Masahiro Yamamoto

Guitarist Hiroshi Fukutomi’s first album is Rings of Saturn from 2010. On this recording, the guitarist plays modern jazz compositions under the flag of his own quintet featuring Masahiro Yamamoto on alto and soprano sax, Koichi Sato on piano (also on Fukutomi’s 2014 followup Memory Stones), Hiroshi Ikejiri on bass, and Ryo Shibata on drums. Fukutomi’s debut album runs for 54 minutes and features seven original compositions, six from Fukutomi and one from saxophonist Yamamoto. The songs are composed by Fukutomi to be platforms for interplay, where the front-most instruments of guitar, sax, and piano merge and relay with an intimate immediacy, rather than each musician stepping back to make room for longer periods of singular adlibs. As with great jazz combos, there’s close collaboration where all five members listen closely to one another, pick their moments to step forward or back, and raise or relax the tension with the right-timed notes and rhythms. ...

Jazz quartet Bungalow issued an imaginative and flavorful debut album with Metropolitan Oasis in 2011. Striking and singular, the songs reward repeat listens by offering creative jazz compositions with stimulating blueprints. The songs ebb and flow with energy, grooves, and clever rhythms, where folk and ethnic influences converge with modern jazz, bop, classical, and free elements, pushing boundaries to reach new vistas. Masahiro Yamamoto, an original member of Bungalow featured on their first two albums, plays alto sax with a warm, textured tone which bends and flutters with visceral energy while the band lays out arcane jazz sounds not confined to the genre. Whether on the free opener “Metropolitan Oasis”, the slinky rocker “Underpass”, the mysterious drama of “Human Lost”, or the elaborate pieces “Bastristurgisism” and “O.P.P.M.”, the album cleverly navigates and develops their art of sound with lovely constructions and comfortable escapism. ...

The jazz group Bungalow displays their original approach to modern art jazz on their second album, Past Life, from 2013. As a jazz quartet featuring airy alto sax and piano, double bass, and drums, the group incorporates creative musical elements such as the use of Indian tabla drums and subtle sound effects and processing, a bit similar to the style of the Swedish jazz group E.S.T. Bungalow’s compositions are in focus here, and like modern songwriting from Wayne Shorter, the music differs from standard jazz patterns with interesting, well-constructed songs, featuring elements of upbeat swing, poetic and meditative calm, visceral rock and organically looping riffs, embellished with searching melodies and smart improvisation played brilliantly. This is well-balanced and addictive modern jazz that weaves deep musical grooves with imaginative compositions and skillful playing, reflecting future-facing sounds built on traditional music from Past Life. ...