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”

Ito’s trio is a piano-bass-percussion combo, and their music is robust and detailed, soulfully rugged. The sounds from Gen Ogimi’s percussion kit are a change from the regular drum kit that is de rigueur for jazz piano trios, and the sounds of hand drums alongside the snare, toms, and cymbals add a lot of character and color to the music. Intuitively linked to the pulse and beat is bassist Benisuke Sakai, who enhances the rhythms through his firmly connected upright bass with both grounded and adventurous playing.

On top of everything is pianist Shikou Ito, whose unrestrained style reflects his professional technique and wide experience with many jazz, pop, and non-genre musicians, not to mention his captivating free solo improvisations on other albums and live performances. On Kakusareta Guwa, Ito’s nine original compositions are filled with atmosphere and mystery. He writes and plays as if he is pulling inspiration from ancient secrets and foreign cultures to fashion new sounds from ethnically rich legends.

For example, through his written melodies, Ito deftly plays twists, ornaments, and scales that, in certain places, seem to have characteristics of Middle Eastern melodies and Latin traditions. Uncommon time signatures with odd meters, extra measures, and interludes are written into his music as well, enhancing the storytelling effect and increasing the musical and rhythmic interest. Ito’s use of prepared piano and damping the piano strings using one hand while playing with the other, adds an extra timbre of metallic shimmering from the altered tones. All together, Trio Syncretia’s playing is rooted in jazz with a vibrant personality aligned towards the image of secret, hidden fables described by the title.

True to the ideal of artistic independence, Ito is uncompromising with his music. Although all his song titles here are in Japanese, just as with the album title, the song titles are also written with English translations on the back cover:

1. echoed under the hazy moon - 朧月に谺す (Oborozuki ni kodama su)
2. star reading dreamscape - 星読みの夢 (Hoshiyomi no yume)
3. the judge and the empress - 審判と女帝 (Shinpan to nyotei)
4. undine’s nocturnes - ウンディーネのノクターン (Undīne no nokutān)
5. sylphes’ rhapsody - シルフォのラプソディー (Shirufo no rapusodī)
6. alchemy fire place - アヌノル（錬金戸）(Anunoru (renkin to))
7. gnome’s elegy - グノームのエレジー (Gunōmu no erejī)
8. salamander’s dance - サラマンドルダンス (Saramandorudansu)
9. searching for tweeting birds - 鳴鳥を探して (Meichō o sagashite)

Themes from these titles include nature, fantasy, and musical ideas, but taken as a whole, the tales told through allegorical stories-shaded are evocative and, just like Trio Syncretia’s music, absorbing and thrilling.

Audio and Video

• Studio recording from Shikou Ito Trio Syncretia’s 2017 album 毒ある寓話 (Doku aru guwa) from 2018:

• A dance set to music by Trio Syncretia:

• “Take the A Train” (Shikou Ito solo piano):

• “Everything Happens to Me” (Shikou Ito solo piano):

• Excerpt from track #1: “朧月に谺す (Look at the Moon)”

Her storied journey includes forays in the bands of renowned Brazilian bass player Luizão Maia (partnered with Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Elis Regina, and others—coincidentally, Nobie’s even been described as “the Japanese Elis Regina”), Soil & Pimp Sessions pianist Josei’s Alma+ band, famous Brazilian guitarist Toninho Horta, influential Beninese guitarist Lionel Loueke, and the popular Japanese jazz/samba/fusion of Shinichi Kato’s B-Hot Creations.

For years, she has been primarily known for her beautiful singing voice among her wealth of talents, appearing on stage as a vocalist with various bands and collaborations. She has been more prominent as a leader in her own right since making her name with her 2011 debut album Primary. Since this release, she has continued to be active with live shows and recorded music, and her latest album Owari to Hajimari, a primarily guitar/vocal duo album, was just released last year.

Primary knits together Nobie’s rich musical background, influences, and musical loves through eleven selections made up of six of her originals and five cover songs. Being described as “stylish jazz and bossa nova” would be easy but definitely too simple, as Nobie’s palette, controlled articulation, and intentions are much more colorful and vivid. In fact, only three of the songs on this album delve into obvious Latin territory at the very start, middle, and end of the album.

When not jamming it up and getting down with Brazilian guitars and rhythms, the sound of the music varies as the musicians combine in different forms. With acoustic and electric blends, the propulsive group sound is based on acoustic piano and guitars, electric keyboards and guitars, drums and percussion, and subtle effects. Through it all, her clear voice, deceptively light and airy, infuses the music with gentle elegance and soaring grace with pinpoint accuracy, leading the band and the music effortlessly through its moods.

Here is a brief map of the album’s tracks with forgivably brief descriptions: Brazilian guitars and voices with infectious riffs and rhythms (#1 “Shinkansen”, #5 “Arigatou”, #11 “Wind From Minas”), layered ethereal trips floating on fusion jazz (#4, “Loop”, #7 “Black Narcissus”, #10 “Minami e”), smooth jazz (#6 “Letter”, #9 “Oceano”), unforgettable pop (#2 “Blackbird”, #3 “Human Nature”), and a heart-heavy love song (#8 “Tarde”).

The cover songs include Lennon/McCartney’s ever-popular “Blackbird”, Michael Jackson’s hit “Human Nature”, and Joe Henderson’s mesmerizing “Black Narcissus”. Perhaps most importantly, her influences for /Primary /also include Toninho Horta (specifically mentioned on the obi sleeve), the Brazilian guitarist/singer who, along with friend and musical partner Milton Nascimento, is a giant in the Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) genre. Horta joins Nobie on the first and last tracks (Horta’s “Shinkansen” and Nobie’s “Wind From Minas”), lending his expert Brazilian guitar and voice to two of the album highlights.

No stranger to juggling genres, Nobie’s live shows are dynamic and unpredictable with the mixing of familiar favorites with unexpected gifts, from Brazilian and pop to the deep jazz catalog, from Sting and Jimi Hendrix to McCoy Tyner, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, and Airto Moreira.

In live settings when playing rearranged covers or her originals, her skills include playing with complex rhythms and time signatures with an innately accurate musical sense. On Primary, beats and time signatures are relatively straightforward, pinned down with easily absorbed grooves. Still, even when reigned in, the sense of strong time control from Nobie and her band is penetrating.

Also, in addition to her singing of song lyrics, her voice often transcends words into free-form scatting, nimble improvisations, and rhythmic vocalizations with pops, clicks, trills, chirps, hoots, growls, and whispers.

These ear-catching sounds are further extended through her impressive skills with simultaneous percussion playing of caxixi (shaker), hand drums, and similar physical instruments, and even remarkably simulating percussion sounds and rhythms with her voice between phrases and lyrics. When bringing the mood down, however, her gentle voice exudes exquisite calmness, guiding listeners into a meditative peace and stillness similar to “Loop” on this album.

At live shows, Nobie switches between singing in Portuguese, Japanese, English, or voice-as-an-instrument wordless vocalizations, as suits the material or her spontaneous mood.

Similarly, on Primary, Nobie sings in Japanese for five tracks, English for three (fitting the finely-rearranged Beatles and Michael Jackson songs and Nobie’s storytelling love song “Letter”), Portuguese on one, and with instrumental voice on “Black Narcissus” (appropriately sax-like), “Shinkansen” (with train station names appearing near the end, naturally), and “Wind From Minas”, closing the album just like it begins, with irresistible rhythms and addictively lovable singing.

Audio and Video

• Nobie performing #1 “Shinkansen” live with Toninho Horta:

• Nobie performing #1 “Shinkansen” live with Shikou Ito and Kohzo Komori:

• Nobie performing #5 “Arigatou” live with Shikou Ito and Kohzo Komori:

• Excerpt from track #4: “Loop”

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”