Gaku Hasegawa

Unconditional Love is the 11th album from pianist Hideaki Hori and features his trio playing live at Nardis, a gem among Tokyo’s many respected and intimate jazz bars. Throughout this double album, the trio captures the relaxed and friendly atmosphere that this home-ground bar provides, all while creating top-notch jazz to delight the audience. Unconditional Love features songs recorded live over three consecutive nights at Nardis. Presented on the two discs as “1st set” and “2nd set”, this arrangement gives the listener the feel of being a part of the in-house audience from the first song to the encore. The long-established trio’s playing is impeccable with high levels of musicianship and solidarity, eliciting joy and affinity from the audience. ...

Takako Yamada’s The Flow of Time features 11 original compositions from the pianist, a bold collection of exciting moods and modern compositions in adventurous style. Starting assertively with a modern jazz/rock feel, electric guitar and acoustic piano lay out high opening stakes for an album filled with dramatic creativity. The songs explore moments of musical sensitivity, relaxed swing, Monkish joy and freedom, and bluesy contemplation, with full sounds of crystal piano tones, warm electric guitar, bright drum work and deep, dark bass anchoring the group sound. ...