JAZU: Jazz from Japan. Review. Mari Yamashita, Efflorescence

Because of its peculiar features of sound, the vibraphone has always struggled to stand out in the contemporary jazz landscape, compared to other main instruments of jazz, like saxophone, piano or trumpet, remaining mainly associated to some jazz giants of this instrument, like Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo and Milt Jackson, or restricted to a few contemporaneous players as Gary Burton, Joe Locke and Stefon Harris. Only few managed to reinvent and adapt to the new tendencies of music the language of vibraphone which, placing itself between a piano and a percussion instrument, is distinguished by a crystalline, but ethereal sound; solid but, at the same time, ephemeral. Vibraphonist Mari Yamashita is one of those musicians who managed to reach this ambitious achievement carrying the possibilities of this instrument towards modern horizons, without losing sight of tradition. After starting, at an early age, the study of piano and percussions and gaining many musical acknowledgements, the young Mari Yamashita decided to embark on a long course of study at Berklee School of Music in Boston. From here she came back to Japan supported by many new musical ideas, succeeding in estabilish herself in the national circuit as one of the most important representative of her instrument and, more generally, of the Japanese jazz scene.


This fifth album as a leader, recorded with her new quartet and published by Erato Music, an indipendent label founded by Yamashita herself, is enriched by the presence of excellent guitarist Hiroshi Fukutomi, who managed to create a seducing timbric amalgam with the vibraphone, well documented by the high sound quality of the recording, which is revealed to be decisive for the formal construction of all the tunes. Evidence of this is the opening Twinkle Bell, a tune in which the two harmonic instruments mutually alternate their roles of accompanist and soloist in an effective and creative way, or compositions provided with an higher swing rate, like Ferris Wheel and The End of Summer. Yamashita’s music is composed by manifold elements that increasingly are shown up to the listener: it can be wrapped by mysterious shadows which soon dissolve in unexpected rays of sun (Not Quite Dark, Snowy Day), or take a breathe, like in the ballad Kumo no Saki, doesn’t disdaining to break the ranks as in Cactus, a tune with plenty of room for a rock-inclined vehemence. Guitarist Fukutomi leaves his mark signing a few compositions, among which is the beautiful Chiru Sakura Saku, who closes the first of this double album.


The second part of this work could be defined a concept album due to its central idea revolving around the tradition of hanami. This Japanese word, which literally stands for “flowers observation”, indicates that period of the year, between march and april, when the process of cherry tree’s efflorescence begins attracting millions of people who gathers in wide green open spaces to admire this beloved natural event. From here comes the choice to name after the following long suite entirely written by Yamashita. An intro underlined by a bowed upright bass introduces us into this second half of the album in which the quality of music stays high-leveled, moreover the identity of the quartet is strengthened as a cohesive and solid interplayed unit. The many phases of an efflorescence process are unveiled using a musical point of view, a suggestion also implied by titles like Seed Germination or Penetration of Water, through compositions that keep their harmonic refinement and metrics often crossed by irregular times (Seed Germination, Interlude). Bass player Yuta Omino and drummer Yosuke Nagayama are essential to square the band’s sound, both focused to steer the steady course of rhythm. As a matter a fact, this inspired and well played session is the most soaring work so far in Yamashita’s discography and manages to plant a seed in the hearts of listeners who, once sprouted, grows steadily to each listening.



Links:

Mari Yamashita Quartet, Efflorescence (disc #1). Album Trailer: https://youtu.be/OS6ysMw00vI

Mari Yamashita Quartet, Efflorescence (disc #2). Album Trailer: https://youtu.be/4suF3-PIFMM