Takashi Kashiwakura, mabanua, and Shun Ishiwaka gather! RM jazz legacy leader Takumi Moriie challenged a piano trio and a new jazz x reggae methodology Takumi Moriie Espoir Key of Life+ (2016)

RUMBA ON THE CORNER was formed in 2012 by Takumi Moriie, a bassist who was active in the world of reggae such as DETERMINATIONS. stirs up the scene. The most notable of these is RM jazz legacy, which he leads. Along with DJ Hiroko Otsuka, who is the producer of the unit, we have gathered elite Japanese musicians who have had few opportunities to connect with us. The first work "RM jazz legacy" released in 2015 has received praise from overseas, and he has also performed at major festivals such as and . It has become a detonator in the scene.

"Espoir", the first leader work of Moriie who is making remarkable progress, was recorded by an acoustic piano trio. The whole story is composed of love songs, and the selection of covers such as Rihanna, Sade, Sam Smith, Bob Marley, and The Doors is interesting, but what is most surprising is the gorgeous players. From mabanua, who is familiar with RM jazz legacy, to Shun Ishiwaka, Nobuaki Fujii, and Takashi Kashiwakura of toe/the HIATUS, Japan's most talented drummers gathered. Adding talented pianists such as Masayasu Tsuboguchi, Kan Sano, and Yusuke Hirado (former quasimode) to each song, the dream-like formation is a feat that only Moriie can do. After knowing the individuality of each member, the critical point of view that sometimes challenges experimental combinations, and the methodology of reggae cultivated over many years, combined to create a rare and exciting album. What kind of sound was Moriie aiming for with this trio? I asked him about it.

JAZZ Jazz

*Listen to all songs here

I wanted to show my own bass with Jamaican music carved into my body

――When I listened to "Espoir", I was surprised by the special mix. Especially the sound of the bass, isn't it?

"If you listen to it on a sound system with a woofer, you'll be able to hear what you can't hear with earphones. I like reggae and dub. Jah Shaka's sound system is shocking. The same goes for DRY & HEAVY's live.Isn't it nice to feel the bass all over your body?This album is a piano trio, playing acoustic bass, but the bass that reverberates through the body peculiar to reggae. At first, it was an orthodox piano trio mix, but I asked him, ``Please play it lower,'' and he brought out the low end."

Jah Shaka's live video

――Is it intentional that the outline of the bass isn't clear? It's not a mix that makes you hear phrases.

"Yeah, it's generating low frequencies. That's the kind of feeling that's important to me. It's not a bass that you can hear when you play it, but a bass that you can feel with your body. That's how dub works."

--Mixing other instruments isn't the standard way of jazz, is it?

"Of course. I had a hip-hop mixer do it, so the drums sounded to match the bass."

――The tone and range of the bass are especially important in modern jazz, aren't they? For that reason, more and more people are playing synthesizer bass with muted sounds these days, and it's interesting to use a dub-inspired mix of that kind of sound with an acoustic bass.

"This idea came from Brainfeeder. Austin Peralta's 'Endless Planets', produced by Flying Lotus, has a tremendous low end. I heard it for the first time at a record store. It surprised me at times.It was a shock to hear that bass playing on a jazz album."

"The Underwater Mountain Odyssey" from Austin Peralta's 2011 album "Endless Planets"

-- When it comes to brainfeeders, so does Kamasi Washington. Rather than saying that the sound is good, the sense of how the sound is produced is good. Various musical instruments are sounding in a pleasant place. When you think about it that way, the playing itself doesn't stand out, but I feel that Moriie's bass is the pillar of this album in terms of how it sounds and how it reverberates.

"So I wanted to show something of myself. I'm not a jazz bassist, and I'm brainwashed by Jamaican music. Reggae. , there are some that are so extreme that even if you listen to a record and try to pick out the pitch of the bass, you won't know where it's coming from.I wanted to try that part in my album."

――Actually, listening to "Espoir", I felt that it had something in common with Robert Glasper's "Covered". That album has a very unnatural balance of instruments, the drums are sharp in the front while the bass is quite lumpy in the back. Moreover, only the snare of the drum was abnormally sharp, and the bass drum was abnormally low and thick. That is already an extreme mix that could be considered a dub idea.

Actually, I was quite surprised by that album. , I'm influenced by reggae.It's not like we're doing the same thing, but it's kind of a coincidence that we approached it in a similar way."

Robert Glasper's 'Reckoner' from 2015's Covered may be looking for a taste of Monty Alexander

――There are a lot of gorgeous members in this album, what made you want to start this project?

“I always liked jazz, so I admired piano trios, and I always thought that one day I would be able to make an album with an acoustic piano trio. However, although the orchestra is a piano trio, I'm not really conscious of jazz as a song form. I thought that (with such nuances) would come out from the performance of , but I didn't have the intention of creating a jazz piano trio sound."

RM jazz legacy's 2015 live video

--- RM jazz legacy also used a variety of drummers, but this "Espoir" contains 4 patterns of trio performances. is interesting.

“At first, there were three patterns (combinations): Ishiwaka-kun and Tsuboguchi-san, mabanua-kun and Kan Sano-kun, and Kashiwakura-kun and Tsuboguchi-san. I had heard about their names in various places, so I took this opportunity to invite them to try it out.Hirado-kun brought Fujii-san from there, and that's how we ended up with this lineup."

-I see. Now, let me ask you about the three pianists and the four drummers who have different characters. First of all, Mr. Masayasu Tsuboguchi is a regular member of RM jazz legacy, so we have had many opportunities to work together in recent years.

“Tsuboguchi-san is definitely a jazz pianist from our point of view, but he also does electric jazz, and he has a deep knowledge of various kinds of music other than jazz. He's very curious, but at the same time, he has a deep awareness of the genre of jazz, which is interesting."

Moriie, Masayasu Tsuboguchi, and Yasuhiro Yoshigaki (drums) live video of the RM jazz legacy trio

-- Kan Sano was an unexpected choice.

“Kan Sano-kun has elements of jazz, but he also does programming and does a lot of pop and dance music work, so even if he plays (on the piano) acoustically, the tone is pop. What surprised me when we worked together was the way the piano sounded.Usually, there are a lot of electronic and acoustic approaches, but there are times when I wonder if it sounds like that even when it's acoustic. I also like how he plays the piano like a percussion instrument.Even when it comes to placing harmonies and melodies, he has a sense that goes beyond jazz, and there is no other pianist like him.”

――In this album, Kan Sano's piano is particularly modal, isn't it? Personally, I feel that Kan Sano's piano is more "Japanese" than "J-Pop".

"Ah, that's true. I really value the timbre, or the flavor that can't be expressed on a score, but Sano-kun's piano has a nice 'Japanese' sweetness."

――Isn't Monty Alexander^※ the sweetest pianist? If you're going to do jazz x reggae acoustically, maybe it's better to be sweet.

*Jamaica's leading jazz pianist born in 1944. Contributed to the birth of ska, loved by both jazz and reggae fans

"That's why I think Monty is the only one who's been successful? Before starting this project, I went to a record store in Osaka called Drum & Bass Records (which deals with Jamaican music), and tried to find a way to present a Jamaican taste. When I was talking with the owner, Mr. Masaya Hayashi, we ended up talking about Monty. Maybe that's what I'm looking for."

Kan Sano's solo performance video Monty Alexander's 2013 live video covering Bob Marley's "Running Away"

-- Yusuke Hirado, how was it when you played together?

I liked the sound source that vocalist Ai Ichikawa did as a duo with Hirado-kun. It's different and betrayed me in a good way.He's also a guy who studied jazz properly, so that part comes out well.So when I thought about doing a piano trio, he came to mind. I've never met him (laughs)."

――I feel that the club jazz you were doing can also be seen as melodious groove music in a sense. This is partly why I felt that among the three pianists, Mr. Hirado's performance had a particularly clear outline of the melody.

"When I listened to it, I felt like McCoy Tyner. I like that part."

――The McCoy Tyner-ness is partly born from the combination of Nobuaki Fujii, who was a member of the club jazz unit SLEEP WALKER via spiritual jazz. I don't think so. Pianists John Hicks and Joe Bonner, who are positioned in the genealogy of McCoy Tyner, also have a melodious and mellow side.

"Oh, I see."

Yusuke Hirado's 2012 album "Speak Own Words" track "Taxi Driver Theme" McCoy Turner's live footage from 1973