Keisuke Furuki on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory

Layla Tomomi Sakai: Stolen Moments

Sat, 03 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Singer Layla Tomomi Sakai’s Stolen Moments is a 27-minute album from 2019, a follow-up to her two previous releases from 2016 and 2018 with a consistently pleasing and familiar core sound. That sound of Sakai, introduced on her debut album Whisper Not, is based on her intimate vocal/guitar/trumpet trio with Yuichiro Hiraoka on guitar and Ryuichi Takase on trumpet. Her second album The Island expanded the trio with more accompanying players, a pattern which continues here on Stolen Moments as her guest musicians create forms from duos to sextets on the different songs.

Fe: Live at Virtuoso

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The 2021 album Live at Virtuoso by the quartet Fe was released by the jazz club Virtuoso in the nightlife district of Akasaka in Tokyo, Japan. Virtuoso is a great name for a music venue. Aside from the word being a term for master musicians, fans of jazz guitar will immediately recognize the reference to jazz guitarist Joe Pass’s landmark series of Virtuoso albums. Naturally, Virtuoso features jazz guitar and guitar bands on many nights. The jazz club also occasionally releases albums such as this one on its in-house recording label.

Hiro Kimura: Trees

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Drummer Hiro Kimura’s debut album from 2022 is Trees, a 61-minute modern jazz album recorded with two of his regular rhythm sections. The album was recorded over two days in the studio, the first with Naoko Tanaka on piano and Yuji Ito on bass, and the second with Mamoru Ishida on piano and Keisuke Furuki on bass.

Joining Kimura’s rhythm sections are the front-line members consisting of three horn players who alternate and unite on different tracks. Alto and soprano saxes are played by Akiha Nishiyama and Kohei Ando, and trumpet by Mao Sone, who also switches to piano and Fender Rhodes for two songs.

Reiko Yamamoto: The Square Pyramid

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Reiko Yamamoto’s The Square Pyramid is a jazz record built around her vivid and precise vibraphone sound. With excitement heightened by the targeted force and agility of four mallets striking and bouncing on the metal bars, the crystal clear and warmly sustained sounds of Yamamoto’s instrument pull the listener into the heart of the colorful structure through her compelling compositions.

Written in Japanese, Reiko Yamamoto’s name is 山本玲子. Reiko (玲子) contains the kanji character 玲 which represents the sound of jewels and is used in several aural words invoking tinkling and chiming sounds. Whether or not that character had a direct influence on the musician’s life, it’s an appropriately fitting context for her masterful playing of this brilliantly translucent instrument.

Yasumasa Kumagai & J-Jazz Homies: Last Resort

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The latest album from J Jazz pianist Yasumasa Kumagai is titled Last Resort, released in 2020 on his own independent label with his jazz piano trio plus Miki Hirose on trumpet. Although the eye-catching cover design may be a world away from typical jazz albums, the aggressive, tongue-in-cheek image succeeds in standing out, a conscious attempt to challenge flagging CD sales in recent years by piquing interest and possibly head-scratching confusion.

Trio Export 63.1.0.X: Small Pieces for Flying Padre

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The album Small Pieces for Flying Padre from Trio Export 63.1.0.X is a special release of a live jazz recording at Kanmachi 63 in Yokohama, Japan. The piano-bass-drums trio performs the set live as recorded, bringing the listener into the music through the raw recorded sound of the room for an “as if you were there” experience. The ambience of music in an enclosed space performed right in front of your eyes is captured well and transmits the energy of musical drama unfolding in unexpected ways.