Sohnosuke Imaizumi 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.

Miyuki Moriya: Beyond the Sea

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Beyond the Sea is saxophonist Miyuki Moriya’s fourth album as a leader, which she released in 2024 with her regular quartet of Mamoru Ishida (piano), Junichi Sato (bass), and Sohnosuke Imaizumi (drums). This album contains nine tracks over sixty-eight minutes and features mostly originals from the saxophonist, with two specially selected cover songs from Japanese jazz musicians that influenced her most in her jazz life.

One of those personal heroes is saxophonist Kosuke Mine, who joins the group as a special guest and adds his engagingly vibrant tenor sax sound on five of the nine tracks. Those include two of the album’s peaks for excitement (the edge-of-your-seat #2 “Flip a Coin” and the funkily thrillseeking #5 “Maverick”) as well as Mine’s introspective ballad #7 “After the Checkout” where the two saxes converse over melancholy piano chords to set a dramatic scene.

Ami Fukui Trio: Urban Clutter

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The twinkling chords which open Ami Fukui’s debut album Urban Clutter from 2010 shine like a crystalline spotlight, signaling the immediately satisfying sounds and clean, uncomplicated feel-good grooves of the music to come. This first album from the jazz pianist lays down the groundwork for Fukui to showcase her compositional skills for jazz piano trio, which she will explore further on her follow-up albums Amizm (2013) and New Journey (2016).

Miyuki Moriya: Cat’s Cradle

Mon, 17 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Miyuki Moriya’s Cat’s Cradle from 2010 is modern jazz album from an alto sax quartet featuring engaging sounds and improvisation from exciting musicians. The allure of this album is deepened by the sax leader’s catchy originals, and listeners who are stimulated by angular jazz will be pulled into this music and want to return to these songs again and again.

Also distinguishing the sound is the edgy, metallic sound of the alto sax and the funky, crystalline drumming, with stylish planes of piano and guitar and gliding over the deeply full bass lines. Drummer Sohnosuke draws attention with a concentrated hip-hop energy driving the odd-meter songs, and, along with steady bass lines from Ikejiri, keeps the listener anchored even through unusual rhythms beyond standard swing patterns (see Sohnosuke’s Rin (2018) for similar sounds.)

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.

Sanae Ishikawa: Grown-up Christmas Gift

Mon, 24 Dec 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Enterprising singer Sanae Ishikawa presents us with her passionate voice on Grown-up Christmas Gift from 2018, a mini-album celebrating classic and modern Christmas songs in a jazz and pop setting. As part of her successful Seasonal Japanese Songbook Project crowdfunding, the popular singer released this album along with her full-length album 冬-Winter- to great anticipation, just in time for the Christmas season that year. 春-Spring- (2019) and 夏-Summer- (2020) have also been released in this jazzy J-pop series, with a hope of seeing 秋-Autumn- in the not-too-distant future.

Sohnosuke Imaizumi: Rin

Tue, 27 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Drummer Sohnosuke Imaizumi lays down impressive foundations with his debut album Rin. Having worked as a member of groups including Quasimode and Beatmoss, this is his first album as a leader. These 14 tracks feature his trio playing original songs and jazz standards, interwoven with hip-hop-influenced grooves and spacey drums-and-sampler interludes.

A gorgeously-recorded drum and cymbal sound makes Imaizumi a pleasure to listen to as he plays with his well-suited bandmates. His rhythmic sense is masterful, lightly delivered with ease as he improvises fills, accents beats, and plays with time. His drumming is particularly in sync with bassist Kazuhiro Sunaga from the Japanese jazz group Quasimode, where Imaizumi previously drummed for five years and released five Blue Note releases.