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”

Based in jazz but extending beyond the genre, the music contains a great mix of moods: creatively jaunty, dark and brooding, fanciful, quirky, gentle and sensitive. The personality of the duo surfaces in fun and sensitive ways as the duo moves intuitively through shades of color, mood, and style.

A first-time listener’s ears will no doubt perk up on tracks #1, #3, #5, and #8, songs that are filled with moments of bright energy, whimsy, speedy cool jazz, and funky soul. Yet the music is heightened by the balance offered by the other tracks through slowly captivating ballads, fantastical edifices, and intimately beautiful playing from the two musicians which blooms with repeated and attentive listening.

Of pianist Nagatake’s two evocative and memorable contributions, #2 “Sakuragochi” recalls her duo album with Tetsuji Yoshida with its poignant moods and heavy riffs, while her #8 “Along With You, Sunnyman” skillfully lays out the good-feeling catchy hooks and grooves based on the pianist’s appreciation for Stevie Wonder-like positivity.

Nagatake and Kano’s playing on the saxophonist’s compositions #6 “Foggy Mind” and #7 “Mysterious Dress” feature some of the most exquisitely performed music on the record. These two songs are played consecutively, continuously linked through Nagatake’s piano which infuses the music with wisps of Debussy and Duke Ellington while Kano’s emotionally intense melodies arise bravely and flow gracefully.

Liner Notes

(Transcribed from Nami Kano’s and Mikiko Nagatake’s original Japanese liner notes.)

Jabuticaba (ジャボチカバ) is a tree native to South America whose fruit grows directly on the trunk.

During our second tour, we were discussing what we wanted to call our unit, and at first, we were looking for something cool, maybe something in Italian or French.

One late night, I received images from Mikiko of a jabuticaba tree with lots of fruit on it. I remember clearly how I lost sleep after seeing the astonishing images.

“The character 幹 (tree trunk) from Mikiko (幹子), and the character 実 (fruit) from Nami (奈実)… what do you think about this? Also, it’s a great word, isn’t it?” Coming up with clever ideas is part of Mikiko’s charm, as seen in her performances as well.

That was how Jabuticaba started. Synchronization born from sharing many stages together. And scenery that can only be drawn by these two people with similar sensibilities.

This is an album filled with that which makes us us. I hope you enjoy it.

Nami Kano

Samambaia

When I moved to Tokyo from Nagoya, I was sorting through a lot of music scores when among them I found the music for “Samambaia”, which I had never played before.

I felt like I definitely wanted to try it with this duo, and it fit us great.

As I kept playing this with Mikiko, I began to realize the song’s richness of expression, and it became one of my favorites.

(Kano)

Sakuragochi (桜東風, Sakura East Wind)

In the spring of 2020, all of my performance work was canceled due to the influence of the coronavirus, and the amount of time I spent at home drastically increased. I was so disappointed by losing the opportunity to perform, but conversely, I realized this was my chance to compose songs slowly! I created a melody based on the rhythm of India’s unique tabla drums, and this song was born.

I was hoping that in the spring of the next one or two years, together with my friends, family, and partners, I could remember the gentle feeling of the cherry blossoms of 2020. From this idea, I added the keyword “Sakura” to the title.

(Nagatake)

Wrong Key Donkey

There’s a jazz cafe in Waseda that I really love, and I often went there after classes when I was in college. When I went there, the owner would play albums that I loved like Jackie Byard, Lee Konitz, and Masahiko Togashi. It was there one day that I heard Carla Bley’s album Songs With Legs. I thought it sounded like such a great album that I had to immediately place an overseas order online. This “Wrong Key Donkey” is one of the songs on that album.

Both Nami and I love Carla Bley, and we often play her songs at Jabuticaba performances.

(Nagatake)

What Kind of Fool Am I?

When I was in the sixth grade of elementary school, it was my first time performing in a big band and I got to play on this song as a soloist.

It was the first time in my life that I played on a ballad, and for me at the time it was so difficult, but it’s full of so many memories that it’s still a favorite song of mine. For this recording, Mikiko has added a wonderful arrangement.

(Kano)

Play Fiddle Play ~ Kary’s Trance

One time, we were playing Lee Konitz’s “Kary’s Trance” and Nami said, “It would be interesting to arrange this in a trance-like state”. With that in mind, I took up this arrangement.

“Kary’s Trance” was based on a preexisting song called “Play Fiddle Play”, where Lee Konitz took the chord progression and added a new melody line. When I listened to “Play Fiddle Play” again, I thought it had a really nice melody. I wanted Nami to play both melodies, so that became part of this arrangement. The last part of Nami’s solo is amazing!

(Nagatake)

Foggy Mind

An easy feeling of being in an unfamiliar Tokyo, but with an ambitious feeling of not wanting to give up, and filled with hopes for the future of music that is not yet visible… this is a song which expresses my spirit after just having moved to Tokyo.

(Kano)

Mysterious Dress

When I finished this song, I asked my mother to listen as I played it with my clumsy piano skills. She said it reminded her of a girl wearing a pleated skirt. I had an image of being in a strange forest, so I combined this with my mother’s image and this title easily came to mind.

Continuing from “Foggy Mind”, I think this song expresses the feeling of entering a forest together with Mikiko’s beautiful piano.

(Kano)

Along With You, Sunnyman

I usually have a tendency to write songs that are a little difficult. One day I was listening to Stevie Wonder’s songs on iTunes, and I thought “This person’s songs can make anyone feel good no matter where or when” (it’s a subjective opinion [/laughs/]). This song was motivated by wanting to write a song like that. As I was thinking this, there was a Jabuticaba performance in three days and I wanted to play it there, so wrote it up with Nami’s sound in mind. Sunnyman is a coined word for the thought I had that sometimes there are people just like the sun. Like Anpanman.

This song is a collaboration between Jabuticaba and the Mikiko Nagatake Trio! Since we’re on the same label and can be released together, I was so happy to be able to blend my two favorite sounds!

(Nagatake)

Lastly…

There’s an expression “It’s easier to do something than to worry about it,” but when it comes to CD production it’s certainly not the case! We have nothing but admiration for musicians who overcame so many hurdles to release a CD. Looking back now, it seems so reckless trying to release independently without the know-how.

Jabuticaba was formed at the end of 2017 and our first live tour was in the spring of 2019. When we finished our second tour we talked about wanting to record just like that. Around the time we were setting up our third tour, we were thinking about which songs to include and which arrangements, and the ideas for a recording continued to grow steadily.

Having decided to self-produce and looking for a recording studio, we considered a studio in Eifukucho equipped with a Yamaha piano. Around that same period, it had been decided that Mikiko Nagatake’s trio recording would take place at the same studio and on the same label, so we consulted with Owl Wing Record’s managing director Yuichiro Aratake. He suggested, “Why don’t you release this on my label?” It was a dream-like idea.

So, after our autumn tour finished, we spent two days recording at Eifukucho Power House Studio. Right then, we really learned how hard it was to release a CD, and keenly felt gratitude to everyone at Team Owl Wing Records.

The fact that Jabuticaba is entering our fourth year and was able to release our first album is entirely due to our great fans, the live house barmasters, mamas, and staff, and everyone who has been supporting us. Thank you so much.

The fact that we were able to record in the turbulent year 2020 is also largely significant, we believe. We hope that this CD reaches many homes and that the sound deeply touches many people.

Jabuticaba Mikiko Nagatake Nami Kano

Audio and Video

• Promotional video with #3 “Wrong Key Donkey”, #4 “What Kind of Fool Am I?”, and a short interview:

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

• Audio for “Wrong Key Donkey”, track #3 on this album:

• Jabuticaba live at Nica’s in 2021:

• Excerpt from track #7: “Mysterious Dress (Nami Kano)”