Kiichiro Komobuchi on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory

Nobie & Takayoshi Baba: Owari to Hajimari

Sat, 11 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Owari to Hajimari (The End and the Beginning) is a new album from the duo of vocalist Nobie and guitarist Takayoshi Baba. Released in 2023, this disc features forty minutes of music written and adopted from the duo’s repertoire and experience playing jazz, pop, and Brazilian music together.

The two have released their own leader albums and recordings with other groups, but this is the first album to be released under their co-named band partnership and builds on their vast experience playing together in various settings.

Banda Feliz: Boa Viagem

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Banda Feliz is a group of Tokyo musicians playing festive Brazilian music, originals and covers, centered around Makiyo Sakai’s robust and jazzy flute playing. Her lighter-than-air flute sound is buoyed by her full six-piece palette with trombone, guitar, piano, bass, and drums, and the group’s voices happily join the melodies at times for extra oomph.

Happiness is integral to the band’s sound, even evident in the artist name and album title, roughly translated as cheerful, joyful, happy band and bon voyage.