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A Personal Reflection on "Water's Edge" by Ryuichi Sakamoto

12/25/2013

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There is so much beautiful music in the world and I want to explore all of it. From the complex rhythms of the Middle East and Africa to the intricate chord structures of the West and the sweet melodies of the Asia and the mixtures that have developed between them all--enhancing each other and bringing a depth unachievable in their previous isolation--I want to hear it all and know it all.

On occasion, there is a song that just stands out from everything else. There are individual pieces of music that affect a person because of a single chord (like “The Remembering” from YES) or even a single note (like that long-held oboe note from Wagner’s “Overture to Tristan und Isolde”)  or perhaps it is a particular performance of a well-known song (like Jay “Bird” Koder’s rendition of “Sukiyaki” which I written about elsewhere). Sometimes it the composition and meaning of the complete piece, such as Hristo Vitchev’s “Willing to Live” (also discussed elsewhere).

Then there are pieces that simply draw deeply on the listener’s own experience and memory and emotions and can become almost unexplainable. They reach so far down (as the above pieces also do) and they touch almost all of the emotions: joy and melancholy, hope and regret.

One such piece is Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Water’s Edge” as performed by Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble. Originally a vocal piece from Sakamoto’s 1996 “Sweet Revenge” album, Okura has arranged it into a Jazz instrumental. Okura’s violin is the lead instrument with lovely accompaniment from Helen Sung’s piano and Anne Drummond’s flute. Dezron Douglas is on bass and E.J. Stickland is the drummer. It is the perfect ensemble to render this piece as something unforgettable and irreplaceable.

There is an elegance here that is charming and touching. It is sweet and it is sad. It is not sad in a depressing way but an acknowledgement that life contains inescapable sadnesses; the sadness of separation and the sadness of loss. It is the sadness that follows grief. It does not choke out joy but it is not overcome by joy, either. Rather, it is what accompanies joy in a lifelong dance.

With that sadness is the great joy so easily discernable in “Water’s Edge.” The pizzicato violin and staccato flute are light-hearted and whimsical but it is the piano that carries the true joy of the tune. The piano continues to climb and to reach beyond the melancholy.

There are moments of extraordinary delicacy, of gentle softness, of humor, contentment and happiness. All of those moments are held together by the musicians in an elaborate dance. The partnership of violin and flute, bass and drums and the piano holding it all together creates a work of delightful tenderness and truth.

There is an evocative quality to this piece. The chords and the changes can only be described as “deep calling unto deep.” It has tonal qualities that are very emotional for me.

More than this, “Water’s Edge” makes me think about my wife. I say that because of the profound, indescribable depths of my thoughts and feelings toward her and about her.

The piece is elegant, like she is. It is emotional and warm, like she is. It leaves me speechless, like she does. The song calls to me like her heart does to mine. The song makes me want to dance, like she does.

The dance of the music is our dance of life. Through sadness and happiness, the losses we have experienced and will always experience, the separations from loved ones and the gaining of new friends, through it all we continue our waltz.

Just as “Water’s Edge” has moments of great delicacy, of gentle softness, of humor, joy and contentment, she has all of those qualities in herself. She is elegant and delicate. She is gentle and warm. She is funny and soft.

And there is nothing in this world like seeing my wife smile. Her smile makes me smile. “Water’s Edge” makes us both smile.

There is a sweet unity between the musicians like there is between us. The partnership of the violin and flute sounds like us.

“Water’s Edge” makes me want to be a better person. I see a better vision of myself just like the better vision of myself I see when I look into her eyes. It is the vision she has of me.

If there was ever a single piece of music that describes her, it is “Water’s Edge.” It is the song that I want to go on and on and on...
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Flawless; Meg Okura's Interpretation of Ryuichi Sakamoto

12/15/2013

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I have been a listener of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music for many years. From his earliest album Thousand Knives of Ryuichi Sakamoto through his film scores to his work with Yellow Magic Orchestra (Y.M.O.), I have been entranced by his power and his delicacy. His compositions were undeniably Japanese in their approach to chord structure and pacing but it was far more than folk music; he was far more than just a national composer. Indeed, Sakamoto was a citizen of the world and a composer dedicated to the human race who leapt from Japanese modalism into global music forms that can touch the heart of any person from any place.

When I heard that his music was going to be re-explored or even re-explained, I was skeptical at the thought of such an endeavor. Then I heard that it was Meg Okura who was heading the project with her Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, a collection of brilliant musicians including the phenomenal Helen Sung, and my trepidation turned to expectation. This is especially true since Meg is a long-time fan of Sakamoto. She can be trusted with the arrangements.

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It is particularly pleasing that she chose three songs from his Sakamoto’s first album, 1978’s Thousand Knives. In fact, this album is introduced on the first track with the song Grasshoppers which is an acoustic mix of the electronic original. The arrangement is remarkable and is highlighted by her airy-jazzy violin performance with tight rhythm section support. The pizzicato violin against the staccato piano in their lighthearted exchange is very engaging. Most intoxicating is the shimmering move into a lyrical straight-on jazz development.

Riot in Lagos is from the B-2 Unit (1980) album is another acoustic interpretation from Sakamoto’s original synthpop into light-funk. There is cool interplay between the lead instruments and bass is a fine feature of the piece. In this--only the second track--it is clear that Meg Okura is not going to disappoint. This track becomes one of the real stand-outs on the album with the hard-groove and near boogie-woogie piano lines.

Violin and bass lines form the basis for Tango which was a vocal piece from the album Smoochy. The violin lead-in is strong and certainly tango-ish. Anne Drummond on flute gets her first spotlight on Tango and, with her fluttering imagery, she gets full attention in the moments she is center-stage.

PictureMeg Okura
Grief (from the 1997 album Discord) is the most emotional and moving piece on the album. The depth of movement establishes a context for the expansiveness of the music. The basso profundo voicing of Dezron Douglas’ double-bass maintains the mood throughout the arrangement while piano, flute and violin struggle to climb above the dragging despair. The haunting melancholy is never even once alleviated but is only re-exposed in their tonality and phrasing.

The unrelenting heartbreak is underscored by E.J. Strickland’s light cymbal swirls and taps and (at the 4:20 mark) Strickland and Douglas seem to offer an illusory escape that is only swallowed up again in the overwhelming sadness of the strings and piano. The triumphant chords towards the end crash and burn in a cascade of anguish before the final resolution.

The piece was disassembled and reconstructed by Meg Okura and she did it flawlessly. I mean, flawlessly. This track is as much her achievement in arrangement as it is Sakamoto’s in composition.

PictureHelen Sung
The break from the grief only comes with the opening of the next track. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence was from the movie of the same name in which Ryuichi Sakamoto had an acting role as well as a composer’s role. It is one of Sakamoto’s most enchanting melodies and violin, flute and piano render an emotional and heart-felt performance of it. The trading leads are absolutely lovely. It is one of those pieces that you hope never ends.

Also from Sakamoto’s first solo album (Thousand Knives) is The End of Asia. It is the piece that made me a Sakamoto fan ‘way back in 1978. Meg Okura made me remember the love I always had for that piece (and all the others).

It is an extraordinary study in unit cohesion under Meg’s arrangement. The original was in Sakamoto’s innovative style of techno-synthesis and Meg has created what surely must someday become a Jazz standard.

The “in-the-pocket” aggression of Helen Sung’s piano with Douglas and Strickland’s rhythm section is nothing short of thrilling. Meg comes over the top followed by Anne Drummond in striking beauty. The sheer brilliance of performance and arrangement do not blind us to what Sakamoto created so many years ago. This is a triumph for all.

PictureE.J. Strickland
You’ve Got to Help Yourself/Ishin Denshin opens with a warm and resonant bass and colorful piano chords to introduce a work of gentle assurance and dignity. It is from the Y.M.O. album Service from 1983.

Don’t let the English title fool you. It is not a cold instruction to take care of oneself but is, rather, closer to “I’m all right. Everything’s okay. Just take care of yourself.” The second part of the title is important--Ishin Denshin (以心伝心)--and is the Japanese expression for non-verbal understanding. “What the mind thinks, the heart speaks” is one way of stating it. It is what makes words often superfluous in Japanese culture.

In his book Bushido, Inazo Nitobe states that if the profoundest feelings are expressed in words, then those feelings must not really be that profound. The true depths of emotion cannot be verbalized. This is precisely what is felt in this piece. No words can convey but music can truly reveal the depths of the heart.

Anne Drummond again gets a spotlight that she does not shirk. It makes one consider that Meg must have had a discussion with these splendid musicians on just what ishin denshin means because they all portray that feeling so lovingly and with such understanding. It is as if the heart of each of the musicians is felt in their performance of this incredible work.

Meg admits that she has been listening to Sakamoto’s music since she was five years old. It is her thorough understanding of the music of Sakamoto that gives her such authority in presenting this album of his compositions. With each arrangement it is clear that Meg Okura is the true and rightful interpreter of Sakamoto sensei.

PictureDezron Douglas
The eighth track is The Last Emperor Theme from the 1987 movie. It sounds like what it is--the theme from a great movie. Under Meg’s understanding touch, it is endowed with a jazziness that is stimulating and inspiring. Strickland’s military-style snare underscores the original setting of the music. The loose groove is a pleasure and Dezron Douglas is a fitting accomplice in the adventure. It also features Meg on the erhu for that authentic feel of the setting of the music.

Thousand Knives was the first song I ever heard of Sakamoto. It was delightful to see Meg’s inclusion of it on this album and hearing it again as performed by the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble left me as thrilled as the first time I heard it. It is rapturous. Every musician works this piece as if they have played it all their lives.

Helen Sung deserves particular attention and she if often playing underneath the violin or flute but every note she plays is meaningful and appropriate. And that rhythm section… Douglas and Strickland just smoke it.

Helen’s Intro is a thing of beauty and at 1:48 is agonizingly brief. However, it is a flowing and flawless set-up for “Water’s Edge” from Sakamoto’s 1994 album Sweet Revenge.

Water’s Edge was a vocal piece and is easily distinguished as such. It takes on a new life, however, in the jazz arrangement. It is lyrical and emotional and very Japanese.

PictureAnne Drummond
This is what I mean when I say that: Japanese music is some of the most profoundly emotional music in the world. It touches so deeply that it brings unbidden tears just from the sound of it.

Soundtracks and TV theme music have lives of their own apart from the video productions they accompany. What may be “incidental music” in the West is a separate work of art in Japan. Whether it is from powerful Taiga dramas like Ryomaden or simple daytime dramas like Gegege’s Wife, the music is touching in the profoundest of ways. It is through Japanese music that a Westerner can even hope to understand what “ishin denshin” means. Even Rachmaninoff never affected me like this.

Perspective is the fitting finale to this magnificent album. It begins with Meg’s broad strokes on the violin which opens room for Helen Sung’s stunning piano work and Anne Drummond’s fanciful flute. This is an unequivocal quintet success.

There is a lightness in the melodic delivery that is so well supported by Douglas and Strickland. The interaction between the musicians is, let me say it, perfect. This is a remix of the original composition and is not a grand departure from it.

The melody is enthralling and the performance is spot-on. It is a very fitting end to an album that I wish were 3 CDs in length but even that would not quench the desire for more.

Meg Okura has chosen rightly from the vast corpus of Sakamoto material that covers almost 35 years. From the whimsical to lyrical to the heart-warming and the profound, she has reinterpreted and reinvented what must never be lost or abandoned. In a world divorced from the synthpop of the 70s and 80s, Meg Okura has given a stunning reintroduction to the music from the genius of Ryuichi Sakamoto.




Get Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto by Meg Okura and The Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble here:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/megokurathepanasianchamb

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The Master. Ryuichi Sakamoto.
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The Best of Jazz in 2013

12/5/2013

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I was asked by the Jazz Journalists to submit my list for "Best of... for 2013." Below is that list.


Jazz Favorites of 2013

Solo Recording               

Keith Jarrett - No End (ECM Records)
This is not Jarrett on solo piano! Rather, he plays electric guitar, electric bass, drums and percussion with only a whiff of piano.           


Duo Recording   

Randy Klein’s Two Duos - What’s Next (Jazzheads Records)
Klein alternates duos with Boris Kozlov (bass) and Alex Skolnik (guitar)


Trio Recording


George Colligan Trio - The Endless Mysteries (Origin Records)
with Larry Grenadier (bass) and the incomparable Jack DeJohnette (drums)


Quartet Recording


Hristo Vitchev Quartet - Familiar Fields (First Orbit Sounds Music)
Called "Impressionistic Jazz," Vitchev has brought together an ideal line-up, especially Weber Iago (piano)


Debut Recording

I Know You Well Miss Clara - Chapter One (MoonJune Records)
Producer Leonardo Pavkovic's brilliant discovery from Indonesia


Guitar Jazz Album

John Scofield - Uberjam Deux (EmArcy)
Scofield continues to inspire and amaze


Piano Jazz Album

Aaron Parks - Arborescence (ECM Records)
Brilliant young pianist with his first ECM solo recording


Sax Jazz Album


Sadao Watanabe - Outra Vez (Red River Entertainment)
Watanabe celebrates 60 years in music in 2013. This is his first return to Brazil in 25 years.


Urban Jazz Album

Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio 2 (Blue Note-Universal)
Glasper may be the best thing to happen to Jazz since...Sydney Bechet.


Avant-Garde Jazz Album

Mike Mahaffay - Reflections on a Symphony (Mahaffay’s Musical Archives)
An astonishing interpretation of Charles Ives' Universe Symphony


Progressive Jazz Album


simakDialog - The 6th Story (MoonJune Records)
Together for 20 years, the West is finally hearing these brilliant musicians from Indonesia.


Latin Jazz Album


Chucho Valdes & the Afro-Cuban Messengers - Border Free (Jazz Village)
71 years old and still going strong, Chucho is the great link to the wonderful heritage of Afro-Cuban music.


Fusion Jazz Album


Sharp Three - Zero Cool (Sharp Three Music)
Brothers Goh and Kai Kurosawa team with Chuck Haecke to create thrilling adventures in fusion.


Live Performance of 2013


Melissa Aldana - The 2013 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition
Melissa is rewarded for what she already proved in her first two albums--that she is the future of Jazz sax.


YouTube Performance of 2013


Mike Prigodich & MPEG - “Lucy Goose” Live @ Jimmy Mak’s 8/26/2013
Prigodich is a masterful composer/pianist and is joined by the the best of the best in Damian Erskine (bass) and the amazing Reinhardt Melz (drums). Watch the bass solo. It sounds like flamenco on bass.


2013 Crossover Artist of the Year

Berta Rojas - Salsa Roja (Onmusic Recordings)
Berta is a classically-trained guitarist who is at home in any genre. Stunning beauty.


Best Surprise of 2013

Jawanza Kobie - Feels Better Than It Sounds (JKM)
Jawanza Kobie has had a great career writing film scores and soundtracks but this is him doing what we wish he had been doing for 20 years. But it has been worth the wait.


2013 Jazz Composer of the Year


George Colligan. With two albums this year and with musicians going from Jaleel Shaw and Donald Edwards to Boris Kozlov and Jack DeJohnette, Colligan writes ideal passages for each musician, especially for himself on piano. Colligan is a genius.


2013 Jazz Album of the Year

Spyro Gyra - The Rhinebeck Sessions (Crosseyed Bear Productions)
Sometimes derided as pop-Jazz, Spyro Gyra has inspired and entertained for nearly 40 years. With a new drummer, they have been re-energized and have shown that they will be around for a long time.


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