Ryosuke Hashizume

As We Breathe is the 2008 release from the Ryosuke Hashizume Group, a sax-led ensemble of sax, guitar, drums, bass, and piano. This jazz-quintet combination of instruments and players forms the perfect medium for bringing Hashizume’s penned compositions to life. I’ve introduced this group’s other releases at earlier points, although in an out-of-order sequence, so this article completes the set of the group’s six releases to date. As We Breathe, with nine tracks and about 70 minutes, is the second album out of the six released by the group. Despite the earliness of this and their previous album (their debut Wordless), their concept was already well-defined based on Hashizume’s compositions and musical direction, and the musicians show a cohesive personality with intuitively-linked playing and precise timing. ...

NHORHM is New Heritage of Real Heavy Metal. It’s not only a homage to the original NWOBHM abbreviation, but also an incredible initialism of the three musicians: N ishiyama H itomi (piano), O rihaya R yoji (bass), and H ashimoto M anabu (drums), with names in the last-name-first Japanese convention. (I include a brief diversion on “What is NWOBHM?” later, below…) This debut album from NHORHM was released in 2015 and rereleased/remastered in 2024 when the first run was sold out, and both new listeners and fans who originally missed out were clamoring for copies. The album contains ten tracks, nine cover songs and one original by pianist Nishiyama. All arrangements are by Nishiyama, and this is not something to take lightly; the whole project hinges on the idea of a jazz piano trio covering heavy metal tunes, and the success of the endeavor relies a lot on bridging the gap between those distinct sounds, styles, and instrumentation, and on making the music appealing, listenable, and great, despite the obvious novelty aspect that may precede the experience. Yet, never fear, Nishiyama took the challenge seriously and put a lot of work into this project. ...

Echo, from 2024, is pianist/composer Hitomi Nishiyama’s latest album and a response to her previous release Dot from 2023. The music on this album was made with the same group and during the same recording sessions and as such, there are many similarities in sound and direction. In aura and conceptually, however, the differences are effectively portrayed by the separate covers and designs: Where Dot shows a monochrome sketch-like grid of hand-drawn dots, Echo places the pianists’ subtly Mona Lisa smile into a vividly abstract gauze of lilac and cobalt swirls and hues. ...

Saxophonist and composer Ryosuke Hashizume has released six albums with the Ryosuke Hashizume Group over nearly two decades. These albums feature Hashizume’s uniquely original compositions played by his long-running group. This group has mainly been a quintet (of sax, guitar, piano, bass, and drums) with many of the same members present throughout the years. In particular, guitarist Motohiko Ichino and fretless electric bassist Ryoji Orihara have been a constant and large part of the sound of the group. They are brilliant electric partners to Hashizume’s breathy and sawtoothed acoustic sax sound (Hashizume also dips into electricity a bit when playing his sax as cycles and drones looped through a device, occasionally). ...

Dot is the 2023 album by pianist/composer Hitomi Nishiyama. Until this week’s release of Echo, Dot was her latest album; Echo is Dot ’s twin, recorded with the same members and during the same sessions. Nishiyama has released many great albums since 2004, and yet it is tempting to call this significant Dot her masterpiece. As a prolific composer with consistent album releases over two decades, many peaks have been reached. Dot forges into some bold new territory, and successfully so. ...

The album Faces from 2020 is the follow-up to vocalist Kaoru Azuma and pianist Hitomi Nishiyama’s first album Travels (2013). As with the earlier work, this album features mostly original compositions from the pianist that are delicately adorned with the light and airy voice of Azuma, who adds lyrics and instrument-like vocalizing to the music. Along with Azuma and Nishiyama are the same members as before, guitarist Motohiko Ichino, saxophonist Ryosuke Hashizume, and bassist Toru Nishijima. On the tracks, the five musicians play in different combinations including a duo, trios, quartets, and the full quintet for subtle variations in sound, structure, and solo space. ...

The title of the album Acoustic Fluid from the Ryosuke Hashizume Group captures the essence of moving, flowing sounds that fill up this music. Like most of Hashizume’s albums and live shows, his original compositions are featured on this 2012 album, his sixth release. Throughout /Acoustic Fluid/’s nine tracks, the five-member group expands these charts with push-and-pull activity, like waves on water or breaths of air. The music on this album alternates between slow, free sketches and mid-tempo modern jazz. The slower tracks are beautifully patient, somewhat open-ended with room for the group to pulse and grow organically while trekking through the movements. ...

Wordless is Ryosuke Hashizume’s first album released in Japan in 2006, kicking off a rewarding series of modern and absorbing albums from this jazz saxophonist’s stellar group. Through his modern music, with a clean recording sound and deep reverb, the style of ECM and similar European jazz music is brought to mind. Hashizume’s group for this album is a quartet built on sax, electric guitar, fretless electric bass, and drums, and creates a sound that is both organic and electric, sleekly modern. Hashizume also uses effects to loop his sax on a few tracks, heightening the otherworldly effect on portions of the album. ...

Music that takes you places, Visible/Invisible from the Ryosuke Hashizume Group presents six works of art from the saxophonist/composer, perfectly executed by the five musicians, through mellow, warm electric guitar, grooving and smooth electric fretless bass, organic and emotive piano, thrillingly creative drumming, and center-stage visceral tenor sax, filling out the spaces of otherworldly jazz. Through sounds ranging from ethereal and delicate to deep and groovy, the music steadily develops in dramatic style, patiently, with nooks and crannies of musical texture creating a fulfilling, lush experience. This is art music, creative jazz with rock, modern classical, and free elements, carefully crafted with space for the skilled musicians to stretch out together, painting fantastic and vivid colors with harmonic richness and rhythmic dynamicism. ...

Hitomi Nishiyama’s 2011 album Music in You features an established trio that shares a cohesive sensibility, creating beautiful textural moods with European-flavored jazz influences. As befits a group of skilled jazz musicians, the players breathe as one while creating textures of sound, restrained yet deep with emotion. Like the gracefully knotted thread art on the album cover, Nishiyama’s music also seems to be composed of delicate lines, intricately flowing and interweaving to create a weightless construction of deep substance. ...

Four accomplished musicians reunite for Needful Things, a live recording of original compositions, bewitching music with a touching beauty. Starting with a slow build-up of sounds and chant-like effects, the songs develop deeply, breathing traces of folk, pop, and contemporary jazz into melancholy themes. Without drums or percussion, the quartet is able to create a slightly floating feeling, while the players’ steady pulse keeps the time anchored, subtle yet solidly unwavering. ...

Incomplete Voices is the latest release from the Ryosuke Hashizume Group, released in 2017. As with prior albums, this is a wonderful collection of carefully conceived modern jazz compositions showcasing the saxophonist’s concepts and the tight-knit group dynamics. Close attention is paid to the harmonic and rhythmic layers in the music with excitement built on climactic resolutions and striking moods. The music is sleek, organic, and hypnotic at times. For example, track #3 “Synesthesia” is particularly magical as time and pulse slip and shift as the music develops; at other times, the group locks into a detailed groove, or opens up the framework and allows timekeeping to fade from the audio palette. The roomy improvisational passages are filled with emotional passion and rooted by the quintet’s empathy established through years of live and recording experience. ...