Viento is saxophonist Mabumi Yamaguchi’s second release on Days of Delight following his chord-less trio recording Trinity (2022), but he’s been playing and releasing albums for over five decades. In that time, he’s worked with stellar domestic and international musicians including drummers Motohiko Hino (“best jazz drummer in Japan” award winner throughout the 1970s) and George Otsuka for a landmark 1978 tour with Kenny Kirkland (piano), John Scofield (guitar), and Miroslav Vitous (bass). His recording Mabumi (1981) also featured Kirkland and Vitous with Tony Williams (drums) joining the lineup.

Yamaguchi’s live jazz activities started in the 60s and 70s at the venerable Tokyo jazz clubs Naru and Pit Inn. It’s remarkable that after nearly fifty years, Mabumi still consistently appears for fan-favorite and fulfilling jazz sessions at Naru (stay tuned for an upcoming spotlight on that beloved jazz haven, coming soon).

His new album Viento is a collection of eight of Yamaguchi’s originals, all written with the concept of using soprano saxophone in the forefront. This characteristic makes a strong impression as Yamaguchi’s bright tones extend like tendrils of vines embedded in cracks and grooves, skillfully navigating dramatic paths and always pushing forward through songs covering straight-ahead and modern jazz terrain.

This musical landscape shifts back and forth from dark, mellow, and mysterious (#1 “Sequel to a Dream”, #2 “Evening”), to fantastical and churning (#4 “Thalia”, #6 “Viento”), and to exciting and positive (#3 “Let Your Mind Alone”, #5 “True Face”, #7 “Empty Mirror”) when the uplifting mood is heightened as the good-feeling swing or cool funk sets in. The last track, the sweetly elegant song #8 “Toi Yakusoku” (Distant Promise), closes the album perfectly with Yamaguchi and pianist Katakura playing as a duo in a sentimental rubato with a Strayhorn/Ellington-ish emotional impact.

Liner Notes

(Translated from excerpts of Akiomi Hirano’s original Japanese liner notes.)

Tomorrow a small percent different from today

If possible I don’t want to repeat what I did yesterday, I don’t want to play what I already know. So says Mabumi Yamaguchi.

“The ideal is to create from scratch each time. Of course, that’s impossible, so if I can do it just a few percent, that’s good. Even if it’s just a few percent, if I do that every time I play live and keep it going over a long time, a little bit of my personality will emerge, don’t you think?”

These humble words represent his character well. Spoken shyly and haltingly, it is hard to believe they come from a maestro who has maintained a presence at the core of Japanese jazz for half a century through many famous performances and recordings.

There is a certain quality common to truly compelling artists and creators, not just with jazz musicians. You may not see the signs of the hardships they endured through the accumulated years of severe training. Their demeanor is gentle and not arrogant.

Even when you hear their actual story, it’s rare to sense the strange hardships experienced by performers in the upper levels of their field. Perhaps there’s an aesthetic that makes it embarrassing to express difficulties through words, or maybe they don’t really think that they have suffered through hardships.

I’ve seen this in many artists and creators, and in my experience, Mabumi is of that type.

So, how on earth did Mabumi acquire the skill of making “Tomorrow a small percent different from today”?

“While playing I search for the sound. From where you are now, where do you go next? The vital point is when putting out a sound, don’t go back, move forward. You can’t turn around and go back. Concentrate on moving straight ahead down one path. That’s the ideal. While playing I’m trying things out, so of course there are plenty of mistakes, haha.”

For now, look forward. Don’t look back.

…

The first thing that strikes me from the outset is that soprano saxophone is played through the entire album.

Actually, for a long time now I’ve found it strange that there are so few albums with an “all-soprano” format. This may be due to some players and listeners who regard the soprano sax as a substitute instrument brought in for a change. But to someone like me who is an avid soprano sax fan, it’s an extremely appealing format.

Furthermore, Mabumi’s tone is undeniably beautiful. His soprano has an expressive power that ranks among the best in the world of Japanese jazz. It is perfectly matched to his original compositions, as well. Mabumi’s originals all possess his distinctive personality, but when played with soprano, they take on an intelligent and floating quality that is especially fascinating. For this album, we decided to collect original songs which were written to be performed on soprano sax.

Regardless, why I am so attracted to Mabumi Yamaguchi’s original compositions? What does he think about when he is writing a song? What makes a song have good or bad qualities in the first place…?

What are the conditions for a good song? When I asked about this, this is what Mabumi said to me.

“For example, Wayne Shorter’s ‘Footprints’ is very simple, but just like Charlie Parker’s ‘Now’s the Time’, it is a masterpiece ingrained in jazz history. The amazing thing is that even though the motif is simple, it is fashioned into a large piece of music. With just a few phrases you can feel the size of it. It’s because there is strength in the theme. It’s the same with Charlie Chaplin’s ‘Smile’, right?”

Now that I think about it, the theme of “Footprints” certainly does have a mysterious power. It’s hummable, and it stays in your head. It’s the same as the one from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Even though it’s been decades since I’ve seen the movie, those five notes are unforgettable. Maybe a masterpiece is something that affects a person’s brainstem like this.

“I want to create themes or motifs that are simple and strong. Of course, it’s not easy. There are many fragments of tunes that I’ve scribbled down at home, but if the seeds don’t have that strength, I have to toss them out.”

The magnetism of Mabumi Yamaguchi’s songwriting is that he grasps the “vital point of songwriting”, and he is steadfast in following through without compromise.

…

Making “tomorrow a small percent different from today” requires a tough spirit to resist the temptation to pass the ball back, a strong will and concentration to maintain the drive to create, excellent leadership to draw out talent, and above all, the integrity of a jazz musician who wants to constantly evolve.

When I see Mabumi Yamaguchi, I feel this keenly. And the next generation of top players are watching this figure. They are taking him in as a role model. There’s no doubt that this structure is a valuable resource for the world of Japanese jazz.

Akiomi Hirano (Days of Delight)

Founder/Producer

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Live solo performance of “Thalia”, track #4 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #5: “True Face”

Links

• Days of Delight record label

• Days of Delight album releases (e-onkyo music)

• Days of Delight videos

Ishida’s compositions and playing contain a great balance of tradition and novelty. His style clearly reflects both the influence of and reverence for the great legends of jazz piano, but much like his fondness for wordplay and puns, he adds fine touches and subtle changes to his music to avoid playing simple imitations of jazz in the past. As an example, in several of his tunes, the chord changes or melody turn in slightly unexpected directions, intelligently and not jarringly so, with a catchy exuberance or in graduated shadings.

A quick description of the tracks and album flow includes the patient and thematic #1 “Minor”, the springy joyfulness of #2 “Chatchar”, the serious and touching nature of #3 “Donfattan” (a portmanteau of Tokyo jazz bars Donfan and Manhattan), the pretty and bobbing #4 “Crucian Carp Waltz”, the goofy good-naturedness of #5 “Mr. Airhead”, the start-and-stop dreaminess of #6 “Leo”, the laidback smoky bossa of #7 “Afterglow”, the jazz-standardish purity of #8 “SMNY-EKD”, the curiosity and back-and-forth steps of #9 “Pia-Tamu” (possibly referring to pianist-Tamura, plus “Ah Um” perhaps), and the good old blues groove of #10 “Blues for AH”.

The style is exquisite straight-ahead piano trio jazz with modern touches, at times bringing in influences from Hancock and Corea, Thelonious Monk, Vince Guaraldi, Charles Mingus, and Red Garland in the compositional choices and the trio’s playing. Along with the controlled moments of patient prettiness and lovely ballads are mid- and up-tempo brightness, jazz that is freewheeling and bouncing in pure pleasure. Ishida’s creative ad-libbing is original and comfortable, spontaneously flowing while in control.

Likewise, the occasional moments when a quote of a familiar theme pops up, or when listeners are draped in blankets of notes or swept up into a high-note range, are all the more effective as ideas develop and an overall effect of dynamism and real-time improvisation is achieved.

As for Days of Delight, this new label was created to promote Japanese jazz in a new era. It’s a project dedicated to the sound of Japanese jazz delivered through the curation of authentic jazz currently being played in Japan. Built on this foundation, the label strives to renew the feeling of the great era of 1970s Japan, when Japanese jazz was carving out new territory through originality and landmark recordings.

Label founder and producer Akiomi Hirano’s liner notes for Afterglow are fittingly illuminating of this direction for jazz, as well as Ishida’s skills: his unique presence, neat way of speaking and playing, individuality, refinement, and poetic sentiment. And above all, how Ishida doesn’t play notes without thinking, but stays calm, concentrates, and maintains control over the big picture.

Liner Notes

(Translated from excerpts of Akiomi Hirano’s original Japanese liner notes.)

…

In fact, he is the pianist who is most removed from the style of playing by rote, temporarily filling up the space with patterns or scales. There is never the sense of playing something without meaning, or getting carried away and just goofing around.

He doesn’t have “just for now” or “good enough” modes, like “For the time being, let’s do this…” or “This probably should sound like this here”… This is a not uncommon scene at some live performances, but not with him.

“I don’t want to put out a single note on wasted sounds.” That’s the spirit I feel in his performance. To play without having fingers just moving on their own, without jazz being carried along by reflexes or momentum, but wanting to always remain composed and present and have a high-level view. To maintain the tension while in a constant state of awareness. That’s what he seems to be thinking to me.

These are the roots of Mamoru Ishida that I want to release with a high level of purity. I want to capture his unique characteristics in high resolution. This is what I was thinking when I made him this offer to record as a piano trio with all original songs. This recording is packed full of Mamoru Ishida’s aesthetic sense, presented as is in its purest form.

…

“I think I had the same ideas [back then as I do now], but I didn’t have the ability to play what I heard in my head,” says Mamoru Ishida.

When I asked what he meant by ability, he immediately responded “Time.” He said, “I struggled with myself, wondering why things weren’t sounding good, and eventually realized that the problem was time—it was a matter of time.”

You can never master time to the extent that you are not playing alongside great musicians. However, when you’re actually in that situation, you can end up being filled with nervousness and overcome by the intensity of their rhythms. You can become confused and rattled, and suddenly realize that you are the one rushing.

In the midst of that challenge, he realized an important point.

“When I was able to relax normally, there was a moment when I thought ‘Ah, it’s the first time that I was able to reach them!’ It was like being able to calmly follow a ball that was coming no matter the trajectory it was on…”

Mamoru Ishida was able to reach his current level by playing together with respected mentors and acquiring the vital points of time, rhythm, and groove. He tangibly grasped the lesson that “the most important thing in jazz is to swing”. This became possible once he was able to be free from tension.

When you’re relaxed, you can visualize the ball’s trajectory. When you become able to relax, you can concentrate. That’s what Mamoru Ishida is saying.

It’s often thought that tension is necessary for concentration, but it’s completely the opposite. Elite athletes do not tense up during a match and do not exert unnecessary force. Relaxation is an essential condition for concentration.

Because of this concentration, he can avoid playing unnecessary notes. The moment the concentration breaks is when the “just for now” or “good enough” ideas surface. A strong ability to concentrate is probably what allows Mamoru Ishida to continue radiating his unique style while maintaining tension in his music.

Furthermore, he calmly possesses a bird’s eye view of the situation while in control of his playing, even while immersed in a performance with a high level of concentration. I believe that the only way to guarantee graceful playing like his is nothing other than this kind of cool and collected manner, and this is what intelligence in jazz is.

“As much as I can, I try not to play sounds that I don’t hear in my head.”

“If I play a note that doesn’t come from inside, even if it sounds good on the surface, everyone can tell that it is inauthentic. That’s disrespectful to the listeners and to the music. Above all, it’s just kind of tasteless to perform music that you can’t hear yourself, isn’t it?”

This is jazz pianist Mamoru Ishida’s most important priority.

…

Audio and Video

• Mamoru Ishida Trio playing “Minor” live, track #1 on this album:

• Mamoru Ishida Trio playing #9 “Pia-Tamu” (short excerpt):

• Excerpt from track #2: “チャッチャー(Chatchar)”

Links

• Days of Delight record label

• Days of Delight album releases (e-onkyo music)

• Days of Delight videos

With eight original songs penned by Yamaguchi, the music is solid, confident, dramatic, and melodically entrancing. From the gripping opening track “Sequel To A Dream”, the songs flow with a fantastic balance of stimulation and control, offering various styles from peppy bossa rhythms, loose, modern swing, sweet ballads, and brightly positive tunes mixed with stimulating dark tinges.

Liner Notes

(Translation of an excerpt from Yo Nakagawa’s original Japanese liner notes.)

***

This is an album that was recorded two months after Mabumi decided to do it. He said something like “I just suddenly felt like doing it”. All of the recorded songs are Mabumi’s originals, and I would like to describe them using his own words.

“Sequel to a Dream”

With its beautiful melody, Mabumi’s soprano sax, and the opportunity to hear each member playing, it’s the perfect opening number. “It’s a song I wrote at the end of 2016 and made minor changes by performing it live. When I compose, the ideas come to me through music I’ve been listening to as well as being delivered through particles in the air, but when finishing I sit at the piano and I wring it out by the process of “not this, not that”. (In conversation with Mabumi Yamaguchi)

“Little Sorrow”

“In general I think samba has a strong image of being bright and cheerful, but this spring I composed a samba with a bit of sadness in it.”

“Let Your Mind Alone”

The album title track is both beautiful and heartrending. “I’ve also played this with Masahiko Sato and Mayuko Katakura. This song, written three years ago, is best suited when played as a duo with piano than with a band, I think.”

“Incantation”

“This title has the meaning of a spell. The melody almost sounds like a spell, so I chose this title.” It’s clear that Mabumi Yamaguchi is also part of the current jazz trend that has followed Mark Turner.

“Aerial Passage”

“I wrote about half of this in 2015 and finished it up for this. It’s the path of airflow, and while there’s a rhythm, I imagined a feeling like the soft weightlessness of air.”

“The Plot II”

“The Plot” is a song composed about thirty years ago for the SQUAD led by Motohiko Hino and Yoshio Suzuki. This number is the second part of that, and the dialogue between the rhythm section and Mabumi Yamaguchi is so enjoyable.

“Carmen”

“This is a song I wrote about 14-15 years ago when I had a session with some rock musicians at Shinjuku Pit Inn. I changed the keyboard part to piano as well as experimented with changing the pattern.” It’s a really interesting result where a modern beat can be felt.

“Arm of the Sea”

“I composed this song for the doctor and famous pianist Hiroshi Irie (1955-2014). He was a genius talent, particularly when it came to rhythms.” The improvisation is filled with tears and touches the heart.

***

While many of the musicians are young and may not be generally well-known, they are without exception talented musicians who are definitely polishing their skills. Good performances are heard throughout the entire album. Mabumi Yamaguchi introduces the members:

Yoshitaka Shoji (guitarist, 1960, from Kanagawa Prefecture). In a word, “authentic” definitely comes to mind.

Misato Okumura (pianist, 1981, from Osaka Prefecture). When I’m playing a solo and I hear her comping, I feel like we’re dancing a tango (of course, I’ve never actually danced a tango).

Ryohei Komaki (bassist, 1981, from Kagoshima Prefecture). The type of bassist I’ve been waiting for a long time has appeared. I think that he has tremendous potential.

Nobuyuki Komatsu (drummer, 1977, from Niigata Prefecture). A drummer supporting the Japanese jazz scene. We’ve been working together for about twenty years and I’m looking forward to even more leaps and bounds.

After finishing this album, Mabumi Yamaguchi said his appetite for composing was spurred on and that he wants to write more music after this. May that rising immersive happiness continue on from here.

Audio and Video

• Mabumi Yamaguchi quartet performing live in 2010:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Sequel to a Dream”