The Squid's Ear Magazine

Oyauchi, Aishi

Hidden Though It Is Difficult

Oyauchi, Aishi : Hidden Though It Is Difficult (Armageddon Nova)

Aishi Oyauchi is a free improvising alto saxophonist in the tradition of Kaoru Abe and who hails from the same first generation of Japanese free improvisers from the 1960s; this album finds him performing on alto and soprano sax at Performing Art Center, using space and abrupt diversions alongside unusual tone and technique with percussive asides.
 

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Aishi Oyauchi-sopranino saxophone


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Label: Armageddon Nova
Catalog ID: AN-R 4
Squidco Product Code: 25420

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: Japan
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded at Performing Art Center, 4 October 2015, by Yukiteru Asai.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"In 2013, Deathrash Armageddon, a Japanese label usually devoted to black metal, created the sublabel Armageddon Nova expressly to release the LP Now's The Time? by saxophonist Aishi Oyauchi and bassist Deku. It was the first studio recording by these musicians, even if they were already in their 60s and with a long experience in free jazz and improvisation, and it presented a beautifully constructed, pensive exploration of minimal improvisational strategies and subtle dynamics. In the following years Oyauchi continued recording for the label, releasing the solo double CD Wrong Exit in 2015, and this Hikureteyomowakuraku, again a solitary endeavor, in 2016.

The title track that opens the album is a disorienting rendition of the traditional hymn "Abide With Me" - an hesitant performance slowly assembling the melody, distilled to its bare essentials with aching intensity. The remainder of the record is a suite of eight tracks that provides a better picture of Oyauchi's peculiar style, with his passion for folk-like melodies, obsessive repetitions and abrupt diversions. There's a certain abandon to the proceedings that highlights the spontaneity of the improvisation, and at the same time there's a clear structural logic at work, with most of the pieces following analogous patterns, each track given a precise identity by focusing on a particular aspect of the performance. "Kaze I" begins with a simple melodic idea that Oyauchi develops through incremental additions and continuous adjustments, using dynamics to give shape and substance to the improvisation; "Kaze IV" is a showcase for the saxophonist's serpentine phrasing and sharp upper register articulations while "Kaze VII" is at first focused on breathy, relaxed saxophone lines eventually giving space to more complex constructions, constantly growing in intensity and leading to an abrupt ending.

Throughout the album Oyauchi employs small metallic objects or the saxophone keys to create little percussive vignettes, further shaping the tunes with a prominent use of silence and asymmetrical structures. The common thread that connects all together is the thorough exploration of the saxophone's potential, approached with simplicity and enthusiasm, and even if the instrumental technique is quite refined, there's an always noticeable sense of discovery and surprise that gives the record a mysterious, sometimes perplexing but ultimately fascinating character."-Nicola Negri, The Free Jazz Collective


Get additional information at The Free Jazz Collective

Artist Biographies

Aishi Oyauchi (大矢内愛史) is a free improvising alto saxophonist in the tradition of Kaoru Abe and who hails from the same first generation of Japanese free improvisers from the 1960s.

-Squidco 3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Hidari no yakuaku 7:33

2. cold i 4:30

3. Cause ii 5:33

4. cold iii 6:07

5. cold iv 5:16

6. Causes v 3:05

7. Cold vi 3:49

8. cold vii 3:55

9. cold viii 5:09

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Japanese & Asian Improv/Rock
Recordings by or featuring Reed & Wind Players
Solo Artist Recordings

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Armageddon Nova.


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