https://mirror2.jazzofjapan.com/tags/%E9%9F%B3%E5%B7%9D%E8%8B%B1%E4%BA%8C/ Recent content in 音川英二 on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory Hugo en Fri, 05 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://mirror2.jazzofjapan.com/mase-hiroko-quintet-first-contact/ Fri, 05 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://mirror2.jazzofjapan.com/mase-hiroko-quintet-first-contact/ <p>“Hard bop jazz aimed towards the universe” might be a good way to introduce soprano saxophonist Hiroko Mase’s debut album <em>First Contact</em> from 2020. Together with her double-sax quintet, the album features ten of her original songs in a vibrant arrangement of energetic hard-swinging and mid-tempo songs brimming with atmospheric layers.</p> <figure><a href="L1230617x-1024.jpeg"> <img loading="lazy" src="L1230617x-1024.jpeg"/> </a> </figure> <p>The opening song “First Contact” together with #4 “Spinning Petals” (a live version is included in a video below) and #9 “Have Fun”!” prop up the album’s core jazz tentpoles with straight-ahead frameworks reminiscent of the sound of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and Cannonball Adderley’s bands: energetic rhythm sections that frame unleashed improvisation from double horn front-lines.</p>