Hitomi Nishiyama Trio "Shift"
Hitomi Nishiyama Trio Parallax “Shift”
(Meantone Records/disk union 2014)
西山瞳 Hitomi Nishiyama--piano
坂崎拓也 Takuya Sakazaki--bass
清水勇博 Takehiro Shimizu--drums
馬場孝喜 Takayoshi Baba—guitar (2, 3, 6)
Hitomi Nishiyama’s CDs are all elegant jazz, but “Shift” just might become many people’s favorites. The recording starts off with “Rock Out” an intriguing piece with a very unusual rhythm. Rather than being jarring, though, the band’s in-sync playing makes the off-on rocking of the rhythm a mesmerizing piece of music.
The rest of the CD is mainly Nishiyama’s originals, with two standards. The original compositions are where the trio, along with guitarist Baba, dig deepest and with the most relish. “Shift” has Baba taking the melody on a very cool, full guitar sound and from there, each tune is sleek and calming, humming along with serene energy.“Wright Flyer,” has big leaps of power, but still remains very nimbly played and brightly conceived jazz. “Analemma” is soft, delicate and lovely, but really, every tune is lyrical and delicate. However, with Nishiyama’s potent left hand working on them, the songs do not sound fragile, but full of a tensile strength. Each song has a sort of beauty that does not dissipate quickly, but lingers long afterwards.
The standard, “Girl from Ipanema,” is revitalized. Nishiyama takes the song deliciously slow, with an attention that lets the harmonies, rather than the beat, as is most common, take over. The often-played song that everyone knows comes out freshly reconsidered. The other standard, “C Jam Blues,” is also redone completely. The trio keeps it bluesy and fun, but turned around in different ways, as if all the chords are reversed just to see what happens.“Move” is a fleet, rollicking piece with a bass line really moves. Sakazaki and Shimizu peg out a lot of sonic space for Nishiyama to work with, and it is her solos that really grab your ears. The song has a reflective feeling to it, but with huge amounts of energy bubbling through it. The songs at times feel as if they are calling from another musical plane altogether. All of Nishiyama’s many CDs are solid, accomplished and a delight to listen to, but “Shift” is perhaps near among the best of her ever-expanding work.