There’s a feeling of unbounded youthful abandon balanced with technical precision on this recording, characteristics that were consistent parts of the fuse band and their live shows. Like atomic particles swirling, repelling, and attracting around a shared core and bound together in a tight form, the quartet’s energy was contained by Inoue’s modern compositions and leadership.

There are eight songs included on fuse, all original compositions by Inoue. The band is ablaze right out of the gate with the album opener “The last is the first”, with a group sound that recalls the loose tightness of some 1980s post bop jazz, like Wynton Marsalis’ Black Codes (From the Underground), with its forward-leaning sound. Track #2 “Breathe in-out” is a highlight of sustained moodiness, with a slow opening up during Inoue’s saxophone solo to a Kenny Kirkland-style bursting from Nobumasa Takana on piano.

Track #3 “Kuresaka” is a well-balanced construction in an odd-meter (partially in nine-beat time), where Inoue’s soprano sax shines in an exploratory mood rising from the wide foundation of a spiritual nature. #4 is “Nano Machine”, a very fast swinger over a modified minor blues pattern, where precisely meshed gears are driven towards their limits by the indefatigable propellants of Tsunoken’s drums and Sakai’s bass.

#5 “Apoptosis” is the album’s first of two shorter tunes (this and the last song are under four minutes long, while all other average seven to ten minutes apiece), and it is free jazz ambiance of a sparsely leapfrogging melody, tense folds of piano and bass, and roiling drums. Track #6 “I kin ye” is a jazz waltz played in as a straightforward jazz tune with a style somewhere between the neighborhoods of Bill Evans and Wayne Shorter.

Track #7, “Gratitude”, is one of Inoue’s most famous and adored compositions. The delicate beauty of the song’s melody captivated listeners and became a favorite at live shows. Played as a gentle ballad, Inoue’s tender sound foreshadows a “soft wind” tone that he developed more in later years, as on his solo sax album Vayu and with his Zephyr trio, a band that is itself named for a gentle breeze, poetically.

The last track is #8 “Flood”, another aggressively uptempo swinger like #4 “Nano Machine”. The intro and outro melody are spiral steps leading down to a subterranean maze of free chaos and hellfire where all four members of the quartet unleash their free jazz demons for one final rally before finding the way back out, unified on the melodic theme, and close the session.

Inoue and fuse followed up this album with their next album Grasshopper in 2002 and Live fuse in 2005. Besides fuse, Inoue explored other sides to his writing and playing styles with his other groups and collaborations, including with Clepsydra, Zephyr, a duo with the pianist Hitomi Nishiyama, and many others. He was a quiet but powerful giant in the Japanese jazz scene, and after Inoue’s passing in 2015, there are still “Toshihiko Inoue Songbook”-style tribute performances and occasional fuse live reunions with the remaining members.

Audio and Video

• Toshihiko Inoue Fuse playing “Breathe in-out” and “Zutto”:

• Toshihiko Inoue and Hitomi Nishiyama playing “Witchi-Tai-To”:

• Toshihiko Inoue playing “Giant Steps” at a 1984 jam session:

• Toshihiko Inoue plays ballads:

• Excerpt from track #1: “The last is the first”

The two have released their own leader albums and recordings with other groups, but this is the first album to be released under their co-named band partnership and builds on their vast experience playing together in various settings.

Four of the eleven songs are covers taken from jazz and Latin music. The one tune lifted from the jazz songbook is Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence”. This is an inspired jazz choice for a duo and the result is great—a nicely arranged and precisely played guitar-vocal version of the addictive and off-kilter tune.

The three other cover songs are pulled from Brazilian music, with track 5 “Feliz” and 4 “É” by the singer-songwriter Gonzaguinha, and track 10 “Pedra Bonita” by the composer Mario Adnet. The latter two songs are particularly energized by a full quintet sound with members of the group “Nobie Especial Band” joining on piano, bass, and percussion to lay out entrancing rhythms for the guitar and voice acrobatics.

When not scat-singing on these songs, Nobie sings lyrics that have been translated into Japanese, adding another unique twist to the mix of Brazil and Japan that Nobie embodies so well.

The seven original songs are led by the album opener “Introduction”, a short and wordless vocal welcome that sets the stage with Nobie’s vocal overdubs and percussion. The riff turns through a hypnotic cycle over a slippery beat, similar to some of the music she creates with another of her groups, the trio Les Komatis.

Tracks 6 through 9 are four of guitarist Takayoshi Baba’s songs played by Baba and Nobie as a duo. The songs are a blend of soulful pop, quick and technical phrases played in unison, dreamy spaces, dazzling scatting, and a short etude as an impressive vocal-guitar workout. While #6 “Kaze no Mama ni” includes Japanese lyrics, Nobie scat-sings and vocalizes as an instrument on tracks 7, 8, and 9, playing in unison with Baba’s guitar or voicing the melody at different times. Baba’s classical guitar with fingerstyle virtuosity elevates the Latin, jazz, and contemporary fusion like a version of The Guitar Trio of Paco de Lucía, John McLaughlin, and Al Di Meola, particularly when Baba overdubs his guitar solos over his rhythm-playing and fingerpicking.

Nobie’s golden sweet voice is ever charming, deceptively soft but ultra dynamic, and powered by a nimble and quick lightness that leaps effortlessly above a foundation of a locked-in sense of time and rhythms. In certain songs, Nobie will also often add claps, slaps, hand percussion, or vocal pops, clicks, and percussive sounds for added rhythmic layers, sometimes even simultaneously while singing.

Like the album’s opener, the final song, track 11 “Komaku” (eardrum), departs slightly from the rest of the music. This parting song creates a wide open, ambient space for the album’s outro with lush guitar delays and effects drawing a spellbinding mood similar to her tune “Loop” on her debut album Primary.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Shinichi Tokunaga’s original Japanese liner notes.)

In 2018, Nobie created her album Bénin-Rio-Tokyo featuring three powerful guitarists with different nationalities and backgrounds. Shortly before this, I had heard of her plans to record with Lionel Loueke, and I had no doubt that something great would result from that. But an interesting thing about music is that no matter how great the players are, it doesn’t necessarily always work out when they play together. Despite interacting and hitting it off through the internet, will they be able to generate the same energy as seen at Nobie’s past performances at Aoyama’s Praça Onze, say, where the audience would become one with the band with the incandescence of white heat?

Based on the results when that album was released, these fears were completely unfounded, and a masterpiece exceeding expectations was born. Lionel hails from the Republic of Benin and is at the forefront of modern-day jazz. Toninho Horta continues to provide a great influence on jazz from the Brazilian music side. The two together play off each other’s strengths without holding back, fully engaged and solidly facing off with mutual respect (if you listen to the tracks where they cover their own songs, their level of commitment is clear). Nobie’s extraordinary ability also stands out, and Takayoshi Baba’s guitar playing on the album closer, Akiko Yano’s famous song “Gohan ga Dekita yo”, enhances the merits of this album even more. There’s an overpowering feeling of being moved by this third independent vector that expands the dimensions beautifully. Anyone who listens to this sound would probably want to hear more. Releasing this new album under the duo name of Nobie and Baba is an extremely natural progression.

Those listeners who have picked up this album must already be quite familiar with Baba. But if not, one reason for any unfamiliarity may be due to his only having released one album under his name (note 1) and a relatively low level of activity with his name in the lead position. However, the opportunities for avid jazz fans to have come into contact with Baba are not few due to his many and various live performances and recordings. It’s not uncommon that a reliable musician will keep a packed schedule, being a trusted musician who is often asked to perform with other musicians. As a result, they can end up being so busy that they have an unexpectedly low number of their own leader albums. Baba fits that example.

According to an interview in one article (note 2), when Junko Onishi (undoubtedly one of Japan’s most famous jazz pianists) wanted a guitarist to join her on a recording for the first time in her long career, everyone around her recommended Baba. He is truly a first-call guitarist in the jazz scene in Japan. The nice feeling of the touch of his picking on a nylon string acoustic guitar is worth special mention. There’s no hiding the tone of poorly played nylon strings even through processing, and it can end up sounding cheap. This guitarist’s sense and delicacy, and his ability to perfectly perceive and control the physical vibration of the strings through his ears and fingertips, are easily apparent. This is a virtue that is shared by Lionel, Toninho, and Baba, a point that I would love to emphasize as a writer with a fairly long (self-proclaimed) career as an acoustic guitar music critic writing for classical guitar publications.

The album begins with Nobie’s overdubbed a cappella vocals on “Introduction”. This very short track may have been arranged from a suddenly improvised phrase, and it reminds me of her innovative a cappella version of “Blue Rondo a la Turk” on Bénin-Rio-Tokyo. The next song is “Owari to Hajimari”, an original composition by Nobie. The performance features the duo of Nobie and Baba with the addition of the rhythm master Yoichi Okabe (percussion), a veteran member of the “Nobie Especial Band”. The song has a light and lively groove, but there is also a sense of painful longing. It’s a masterpiece and a superb performance worthy of the album title. This is Nobie’s authentic self as someone who has mastered the essence of Brazilian music.

The cover songs were selected from well-known jazz and Brazilian classics. Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence” is often taken up by jazz musicians, but a vocal scat and guitar version may be unprecedented. The special weightless feeling of Monk’s music is full of many vivid ideas, and the colorful sound of voice and guitar pushing the limits of expression is overwhelming.

Two songs were written by Gonzaguinha, a singer-songwriter who exhibited an excellent yet distinct individuality from his father Luiz Gonzaga, composer of the song “Asa Branca” which is known as Brazil’s second national anthem. The Japanese lyrics were translated by an emerging scholar of Brazilian literature, Nobuhiro Fukushima (福嶋伸洋), who in 2022 was awarded the Grand Prize in Japan’s Best Translation Award for his translation of Clarice Lispector’s The Hour of the Star. While remaining faithful to the original lyrics, the Japanese words match the Brazilian rhythms flawlessly and make these songs even more attractive as covers. Shigeki Miyata (宮田茂樹), who produced Bénin-Rio-Tokyo, gave his stamp of approval by saying “These songs definitely need to be included” and contacting the family of Gonzaguinha to obtain permission for use of the Japanese versions of the lyrics. The full Nobie Especial Band groove is bursting on “É” with the addition of a top jazz pianist from Nobie’s generation Mayuko Katakura, and bassist Kiichiro Komobuchi, who has rich experience at the forefront of the jazz and Brazilian music scenes. “Feliz” leads to an about-face as the beauty of Nobumasa Tanaka’s piano creates a sense of glittering light within the tranquility. The contrast between the two tracks is wonderful.

The album includes one more Brazilian song in Mario Adnet’s “Pedra Bonita”. Adnet is an important figure in the contemporary Brazilian music scene and has worked on projects such as João Gilberto Eterno, the João Gilberto tribute album from 2021 which he co-produced with Shigeki Miyata. While Nobie was staying in Rio de Janeiro to participate in the recording of Toninho Horta’s album Minas-Tokyo (also produced by Miyata, incidentally), she met Adnet there and seems to have learned about this song then. Later, Nobie obtained the sheet music from Adnet through Miyata and began to perform this song regularly at live shows. This led to the song being included in this album. Upon seeing videos of those live performances, Adnet seems to have been greatly pleased, as he has stamped his seal of approval as the song’s original composer.

The second half of the album also contains four of Baba’s original songs. Baba has performed with many other singers in addition to Nobie, but “Kaze no Mama ni” is the first original song of his that he’s released with lyrics. Nobie’s lyrics fit perfectly, and if you weren’t told otherwise, you wouldn’t have thought that this song was written by a jazz musician. Three of these songs are lyric-less, and Nobie sings in a scat style. There is a taste of modern Brazilian music reminiscent of Gismonti and Ginga with elements of jazz and rock contained within, and each is an unreserved demonstration of Baba’s superb compositional talent.

With the grand beauty and impact of the final song, Nobie’s “Eardrum”, this album can be declared perfect. It’s an album that follows in the footsteps of Bénin-Rio-Tokyo and should be released into the world. I would like to once again express my sincere appreciation to Nobie and Baba for delivering such a magnificent album so naturally. I only wish that I could have shared my feelings with Shigeki Miyata, who departed from this world in July 2022, and who was probably eagerly awaiting this album’s completion more than anybody else!

Shinichi Tokunaga (徳永 伸一): Music Writer, Associate Professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Note 1: Gray-Zone (2013, Song&Co label)

Note 2: Ototoy “Junko Onishi releases her long-awaited first collection of ballads with her regular trio after 8 years” (interview and text: Mitsutaka Nagira [柳樂光隆]) https://ototoy.jp/feature/20171110

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Promotional video for “Owari to Hajimari”, track #2 on this album:

• Nobie and Baba on a 2023 album tour with live versions of #2 “Owari to Hajimari”:

• … #4 “É”:

• … #6 “Kaze no Mama ni”:

• … #9 “Estudio #1”:

• … #10 “Pedra Bonita”:

• Album streams (TuneCore Japan)

• Excerpt from track #2: “おわりとはじまり (The end and the beginning)”

Links

• Owari to Hajimari website

The opening song “First Contact” together with #4 “Spinning Petals” (a live version is included in a video below) and #9 “Have Fun”!” prop up the album’s core jazz tentpoles with straight-ahead frameworks reminiscent of the sound of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and Cannonball Adderley’s bands: energetic rhythm sections that frame unleashed improvisation from double horn front-lines.

Even more sides of Mase’s thought-through compositional ideas are evident on tracks like “Resurrection”, “Dimensional Door”, and the two-part “A Blue Green Planet I & II”. These pieces are modern and forward-looking, setting moods of otherworldliness and transcendence with uniquely mysterious and exploratory elements. On these, there is a sense of a cinematic spirit as with soulful Japanese westerns, especially in the catchy anthem “Resurrection” which was written during a period of illness for the composer.

Mase’s compositional style and focused vision may invoke the legendary Wayne Shorter, who was fascinated by pop art and comic books, space, and the unknown. Also similar is the fact that Shorter, in addition to being an early member of the aforementioned Jazz Messengers, was a tenor sax player also known for distinctive soprano sax playing and his renowned compositional genius… whether or not Shorter is an explicit influence on Mase, it’s still interesting to find similarities.

Concept albums in jazz are relatively rare, and while this album may not be considered a proper concept album with a storyline running through it (though her in-progress “Multiverse Suite” evolves the concept much more), there is definitely a strong theme and vision established here, from the colorful album design through to the fantastic music and elaborative song and liner notes. It’s clear that Hiroko Mase’s vision is also focused well beyond this first contact, expanding into her future through explorations with larger ensembles and various influences like Brazilian music, science fiction movies, and of course, the love for jazz that brings it all together.

Liner Notes

(Translated version of Hiroko Mase’s liner notes, originally in Japanese.)

When I was in music college, I heard Lester Young’s records. That was the first time I heard the music called jazz, and I can still remember what a monumental impact it had on me. What a world! After graduating, I spent every day working insanely hard to become a tenor sax player. But sadly, my chronic scoliosis got so bad that I was forced to quit performing. I stepped away from my beloved music and focused on recuperation for about 4 to 5 years. To me, jazz was such great music that when I heard it, it was hard to suppress the urge to play, so I forced myself not to listen to any music at all during that period.

At that time, there was a senior colleague who always encouraged me: Shoko Yamagishi, the leader of the band I played in before my hiatus. She planned a live performance featuring my original songs. Another senior colleague whom I had met for the first time substituted for me, Eiji Otogawa.

From my seat in the audience, I completely enjoyed the Shoko Yamagishi Quintet, and my appreciation for the musicians and the audience was unending.

Year by year my health improved, and a year after my recovery I was married to Eiji Otogawa. All things considered, I am indebted to Shoko Yamagishi. Thank you so much, Shoko!

For my restart in music, I chose the curved soprano saxophone which is less of a physical burden.

Starting from scratch, my first performance was busking in winter at Sukiyabayashi Crossing [in Ginza]. I chased down a thousand yen bill that had been blown by the wind into the middle of the intersection. I finally grabbed it, just barely, and upon looking back proudly I saw that the bassist’s nose had frozen.

Then, about four years later, I started thinking about starting my band with my original music. The Mase Hiroko Quintet was formed in July 2018. As for the members: Tenor sax Eiji Otogawa, whom I respect and trust. Genius pianist Nobumasa Tanaka, whom I have unending respect for every time we play together. On bass, Kosuke Ochiai with his unique and solid sound. On drums, Sota Kira with a beautiful timbre and magnificently addictive drumming.

It was our first time playing together, but from the moment we played the first melody… amazing!! How cool is this!? I was really excited. After the first song finished, we all had a feeling of being together as one. At that moment I decided to make a recording with this band. After that, we held live performances in and around Tokyo, and a year and a half later in the Spring of 2020 we reached the point of recording our first album, my dearest wish.

To everyone who has supported me up to now, I send my heartfelt love and gratitude: To my family, friends, musicians, club managers, customers, Tohru Fujimori (label), and Taishi Taruoka (engineer). And, to my husband Eiji Otogawa who supported me and produced, mixed, designed the CD jacket, and conducted the entire album process, thank you so much. Above all I am filled with love, gratitude, and respect for the wonderful musicians who I performed and spent time with. Thank you!! Please enjoy listening to this album!!

Hiroko Mase

1. First Contact

A song written when this quintet was formed. This song started everything, as the meeting of the members inspired and stimulated me with this piece. Here, I started to blossom as a composer. The three soloists’ enthusiastic passion is an essential characteristic of this band. The rhythm section swings with a lively beat. The day of First Contact for the Earth and the universe may be coming soon.

2. Eywa of Pandora

A piece inspired by the forest spirit “Eywa” from the movie Avatar. Spirits of light dance in a deeply beautiful and vivid forest world, and this song makes you feel the strength of life in that refreshing sensation.

3. Resurrection

This song with an orchestra accompaniment suddenly came to me while I was battling illness. At first, I thought it may be a requiem, but I thought maybe it was a sign from heaven, a sign of resurrection. The introduction starts with Kosuke Ochiai’s bass solo. Every note is engraved with moments that are uniquely and organically him.

4. Spinning Petals

A nimble rhythm and melody filled with a feeling of speed. The motif is of a scene of petals and leaves, spinning as they fall down, and the three soloists develop the scene of a changing landscape dramatically.

5. Long Road

Is life short, or is life long? No, time doesn’t really exist. As each person looks back on their life, each has their own story. Good things or bad things, life is like a journey of adventures called experiences.

6. A Blue Green Planet I

The world as seen from space. Problems like war, poverty, and racial discrimination persist. But the earth itself is beautiful as always. I wrote this song after watching the movie La Belle Verte and having my consciousness disconnected. Pianist Nobumasa Tanaka’s harmony is very beautiful.

7. A Blue Green World II
8. Get Smashed

Expressing through sound the condition of being in a drunken stupor. When viewed from the outside, being dead drunk cuts a humorous figure. To someone who declares “No more drinking!” and then quickly ends up defiantly drinking that night, I send this song to you wholeheartedly.

9. Have Fun!

The piano introductory phrases at the beginning are striking. The soprano sax solo starts with free expression to a full-throttle engine. The exhilaration of running feels so good. Eiji Otogawa’s soulful solo. He leads the band with his uniquely intense sound. Awakening the listener’s spirit, from a breathlessly suspenseful solo he passes the baton to the piano. A piano solo full of speed. The trio comes together as one, transforming freely, and powerful beats collide as the energy reaches its peak. And Sota Kira’s all-out drum solo. Combining power and beautiful tones, making use of all kinds of beats. The deep musicality, technique, and creative drumming thrills the band.

10. Dimensional Door

Opening the Dimensional Door and returning to your true self, there is a paradise of peaceful love. Bassist Ochiai leads the band with a spiritual and wonderful sound.

Looking to the Future

I have several years’ worth of musical projects inside me. This album is the first. This wonderful experience has ignited my desire to compose and awakened a variety of ideas. New sounds fusing vocals and instruments, situations imagining the universe, born naturally and progressing simultaneously. I plan to announce these three projects over the next several years. Please look forward to it.

Three Major Projects

“Mase Hiroko Quintet”

The nucleus of this project is the two-horn quintet form with great technique and thrilling interplay, a fascinating quintet.

“Mase Hiroko All Stars”

The quintet expands as additional musicians join with percussion, keyboard, electric bass, and the colorful acoustic/electric Brazilian sound of vocalist Nobie. The lyrics were co-written with Eiji Otogawa with a strong message and originality, exciting music for a unique band.

“Multiverse Suite”

A project overflowing with entertainment depicting a grand space adventure that transcends genres. The suite is made up of Episodes 1-7 which are currently in progress. A sense of cosmic sound can be felt through various visions from science fiction movies. The number of members is increased even further to become a large ensemble.

Lastly

My journey of exploring music has just begun. Building these projects together with these wonderful musicians is a beautiful, fun thing. I never thought that I could do something so difficult. But I’m gradually starting to understand that even the impossible becomes possible if you don’t give up. I want to continue to explore more interesting and exciting things. It makes me really happy if this can bring a smile to people’s faces. For everyone who picks up this CD and listens to it in some part of your everyday life, with our music close to you, I hope you have a wonderful time. With love.

September 2020

Audio and Video

• Excerpt from “Have Fun!”, track #9 on this album:

• Live performance of “Spinning Petals”, track #4 on this album:

• “Multiverse Suite 2021” Part 1:

• “Multiverse Suite 2021” Part 2:

• “Multiverse Suite 2021” Part 3:

• “Multiverse Suite 2021” Part 4:

• Excerpt from track #1: “First Contact”

In addition to playing original jazz with her long-running quartet, Moriya has also led less common formations including drummer-less trios (with sax, piano, bass), bass-less trios (sax, piano, drums), and chord-less trios (sax, bass, drums), as well as groups focused on the music of famous Japanese jazz musicians and composers.

On Uta Oto, Moriya leads a drum-less trio with pianist Nobumasa Tanaka and bassist Hiroshi Yoshino, generating a different energy with a loose, round sound without a standard quartet’s rhythmic drum hits and cymbal crashes, but a group that still creates locked-in rhythms and explosive energy when the music calls for it.

The seven tracks feature four originals, two songs by German composer Kurt Weill, and a Mongolian folk song. Soaring with authentic feelings, Miyuki’s originals: “Uta Oto” (beautiful sadness), “Art Nouveau” (lighthearted strolling), “M’s Dilemma” (wild whimsy), and “Sora wo Miru” (relaxing soulfulness). These distinctly original songs are set off by the two relatively darker Weill compositions with their staid tango and slow jazz shadows, and the atmospheric folk music with some natural and expertly wielded improvisation.

The album’s path through Moriya’s originals, traversing through two adjacent Weill songs and folk music, hints at a storytelling arc, from the multi-fold prologue through to hummable innocence, darker corners, free dissonance, human roots, and a final embrace by a soulful waltz. This journey and destination is like being welcomed to rest, comforting with feelings of home and hope. The sense of a spiritual aspect is not overt, but more like an undercurrent of soulfulness and a connection to nature displayed in both structured performance and unrestrained playing, and reinforced by the personal story laid out in the liner notes.

As for the album title and the uncommon word 詠音 (うたおと, Uta Oto), this is similar to everyday words for singing or reading (歌う, 読む). However, this word holds a deep and beautiful meaning as the sound of poetic reading from the heart with its melodic sounds or even chanting voices. This can be related to traditional Japanese poetic forms like haiku and tanka that convey deep meaning in few words with themes of nature, change, emotion, and contemplation. It adds an interesting dimension to this album, as it also makes its meaningful musical statement in poetic and soulful ways.

Liner Notes

(Translated from Miyuki Moriya’s original Japanese liner notes.)

Thank you everyone for picking up and listening to this album.

I’ve been thinking about all sorts of things every day since the unimaginable coronavirus pandemic began at the end of 2019. I myself caught the virus in November 2020 and was hospitalized for ten days after being infected.

In the middle of my hospital stay, I received a performance request from a place called No Room For Squares in Shimo-Kitazawa. While I was confined to bed and connected to an electrocardiogram, I reached out to pianist Nobumasa Tanaka and bassist Hiroshi Yoshino and asked them to play with me. That was how this group Uta Oto started.

Even though I’ve been playing music for a long time, my feelings haven’t changed that much since I first started playing jazz. I had spent my time doing as I like and at my own relaxed pace. But after being infected with the coronavirus, I realized anew that tomorrows aren’t guaranteed. I decided to try to accomplish what I want to now, as much as I can, and I asked these two musicians to record with me.

The first time I played with pianist Nobumasa Tanaka was at drummer Takeo Moriyama’s session at Lovely in Nagoya. On that day I had used up almost all my physical strength (that tends to happen every time I play with Moriyama, haha), so we ended up not speaking much afterward, and I arbitrarily imagined that Nobumasa Tanaka must be quite a scary person. But after that, when we played together at Hiroshi Yoshino’s gig, I realized that he was kind and cool with a mischievous streak and a beautiful piano style… but inside, he’s a crazy eccentric (meant in a good way, haha).

The first time I played with bassist Hiroshi Yoshino was at the famous spot Aketa no Mise in Nishi-Okigubo. I had played with many of Yoshino’s students by then, and I had often heard about Yoshi’s brilliance, so I was nervous to play with him. But from the first time we played together, I felt that Yoshino was a person as vast as the earth, who knew intensity and moreover expressed its warmth and depth through his sound. He is a broad-minded and wonderful person. Often when we perform, a strange thing happens as Yoshino can play a single note and cause a landscape to suddenly appear in front of my eyes.

That is all to explain how I’m extremely happen to be able to record this album with these two wonderful musicians.

1. 詠音うたおと (Uta Oto)

This is a song written for this group. Living creatures are reborn and become active with the sunrise. And as the earth’s blessed rain falls, and the following storm passes, calmness returns, and the sun sets… it’s that sort of a scene.

2. Art Nouveau

This is a word that refers to the new art movement that bloomed through central Europe. The song title was inspired by the song “Art Deco” by trumpeter Don Cherry. Personally speaking, I play this while fantasizing about old European streets.

3. Youkali Tango

This is a song composed for a play by the German composer Kurt Weill during his exile in Paris. It seems that Roger Fernay added French lyrics later. The lyrics describe a utopia called Youkali at the end of the world, but close at the end with the heartrending words “There is no such place anywhere”.

4. Liebeslied

Liebeslied means “love song”. This is a song composed by Kurt Weill and used in the musical play The Threepenny Opera. The flow from the intro’s bass melody into the piano theme is so beautiful and always makes me sigh no matter how many times I listen to it.

5. M’s Dilemma

The M of the title comes from the name of Mikiko Nagatake, a wonderful pianist whom I’ve had the opportunity to perform with a lot. I’ve played this song live with different people, and each time the different personalities surface with interesting developments. This time with Nobumasa and Yoshino, the rare genius of their performance took me to a new world.

6. 遥かな土地の蜃気楼 (A Mirage in a Distant Land)

Hiroshi Yoshino is active is not only jazz but various musical fields. When he introduced this Mongolian folk song to me and we played it for the first time, it felt strangely right to me. Since then it’s become one of my favorite songs. As we were making a trio recording, this was a song that I absolutely wanted to include.

7. 空を見る (Watch the Sky)

In the fall of 2020 during a period of unbearable anguish, I wrote this song as I thought about the places I missed and the people I wanted to see. On Uta Oto, it’s played as an instrumental, but there are lyrics for this song.

I’ve been living in Tokyo for about twenty years, and with coronavirus and other things piling up, it was a deeply troubling time, and for the first time last year I began to think things were impossible.

But on that day, when the three of us met and played the first notes together, the indescribable things that had been spinning around inside me for several months suddenly disappeared, turning into the utter joy of making music. In that sense, Nobumasa and Yoshino are irreplaceable lifesavers to me.

Music may not be able to cure disease, but I deeply believe that music can be a source of salvation. And I’ll continue to travel on my musical journey, striving to produce sounds that can someday make others feel that same way.

October 2021, Miyuki Moriya

(The liner notes end with a poem in Japanese. This is a humble attempt at a poetic translation to English.)

空を見る

空に手をかさねて風を見つける

花色に染まった大地を揺らす

目を閉じ思い出す小さな夢と記憶

涙で滲んだ夜にひろげた

星に手をかさねて月に詠うよ

遥か遠いあなたを思い出してる

Look at the sky

Hands together to the sky, find the wind

The flower-colored earth sways

Closed eyes recall small dreams and memories

Spread through the night blurred by tears

Hands together to the stars, sing to the moon

Remembering you, so far away

Audio and Video

• Promotional video with excerpts from all tracks on this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “詠音～うたおと～ (Utaoto)”

This two-disc album was recorded live in 2005 and captures provocative dynamic changes and soul-touching music swinging from tender pianissimo to fortissimo over vigorous drum beats and rhythm section riffs.

The ornamental twists and organic jams aim to thrill the audience and avoid falling into ruts. While Inoue provides all the compositions, the members reinterpret and occupy the music live, mixing together and shaping the music in performance in a fusion of influence, a tightrope walk of unpredictability.

As the ‘Fuse’ from fusion may imply, jazz and rock energy permeates this fiery music, yet is well-balanced with serene moments of graceful and meditative themes, as well with some unconstrained portions of free jazz.

Each disc contains four tracks with lengthy running times, a true live performance with musicians seizing and extending moments to stretch out creatively. The first set opens with a strong hook and dramatic burners on high with a multi-part suite ”Birth of Life/I Kin Ye”, followed by the refined, introspective ”Watasuge”, groove-riffs and churning bass on ”North Rider”, and the unifying rallying cry of “Witchi-Tai-To”, a tribute to one of Inoue’s influences, the great soprano saxophonist Jan Garbarek.

Disc two features four more extended tracks: the straight-forward and playfully multi-faceted “Grasshopper”, the evocative poem-like scenery of “Yoshi-Ga-Daira”, the funky exuberance of “Fireworks”, and the minimal framework of “Flood” sustaining the onrush of free group expression.

This album is the third and final Fuse release with the original members. Sadly, Toshihiko Inoue passed away in 2015, yet the remaining members continue to perform live reunions and tributes to the great saxophonist.

Audio and Video

• Video of Toshihiko Inoue performing with Fumio Karashima’s group:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Grasshopper”

Links

• Fuse jazz