Yukari Sekiya Trio with Yuko Tanaka: It’s Ordinary Love And…

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Yukari Sekiya (Sekichu) is a jazz pianist, composer, and free improvisationalist who released her first album in 2011 with the group Yukari Sekiya Trio with Yuko Tanaka. The Japanese title of this debut is ありふれた愛なので・・・ translated on the cover as It’s Ordinary Love And… Sekiya’s trio is completed by Michihiro Morisada on contrabass and Tatsuya Hashimoto on drums, and Yuko Tanaka joins as guest vocals and voice.

This album is a live recording of seven of Sekiya’s original compositions, performed on one night in December 2010 at the jazz club Big Apple in Kobe. The four musicians all embrace spontaneous, simultaneous creation, and Sekiya’s music is wide open for creativity. Bounding several free jazz sections are the pianist’s composed musical themes and thoughts, written down on the page as clear melodies, structures, accents, and band signals that are coordinated parts of Sekiya’s musical design. At the same time, whole sections of several pieces are set free to allow the musicians to stretch out together. In those sections, the four members improvise freely but together as a group, reaching towards one musical mind, and building to wild crests of sound or subtle unified soundscapes as feelings and the moment dictate.

Voice artist Yuko Tanaka performs on six of the songs, switching between vocals and voice to match Sekiya’s music to her lyrics or voice effects. On about half the songs, Tanaka sings Japanese lyrics written by herself, and on other songs, she unites with the instrumentalists using all manner of unconstrained non-speech sounds, gibberish words, and nonsense syllables to dynamic effect.

Here’s a brief overview of the music. The absorbing opening track #1 “Stop call” unleashes a band that is energized and eager to flex their group improvisation muscles. #2 “Night lights” shifts down to a gentle ballad with light Japanese lyrics. #3 “floating” continues the graceful mood and lyrical singing with a soft waltz feel. #4 “KOSAME” (小雨, light rain) is an instrumental exploration, as the trio draws a scene that builds to a rousing climax. #5 “Ballerina at midnight” evolves from a vintage loose swing to the uncontrolled passion of a mad dance. #6 “In the Cave” stir up chaos with glazed fragments of multiscalar notes and intense free association. Finally, the closer #7 “Grampa’s Hand” features vocalist Tanaka returning to sweetly sung lyrics as the band holds steady and brings the intoxicating experience of this live set back to ground.