nine minutes each), the music successfully includes a different dimension of the composer’s personality, through dance-club jazz fusion funk, natural and organic jazz, experimental trance, mellow soul, and straightforward classical beauty.

A subjective trip through the entire album leads to many highlight moments…

#1 “*Crepuscular Rays*” starts surprisingly right off the bat: Hearing drum and synth programming on a jazz album is a shocking start for sure, but when the jazz sound of a Fender Rhodes kicks in and Kano’s keen sax sounds through, Herbie Hancock-era jazz funk fusion takes hold, possibly with some modern-retro Jamiroquai influences mixed in.

It’s soul music and dance club disco steeped with the group’s deep jazz influences. The playful melody is joined not only by the leader’s addictive saxophone but also her own harmonious voice, as the four-note melodic cell shifts and settles through different accents and beats in a kind of addictive guessing game for listeners.

#2 “*Le Bourgeon*” Although modern grooves and electricity inhabit the opener, the second track is full of acoustic bass, acoustic piano, brushed drums, and soul-penetrating soprano sax. The mesmerizing sax flutters and willows over the gentle waves in a slow, romantic jazz waltz. Woody percussion, ambient echoes, and lush organic violin and cello heighten the intimacy of the lovely music.

#3 “*Doubt*” Wispy chords glide over a bass pedal point as the tenor sax invokes a Blade Runner future, or a Star Trek visit to an unknown planet. As the electric keyboard emerges, Kano’s flute questions over the amorphous and rhythmless landscape. Another surprise and highlight is Kano’s instantly loveable duduk (Armenian traditional instrument), which joins in and adds a magical, ancient feeling to the music. Experimental ambient, trance, and fusion inhabit this science-fiction setting.

Suddenly, the modern world emerges with electric rhythms halfway in, something like a Bjork tapestry by Kano’s hand. Flutes harmonize then fall out to reveal electric bass, electric drums, and jazz sax solo played over thin air, fusing and merging and Kano’s improvisation paints the galaxy. Unfamiliar noises surface and disappear, and the background rhythms keep thickening as the saxophone solo eventually distorts as if traveling through a warp in space and the entire mix seems to rotate, filter, and deconstruct, until finally Kano’s wind instruments, chorus, deep bass tones, and ambient sounds create a memorable journey’s end.

#4 “*Far Away Far in the Sky*” sets up a charming bluesy groove with church organ and piano at an easy-going soft-rock pace. The music creates scenes of late-night slow-dance romance, moonlight and midnight, as the last drinks are finished, conversations wind up, and bittersweet goodbye hugs and squeezes are invited and repeated. It’s a time of deep soul with shades of disco pop and fond nostalgia, laid out in two fascinating parts when the swaying rhythm of waltz-time changes to a 4/4 soul rock as the Rhodes lets loose and Kano’s saxophone lovingly leads us out.

#5 “*Whisper of the Moon*” is a relaxing end to the adventure as the strings, sax, and piano perform soundtrack-style music in a dramatic reading. Graceful, slow, and honest with a hint of mystery and romance conveyed through Kano’s exquisite sax tone, expert playing, and impressive compositional talent.

As for the name mawsim (season), Kano explained that in certain places the group name and album title are stylized in lowercase for fun aesthetic reasons: In cursive, the writing of 𝓂𝒶𝓌𝓈𝒾𝓂 resembles and gives the feeling of waves, and in Japanese, “wave” is nami 波, which has the same sound as Kano’s first name Nami 奈実.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video with an excerpt from “Crepuscular Rays”, track #1 on this album:

• Nami Kano Quartet performing “Le Bourgeon” live in 2017, track #2 on this album:

• Nami Kano performing “Doubt” on duduk and other wind instruments, track #3 on this album:

• Nami Kano with strings performing “Whisper of the Moon”, track #5 on this album:

• Nami Kano and group performing “Three Views of a Secret” live in 2020:

• Excerpt from track #2: “Le Bourgeon”

Unaccompanied and pure, the sound is direct and full, as if listening to a private recital in a stately room. Despite performing alone without overdubs or effects, Maiko has the ability to establish a moving pulse with string accents and gorgeous multi-string harmonies, keeping listeners hooked and drawn into the music.

Standard jazz is delivered through covers with a swing beat such as “I’ve Never Been In Love Before”, “Funkallero”, and “All Blues”, particularly poignant on the beautiful ballad “In A Sentimental Mood” and the earthy dance “Balkan Tale”. Yet Maiko’s original songs and improvisations perhaps convey the violinist’s personality most vividly, with fantastic moods and relaxed sounds mixing classical, jazz, and fairy-tale charm in her music. With five of her original compositions alongside the five covers, fans of jazz violin and entrancing atmospheres will likely return to Maiko’s Solo often.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #9: “Improvisation”

With violin, acoustic guitar, and piano strings resonating together to create dramatic music, comparisons could be made to fusion albums from Al Di Meola and Chick Corea. Yet Maiko’s trio is unique, combining years of experience with jazz, pop, classical, and Latin music, together with Japanese nuances for an energetic and engrossing event.

With a masterful controlled touch, the music is at times played with wild, skillful abandon, and the passionate sound of the violin itself adds heavy texture to the music. Anchoring the musicians are Maiko’s original compositions which balance sadness and joy, romance and painful longing, dualities which the violin’s rich sound fits perfectly and adds to the emotional punch.

With eight tracks, the songs range from colorful uptempo drama to sentimental waltzes and impressionistic ballads. Aside from six originals, two covers are included, the jazz standard “You and the Night and the Music”, and Bill Evans’s poignant “We Will Meet Again”.

Audio and Video

• “Eternally” performed live by maiko trio violin:

• Chick Corea’s “Spain” performed live by maiko jazz violin:

• Excerpt from track #8: “Three”