The jazzy swing music is easy to get into being so likable, simple, and uncomplicated in the best way. It’s classic jazz piano trio music played by Ozawa on piano, Yusuke Yaginuma on drums, and the two bassists Koji Yasuda and Takumi Awaya, who share bass line duties on different tracks. One song, “I Wanna Be a Duck!”, also features vocalist Ema singing Ozawa’s wondrously imagined original lyrics.

Referencing the title of Cheers! again, the musical mood has that celebratory feel of kicking off a party together, the shared good-will of plans to make time together well spent. Also like a party, the colors of the different songs are various and vibrant while mostly staying true to the straight-ahead orthodoxy of swing, bop, and groove-based jazz.

The majority of the songs are original compositions from Ozaka. Track #1 “Introduction” starts strong and gets into a fun light swing that glows with positive energy. #2 “Poppin’” combines smooth and grit with an infectious rhythm and a nicely decorated arrangement. Next, “Stella By Starlight”, one of the two standards on the album, is a brief intermission-style piano solo, slow and ruminative. Track #4, “Serendipity”, glides through a waltz beat with beautiful, serious harmonies with graceful touches.

Track #5 is “Something Like That”, an upbeat and addictive highlight with a riff based on a Northeastern Brazilian Baião rhythm with syncopated melodic hits and harmonic whorls. #6 “My Old Grandad” is a tender ballad, soft and pretty. The sole vocal song is next, and “I Wanna Be a Duck!” rises as the liveliest voice in the cheering section that takes on a silly-seeming waltz with a pure sweetness at its core.

Another highlight is #8 “M’s Mark”, a song that leans toward the hard bop corner of piano trio jazz with nods towards the groovy Blue Note sounds of pianists like Sonny Clark and Horace Silver. The familiar jazz tune “Time After Time” follows with more light-fingered and crisp swing. Closing the set is Ozawa’s “Dear Gene”, full of the deep soul and jazzy blues of the with a style somewhere between Herbie Hancock and Oscar Peterson. This closer is dedicated to the highly regarded jazz pianist Gene Harris, who Ozawa draws inspiration from here as she digs in with bluesy power and obvious pleasure.

Online Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese online introduction to this album.)

This is the debut album from a young pianist of the classic jazz tradition who regularly plays at Blue Note Place in Tokyo!

This recording centers around her original material, rich in variety, and delivered by her usual trio with complete and reliable trust.

In addition to two famous jazz standards, the songs include her blues number “Poppin’” with its second-line rhythm, her charming “I Wanna Be a Duck!” featuring vividly imaginative lyrics and singer Ema’s bright and cheerful voice, and “Dear Gene” which is dedicated to the beloved pianist Gene Harris. The tradition of classic jazz is respected through all ten songs while presenting an authentic portrait of Saki Ozawa.

Audio and Video

• “Introduction” (track #1):

• “Poppin’” (track #2):

• “M’s Mark” (track #8) - live performance from 2023:

• “Time After Time” (track #9) - live performance from 2023:

• Full playlist (YouTube)

• Excerpt from track #5: “Something Like That”

The album’s eight tracks consist of seven Katakura originals and one cover song to close the set, an instrumental version of singer Abbey Lincoln’s “Being Me.” Karakura’s music is pure trio propulsion, muscular, raw, and risk-taking. Other emotions and impressions generated while listening to this music include the words heavy yet facile, determined and pointed. Whatever the subjective descriptions imply, it’s completely enjoyable, straight-ahead J Jazz coolness.

Track #1, “A Dancer’s Melancholy” (also featured on Katakura’s releases Faith and The Echoes of Three) is fantastically rich. #2 “The Duality of My Soul” is adventurously complex. #3 “Merciful Eyes” is a beautiful soft ballad. #4 “Dusk” is a thrilling backward-facing rollercoaster ride in deep groove gear.

#5 “Pursuit” evokes the forward momentum of an edge-of-your-seat chase scene where the influence of McCoy Tyner rises close to the surface. #6 “The Circle of Color Emotions”, like #4, is another riveting musical-mind-expanding highlight. Similarly, #7 “Canvas”, picks up the reins of track #5 and continues laying out exhilarating speed riffs in the improvisations and rhythms.

Finally, the last track #8 “Being Me” is a sweet and slow ballad, played with a fully romantic sentiment. In this vulnerable setting, Lincoln’s original lyrics seem to come through Katakura’s wordless piano notes, singing a personal meditation on self-discovery and acceptance, and possibly referencing (somehow) the duality of this great pianist’s own musical soul.

Audio and Video

• Excerpt from track #2: “The Duality Of My Soul”

As foreshadowed by the album’s opening with a stage-setting deep bass solo, this album is quietly tenacious, and the music initially settles in subtly but quickly sinks its hooks in. The compositional variation, the exciting instrumental solos and tradeoffs, and some brief moments of dual improvisation and free chaos, all contribute to the high repeatability of this package, tempting you back to play it again.

Through fifty minutes and seven tracks on II, the modern swing rhythms, melodic lines, and structural elements briefly give hints of 1950s and 60s Blue Note sounds, with its dynamically-charged drum palettes and bass grounding, cutting-edge piano framing, and captivating horn lines, recalling the hard bop albums from Lee Morgan, Kenny Dorham, and other jazz messengers.

As a trombone leader’s debut album, it’s probably no surprise that the influence of the great jazz trombonist J. J. Johnson is also evident, particularly on Johnson’s beautiful tune “Lament”, a pensive ballad played with genuine feeling by Haruta and the quintet. This ballad, along with Strayhorn’s “Day Dream”, provides lovely slower moments that are set against the other higher-energy tracks. These five tracks are invigorating and memorable, with a hard bop swinger, a cheerfully funky groover, a mysteriously see-sawing tune, a punchy uptempo ride, and a wild boiler. Through it all, each musician gets ample space to improvise and show their stuff.

Of course, as the group leader, Haruta is featured, as is her solid composition “1965” which opens the album (saxophonist Akihiro Yoshimoto also contributes three excellent originals). But Haruta’s spotlight is not at the expense of sidelining the other amazing players in the quintet. Mayuko Kamakura on piano, Yoshimoto on sax, Takumi Awaya on bass, and Shun Ishikawa on drums are given plenty of time to shine as well. This all pays off with a front-to-back jazz album that fits together wonderfully with satisfying dynamics.

As for the potentially confusing title of II, this may be a bit of a head-scratcher for a debut album. If this stands for “2” in Roman numerals, it would be an unexpected title for a first release. Or, is this a reference to the second-decade milestone mentioned in the liner notes? Could II signify something else, maybe not a numeral meaning at all? An uppercased romaji translation of the Japanese word ii (いい) meaning good, all right, and such? Or, internet slang for “I’m Impressed”? Or maybe, when represented as extended index and middle fingers counting “two”, indicating the peace sign often seen in selfies and group photos? Or maybe it’s an inside joke, or someone’s favorite number. Maybe we’re not meant to know, and that’s all right. Either way, I’m definitely impressed.

Liner Notes

(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes written by Kouichi Nishimatsu, executive producer.)

Thoughts on II by Nanami Haruta.

I first met Nanami Haruta on November 20, 2020, at Shinjuku Pit Inn when she was a guest member in the horn section for Yoshiaki Masuo (増尾好秋) MAGATAMA “Cheer for Art! Stage Setup” photography shoot.

My first impression was of someone cute who didn’t look like a real trombone player. But when I heard her playing, it was truly powerful, a delicate and wonderful performance. Because I was busy with work on that day, I wasn’t able to speak to her for very long, but ended up going to her concerts several times after that.

Around that time, Yoshiaki Masuo’s individual project “ONE WORD” was selected for the same “Cheer for Art!”, and we spent days at my studio recording and mixing. Originally, the company’s studio was used exclusively for English healing teaching materials, radio commercial narration, and the like. However, this project led me to start recording music as well.

Which led me to ask Nanami, “Why don’t you make an album?” At first, she didn’t seem interested, but at some later performance Nanami said to me “Well, I think I’d like to make an album!” Nanami was only nineteen years old at the time, and I had always wanted to try producing an album from start to finish. So when she asked me “Can I leave everything up to you?”, I said “Yes”, and that was how the project started.

And, Yoshiaki Masuo. It goes without saying that Masuo is a world-class jazz guitarist. He even owns a studio in New York and has been involved in producing jazz music for twenty years. Having listened to Masuo’s guitar countless times and assisting him with performance activities in Japan, I thought I would love to play a part in his music production as well. I asked him to help, but Masuo’s stay in Japan was short and he was busy with live events at the time, so he had to firmly decline…at first. But after repeated requests, he agreed to help. And this was the moment that this project took on even more depth and substance.

First of all, the album concept. It was to be “The milestone of 20 years of age, with gratitude to the mentors who supported me in my hometown of Sapporo.” We started out focusing on slow ballad standards. After several meetings, we decided to focus on original songs. [For her ballad-centered album, see For My Lady from 2023.] Nanami Haruta’s “1965” became the first song on the album, and Akihiro Yoshimoto (tenor sax) graciously supplied three songs.

Next, the members. Nanami assembled some of the best young players in the world of young jazz today: Akihiro Yoshimoto (tenor sax), Mayuko Katakura (piano), Takumi Awaya (bass), and Shun Ishiwaka (drums). And in search of the best sound quality, we visited several Tokyo recording studios equipped with pianos. In the end, through introductions from Masami (Sam) Toyoshima (豊島政美), who designed the Beatles’ famous Abbey Road Studios and Victor Studios, we ended up recording at Victor’s Aoyama Studio.

On the day of the recording, November 29, 2021, we completed seven songs in a single day under the supervision of New York-trained Yoshiaki Masuo. Mixing at the company studio would start the following week. We spent many full days carefully mixing each song over three months. Mastering was completed using an analog open tape recorder.

This album was brought about through Nanami Haruta’s gathering of the best musicians, the best music, and the best creators, resulting in an amazing product. It’s not just for listening in one place, and whether on mobile devices, audio systems, or in different environments, you are sure to discover something new each time you listen. She is now twenty-one years old, as it took over a year of careful work to complete this album. Please, thoroughly enjoy Nanami Haruta’s first album II.

Koiuichi Nishimatsu (Music Stylist) September 23, 2022

Audio and Video

• Promotional video for this album:

• Live trio version of “Lament”, track #5 on this album:

• Excerpt from track #1: “1965”