Yoshiro Okazaki on Jazz of Japan | Brian McCrory

Naoko Tanaka: Appreciation

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Appreciation is pianist and composer Naoko Tanaka’s 2022 jazz release, her latest in a series of exciting new albums from young Japanese musicians. Several of her previous leader albums (Home, I Fall In Love Too Easily, Memories) featured her piano trio as a trio, which Appreciation also does. But this release also brings in the expert sounds of horn players Yoshiro Okazaki (trumpet), Takayuki Sato (alto sax), and Mabumi Yamaguchi (tenor sax) for three songs. In the rhythm section with the sparkling star are her regular trio members Koji Yasuda on bass and Masanori Ando on drums.

Naoko Tanaka Trio: Memories

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A satisfyingly neat outing, Naoko Tanaka Trio’s Memories (2015) leaves a fresh impression of modern Japanese jazz trios. The playing on this album is both playful and precise, with considered arrangements and decorations sprinkled through the welcoming music. Light touches and coordinated rhythmic hits play a role, hinting at styles employed by greats such as the Ahmad Jamal Trio. Attention is paid to the structure of each song, and as with any good jazz record, those structures are filled out with each soloist’s improvisations, bouncing solos off the harmonic movements and the rhythmic frames.

Satoshi Kosugi: Bass on Times

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Bass on Times is a 2009 album from jazz bassist Satoshi Kosugi, a well-known and active musician in Japan’s jazz scene spanning several decades. For this recording, Kosugi assembles familiar partners and veteran players such as the bluesy Shinji Hashimoto on guitar and Kazuhide Motooka on piano, to deliver hard-swinging standards such as “Monk’s Dream”, “Vierd Blues”, and “The Best Thing For You Would Be Me”. With good arrangements and strong bass, naturally, the well-established musicians deliver quality jazz with a genuine good spirit throughout this satisfying record. One happy highlight even has Kosugi joyfully whistling the melody on “There Goes My Heart” as he doubles with his bass line to open and close the swinging tune.