Shunichi Yanagi Trio: Slope

Sat, 20 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Jazz pianist Shunichi Yanagi’s Slope is his second trio release, a 2015 followup to his 2012 debut Bubble Fish. The trio explores fresh territory in the jazz, rock, and light groove moods which vary from track to track. Each member has a clean touch with a sense of drama in creating excitement, somewhat like a movie or video game soundtrack at times.

The opening notes of Slope establish a delicate frame that quickly moves into a modern rock-styled beat, showcasing how this trio tends to move between jazz pop, rock, and light-as-a-bubble tenderness. Leading the trio as the primary composer, Yanagi orchestrates a progressive style, and his own playing is decorated with repeated arpeggios and densely looped patterns packed together like a woven carpet.

Shunichi Yanagi Trio: Bubble Fish

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Jazz pianist Shunichi Yanagi releases a shimmering modern jazz recording with his Tokyo trio on his 2012 debut Bubble Fish. The ten original songs from the pianist incorporate rock edginess and hip coolness into piano jazz with attitude. Modern jazz trios like E.S.T. or The Bad Plus may have been influences to the trio’s kaleidoscopic sound, pushing traditional jazz boundaries with youthful freshness.

On Bubble Fish, the jazz trio uses full chords and vital grooves on their compositions, bubbling with rock and pop styles infused with jazz improvisation. Yanagi’s angular patterns run up and down the piano keys with an almost electric guitar mindset. Yet, the pianist also shows a light tenderness where soft melodies rise lightly to the surface with positive energy, particularly on album highlights such as the “Shibuya Crossing” and “Prayer”, which closes the album with calming peace.

柳隼一 on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory

Shunichi Yanagi Trio: Slope

Shunichi Yanagi Trio: Bubble Fish