While Abe’s band name “Life Memory Project” sounds as if it could be a type of memorial service product that adjoins death and melancholy (the mistaken assumption I originally had), it has a completely different meaning centered around life. The concept represents his goal of capturing and directing the daily events and life changes through his music. It’s similar to how a dairy is used to record the days’ happenings, but instead of capturing the past in notes, Abe directs his music and life forward by intention through his compositions, recorded music, and live events. It’s like a forward-looking planning system specifically constructed to pay attention to the immeasurably special value of each day.

The Simplicity is a 44-minute album contains seven tracks, five originals from Abe and two jazz covers. Right from the start and through to the last track, you can sense the fun the musicians are having on with medium- and up-tempo modern organ-flavored hybrid of jazz and rock with elements of funk. It swings with a solid beat generated by the bubbling-over drums, heavy organ bass lines, and warmly dense organ harmonies. Through it all, Abe’s good-natured slippery and screaming sax adds fire to the mix.

From the foundation of the type of jazz organ music that creates a living-room party atmosphere (visions of Jimmy Smith’s House Party are embedded in me, no doubt), the music is straightforwardly simple and enjoyable. Yet, as Abe’s roots come from funk, he adds freshness by incorporating additional arranged inserts, curves, and synchronized band hits. The immense sound of the jazz organ, with its different chunky riffs and percussive and expressive vibrato, is a big part of the music, as is the consistently nimble and active drums rhythms that knit and surround the music. Still, Abe handily controls the scene with his fluid and unrestrained long lines of quick improvisation over it all.

In addition to Abe’s five original compositions, two jazz covers are included as jazz touchstones: “I Remember You” (Victor Schertzinger/Johnny Mercer) and “Caravan” (Juan Tizol/Duke Ellington) are handled in a standard way to frame sax, organ, and drum solos, also with enough slight rearrangements and vamps to add Abe’s personalty, and that of his Life Memory Project trio’s sound, to the classic songs.

The songs stay immersed in that fun and funky swing jazz zone, sometimes alternating with the occasional Latin sections and interludes, on most of the music: #1 “The Simplicity”, #2 “I Remember You”, #3 “Believe in Yourself”, #5 “New Beginning”, and #7 “Caravan” are all cut from that mode. The two slower songs, #4 “Utsukushiki Hibi e” (To the Beautiful Days) and #6 “See You Around”, at slower church and ballad tempos respectively, add some healthy bluesy repose. Throughout the album the music moves forward and engages, and nothing distracts from Toshiki Abe Life Memory Project’s concentrated fun and positive energy. Perhaps that is the simple, singular, and satisfying concept expressed by the album title.

I recently asked Toshiki Abe his about the memories he had of Life Memory Project’s first album. Without hesitation, he responded about how fast they formed and recorded their first album, almost as one continuous action. The style and content of response reinforced the themes I had picked up on, that of forward-thinking, positive energy, and a hands-on, can-do attitude, all of which no doubt resulted in an instant simplicity of purpose.

Audio and Video

• Video of the recording of track #1 “The Simplicity”:

• Video of the recording of track #5 “New Beginning”:

• Live version of #4 “Utsukushiki Hibi e”:

• Excerpt from track #7: “Caravan”

This particular album of hers was released under the Sayaka Kishi Trio name and is a follow-up to the same trio’s previous recording Life Is Too Great (2019). Also as such, the trio music on this album tends towards primarily jazz influences. Meanwhile, her other recent releases with various groups (piano/cello, piano/vocals, congos/vibraphone/piano, sax/organ/drums, etc) span colorful moods with different instrumentalists playing across genres.

Invoking the simple pleasures of chewing bubble gum with a playful, mild rebelliousness, the ten tracks start excitedly with the peppy opener “I Miss the Blue Sky”, pop-funk of “Bubble Gum”, and the calm and memorable “Noite Azul” moving in five-four time. The nine Kishi compositions (and one cover song) subtly reflect Kishi’s humorous personality while being mindfully crafted with nuanced changes, rhythmic surprises, and unexpected elements tucked away in corners throughout the album.

The opening track’s first section, for example, launches from a bouncing and carefree theme and immediately moves to a two-minute swinging conversation between bass and drums as the harmonic underpinning moves through several musical keys. Variety, twists, and sharp ideas continue to play out inconspicuously throughout Kishi’s music, like her unique spice or secret ingredient.

The next four songs “Wondering Bird”, “It’s My Jameson”, “Sora wo Kakeru”, and “Three Sails” continue to explore fun terrain with jazz moods infused with folky country, groovy shuffle, Bacharachesque emotive pop, and jazz/Latin bop in a Horace Silver hue. The music feels bright and brisk and is especially enhanced by the captivating dynamics, strength, and skills of Yasukagawa’s bass and Yamada’s drums.

Guest vocalist Hiroe Kobayashi (her partner in the group Sul Madrugada and their 2022 release Luar) adds evocative vocals and lyrics to the next song, #8 “Asas Brancas” for a cheery foreign trip, continuing into Chucho Valdez’s “Mambo Influenciado” for some rousing peaks. Finally, the album closes with Kishi’s “Hope of 2022” for a smooth and laidback finale, sweet as dessert.

Audio and Video

• Sayaka Kishi Trio playing her composition “Kin no Bitou” in 2019:

• D-musica page for this album with audio samples

• Excerpt from track #1: “I Miss the Blue Sky”

Luar is a sparkling album with a running time of 45 minutes and contains a mix of original and Brazilian selections. Three songs from Brazilian artists are included, and the four original compositions also convey bona fide South American influences with slow ballads, catchy pop, and uptempo samba. The one exception to the theme is Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, played with a laidback midtempo groove for a mid-album refreshment.

While Kobayashi uses some English and Japanese lyrics, the vocalist mostly sings in Portuguese as on the covers of “Caminho das Águas”, “Encontros e Despedidas”, and “Flor de Lis”. Yet more often, the versatile Kobayashi enjoys vocalizing without words, adding nicely textured organic layers to the music with colorful oohs, aahs, and laas to build up the sound by using her voice as an additional instrument.

Similar to the musicians’ other albums, the songwriting on Luar is one of the main attractions. Kobayashi supplies two originals with tracks #1 and 3: “Primavera de Batana” soars lightly, with pretty harmonizing of voice, piano, and keyboard, and on “Canto de Céu”, the vocalist combines a poetry-like reading with guitar, keyboard, and distant choral singing for a wandering ambience.

Pianist Kishi’s original songs include the spiritual colors of “Luar”, the light pop of “Morning Blend”, and the spicy energy of “Early Samba”, which brings to mind another of Kishi’s groups Conviano, a popular and exciting Latin-based trio made up of conga, vibraphone, and piano.

Along with her songwriting, Kishi’s skill at juggling various instruments like piano, keyboard, and percussion is impressive. This sort of fluidity also extends to Sul Madrugada’s live shows, where Kobayashi and Kishi switch positions between acoustic piano and electric keyboard or guitar for selected songs. This vitality and variation are elemental to their absorbing music, engaging the audience like the attractive pull of heavenly bodies, sun and moon.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for “Early Samba”, track #7 on this album and the title of a four-song mini-album from Sul Madrugada:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Primavera De Batata”

At live events, Arco’s magnetic charm never fails to rouse the crowd with their thought-out arrangements of touching music with irresistible good cheer. The duo connects with talent and pure sentiment, folding chords and melodies with deep feeling through classical/pop hybrids and moments of freewheeling fun.

While the music is based on piano and cello, the duo does occasionally add surprises and extra effects using hand percussion, melodion keyboard, cello bow chops, and deep thumps and slaps on the cello’s wooden body.

On Live At Yoncha, the set kicks off with an original tune, the fiery “Fiesta”, followed by an elegantly reworked “Pachelbel’s Canon”, Eric Clapton’s “Change The World”, the fascinating and dramatic “Libertango”, and closes with two more originals: Mayumi Sano’s “Elegy” is an emotional ballad with wonderfully heavy long cello notes, while Sayaka Kishi’s “Dai Ni No Furusato” is a charming pop ballad with a flowery sweetness.

Audio and Video

• Video from a live Arco performance:

• Excerpt from track #4: “Libertango”

Opening with overdubbed cello playing a classical Bach theme, the duo kicks into their otherwise all-original songs featuring their airy style vibrating with positivity and passion. The duo is practiced at producing heady pop with classical influences and a definite pulse. Kishi and Sano’s originals are satisfyingly balanced, with moods shifting like wind through the trees with endearing waltzes, fiery Latin movements, and beautifully poignant and sweet melodies. Although the duo focuses on piano and cello arrangements, some minimal additions of percussion clappers and melodion keyboard add spice to enhance the pure music experience.

Also featured on this well-crafted album of uplifting music is the icing on the cake of a three-part theme by cellist Sano - “Fragment: Wind”, “Fragment: Journey” and “Fragment: Bud” - reappearing on three tracks interspersed throughout the album, a gentle tune evoking hope for the future and appreciation for the past and present.

Audio and Video

• Live performance from Arco:

• Excerpt from track #3: “Fiesta”

Active in many groups and collaborations, Kishi returns to the classic piano trio form on Life Is Too Great and leads a powerhouse jazz trio, showcasing talent and songwriting with new original tunes, with the ever-hardy, invigorating Ryoji Orihara on fretless bass and crisp rhythmic master Akira Yamada on drums.

From the swinging modern-jazz opener “DON PAPA”, the trio sparks a fire, and with such variety on the album highlights abound: the smooth fusion groove “Kin No Doto”, the darkly dramatic and tense “Madoka”, and the snappy up-beat samba “Palette” are all addictively ear-catching tunes. In addition, the album includes cleverly-arranged jazz on “I Have A Dream”, Sayaketts-style funky pop jazz on “Trip! or Tweet?”, and honestly sweet ballads on “Life Is Too Great” and “Dai Ni No Furosato”, a great album-closer full of emotion and charm.

In addition to her eight original offerings, three cover songs are included: Chick Corea’s “La Fiesta”, Thelonious Monk’s “Evidence”, and the jazz standard “Guilty”, performed as a dreamy piano solo.

On Life Is Too Great, Kishi’s tunes and performances are great and full of life, prismatic and memorable, befitting this polished modern jazz trio.

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “DON PAPA”

About half of the 13 songs on this album are upbeat, funky, and energized with the sounds of keyboards, piano, electric bass, and drums: glittery music full of energetic live and rock beats. Aside from the fun jams, other songs are charmingly cute and positive (“Iris”, “GAME”) with others crafted to be deeply serious and dramatic scene-stealing compositions (“Dilemma”, “Tegami”, “Toki No Itazura”, “Guzen No Waltz”). While the mood shifts are frequent, the variety of colors explored leaves a rich and lasting impression of fun, welcoming, and engaging music.

Audio and Video

• Sayaketts playing live in 2013:

• Excerpt from track #8: “ビチグソロック (Bichiguso Rock)”

Audio and Video

• Promotional video with samples from the album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “Asymmetry”

This album’s printed title feat.手 (“Featuring Hands”) fittingly describes the pianist’s concept, to create a fun jazz album showcasing original compositions for piano (and hands) with jazz, pop, and classical influences. As the songs play out, one gets the feeling of dipping into Kishi’s deep store of originals, ranging from upbeat energy to comfortable dreaminess with several musical genres melded together. Along with her compositions, the album closes with a graceful rendition of the traditional ballad “Danny Boy”.

Although this is mostly a solo piano album spotlighting Kishi and her music, two additional musicians join in on several tracks. Cellist Mayumi Sano performs with Kishi on three songs, presenting an early version of the piano-cello duo Arco who will go on to release Asymmetry in 2017 - track 3 “Hanaga Sakumade” (“Until the Flowers Bloom”) is a definite album highlight which features the pair. Vocalist Aya Kurosawa also adds her lovely, resonant vocals on one track. Overall, the 13 songs on this album offer a fun and creative exploration of the mind of a Japanese pianist and her compositions.

Audio and Video

• A solo performance of track #3, “Inori Featuring Te”:

• Track #9, “Hanaga Sakumade” featuring Sakaka Kishi and Mayumi Sano (Arco):

• Excerpt from track #1: “up to you”