The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  Akira Sakata / Toshimaru Nakamura / Raiga Hayashi 
  Kinjo no Tabibito
  (Meenna) 


  
   review by Ken Waxman
  2024-04-30
Akira Sakata / Toshimaru Nakamura / Raiga Hayashi: Kinjo no Tabibito (Meenna)

As powerful an improvisers at 79 as he has been for the past 50-odd years, Japan's Akira Sakata is still open enough to innovation to immerse himself in novel musical situations. That how the alto saxophonist/clarinetist, who usually works in acoustic settings, is involved in these two lengthy live improvisations with not only reformed punk drummer Raiga Hayashi, but also the noises created by Toshimaru Nakamura's no input mixing board.

Nakamura, who often plays with questing improvisers like Axel Dörner, created his instrument to reroute the signal back into the mixer with knobs and faders used to alter feedback. So while Sakata and Hayashi are squirting augmented surges of dissonant timbres into the program, the board's whizzes and drones are omnipresent.

Since the board outputs subdued as well as strident noises, Sakata's reed ejaculations vary accordingly. Nakamura's emphasized harsh and dissected static brings out saxophone split tones, snarls and spetrofluctuation. The board's pulsating chirps and whistling hisses are met with clarion clarinet trills and flutters. Coarse textures can flow in the opposite direction as well. That's especially obvious when Sakata amplifies his altissimo screams and reed bites with vocalized growls, yelps and rants that sound as if a Samuri warrior is hyping himself for a duel to the death. Throughout all this Hayashi outputs an assortment of paradiddles, ruffs, backbeats and rebounds, tailoring his beats to the shifting sound landscape around him.

Satisfying in its power and progression, Kinjo no Tabibito demonstrates that Sakata can collaborate with improvisers about 20 (Nakamura) and more than 55 (Hayashi) years younger than himself — and go beyond their contributions to create a singular and uncommon session.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Derek Bailey/
John Stevens:
The Duke of
Wellington
(Confront)



Paul Dunmall:
Away With
Troubles And Anxieties!
(Discus)



Shifa (
Musson/
Thomas/
Sanders):
Ecliptic
(Discus)



Natsuki Tamura/
Satoko Fujii:
Ki
(Libra)



Borah Bergman/
Anthony Braxton/
Peter Brotzmann:
Eight By Three
(Mixtery)



Hedvig Mollestad Trio:
Bees In
The Bonnet
(Rune Grammofon)



Acid Mothers Temple &
The Melting Paraiso
UFO:
Black Mountain
ide
(Rolling Heads)



Evan Parker/
Bill Nace:
Branches (
Live at Cafe OTO)[VINYL]
(Open Mouth)



Alexander Hawkins/
Taylor Ho Bynum:
A Near Permanent State
Of Wonder
(RogueArt)



Joseph Holbrooke (
w/ Derek Bailey/
Gavin Bryars/
Tony Oxley):
Last Live 2001 -
In Memoriam
Derek Bailey
And
Tony Oxley
[2 CDs]
(Tzadik)



Zeena Parkins:
Modesty Of
The Magic Thing
(Tzadik)



Dave Douglas (
Douglas/
Ridout/
Adewumi/
Brennan/
Pass/
Royston):
Alloy
(Greenleaf Music)



Ivo Pereleman/
Nate Wooley/
Matt Moran/
Mark Helias/
Tom Rainey:
A Modicum
Of the Blues
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Angles 11:
Tell Them
It's The Sound Of Freedom
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Sifter (
w/ Lisa Mezzacappa):
Flake/
Fracture
(Queen Bee Records)



Jean-Marc Foussat:
Abbatage
(Fou Records)



Chester Hawkins:
Apsis
(Intangible Arts)



Karl Evangelista's Apura +
Andrew Cyrille:
Bukas
(577 Records)



Frode Gjerstad/
Alexander von Schlippenbach/
Dag Magnus Narvesen:
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)



Kaze (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Orins/
Pruvost) with/ Koichi Makigami:
Shishiodoshi
(Circum-Libra)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (11357)