Harumi Nomoto on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory

Harumi Nomoto Trio: Anitya

Sun, 18 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Anitya is pianist Harumi Nomoto’s fourth trio record, released in 2025. It’s been a decade-plus since the trio’s previous release Virgo (2014), with their earlier albums released as far back as 2007 and 2002, so it was a thrilling surprise when plans for a new recording were announced at one of their live shows early last year. The anticipation from their loyal fans rose in 2025 as the trio scheduled more concerts before the recording, to fine-tune the new songs and oil the performance gears at live concerts around Tokyo. Following that, Anitya was quickly recorded over two days in June and released in December 2025 right in the midst of a busy holiday season.

Harumi Nomoto: I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The 2023 release I’ll Be Home for Christmas is a pleasant holiday collection of seasonal music from Japanese pianist Harumi Nomoto. The 31-minute album is an unexpected departure from her usual releases, as her previous three trio albums are filled with her unique style of contemporary jazz, J Jazz, and various world genre influences that add interesting layers to straight-ahead trio music.

In contrast to her signature Harumi Nomoto sound, this holiday release offers shorter, simpler, and sincerely played versions of traditional Christmas carols, hymns, pop Christmas tunes, classical whimsy, and modern pieces. Whereas her trio albums have been filled with Nomoto’s original material, only one of her original pieces appears here, tying up the album as a set closer like a ribbon on a wrapped present.

Harumi Nomoto Trio: Another Ordinary Day

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Another Ordinary Day from 2002 is pianist Harumi Nomoto’s debut album as a leader of her own jazz trio… actually, two jazz trios. Recorded over two summer days in Tokyo, the exciting young pianist runs through eight tunes: five songs with one trio arrangement and two songs with a second trio. Also included among the trio tracks is one solo piece, where Nomoto plays on piano the quiet and affectionate “You Only Know What I Know” by saxophonist Atsushi Ikeda.

Harumi Nomoto Trio: Belinda

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Among the modern J-Jazz piano trio mainstays in the collection, Harumi Nomoto Trio’s Belinda is a favorite album to return to for catchy cool original vibes with laid-back warmth. With both loose jams and well-crafted jazz compositions, the album ebbs and flows with mid-tempo grooves and contemporary swinging.

As the moods flow, pianist Harumi Nomoto alternates on acoustic piano and the warm tones of Fender Rhodes electric piano, enhancing the songs with jazz grooves fusing elements of jazz, light funk, swing, blue ballads, and gospel. While favorites like “‘7up”, “Crescent”, and the cozy gospel waltz “My Sweet Brown” deliver chic and polished jazz arrangements, the songs are also interspersed with short jams “M.M.C.M.” in two versions, and closes in unrestrained style on two tracks, with Nomoto first roaming freely on solo piano, followed by the trio free-associating and capturing the moment in symbiotic creativity.

Harumi Nomoto Trio: Virgo

Wed, 03 Apr 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Pianist Harumi Nomoto’s 2014 release Virgo is a constellation of grooves, moods, and textures, boldly incorporating inter-genre approaches as piano jazz is woven with Eastern sounds, African rhythms, and hip-hop-influenced beats.

Virgo follows the pianist’s previous albums Another Ordinary Day (2002) and Belinda (2007) and completes a trio of records that progressively show an expansion of creative vision and songwriting tact. Through arrangements honed at Japanese jazz clubs through prior years, the music was released to eager fans with this album of seven originals plus an arrangement of Thelonious Monk’s “Green Chimneys”, which gets a unique slow-and-low groove treatment here.