Erena Terakubo “Burkina” (Eighty-Eights 2013)
Erena Terakubo—alto saxophone
Kenny Barron—piano
Ron Carter—bass
Jimmy Cobb—drums
Lenny White—drums (on three tracks)
I saw Terakubo years ago when she was still in high school. She jumped onstage for the last song in the evening, a chance always saved by musicians for their most promising students. She has made good on that early promise and then some. In this recording, she’s clearly had a studio recording session set up with four heavies of jazz, but she rises to the challenge.
Every so often, a Japanese label tries this set-up, with mixed results. Here, though, Terakubo moves beyond her precociousness (she released two CDs when she was still in high school) and taps into something fuller and more ambitious than just early energy. On “Burkina” she slips into the virtuoso backing to make an older-than-her-years CD of solid, straight-ahead jazz.
Without knowing who’s playing the above introduction wouldn’t be necessary. So, set that intro aside and the CD starts with an African groove on one of her three originals of the set, “Burkina.” She digs into the backing to play passionately and intensely. Like many younger players, she tends to rush things, but that’s not always such a bad thing.
On the following tunes, she sinks into the songs fully and with feeling. Her phrasing really leaps out on another of her originals “Warmth” and then on “Azule Serape,” an overlooked, brilliant standard. She really hears the guys behind her and isn’t afraid to let a few measures go before jumping back in, but she has plenty to say.“I’m in the Mood for Love” is a tune that always runs the risk of sounding too nice, but Terakubo juices it up to come out fresh and fun. On “The Days of Wine and Roses,” too, she stays deep in tradition, but finds her own voice there. She has her own turnarounds, her own closes of phrasing, and her own voicing to express her alto sax thinking. Her feeling for the standards and the power of her originals show how deeply the tradition has soaked into her musical consciousness.
The line-up of ballads and bebop is done with balance and taste. The support of the “guys in the band” helps a lot, too! They sound as impressive and together as one would expect, but they also sound like they’re having a great time here. Their experience meshes well with Terakubo’s youthful drive.
This is much more than the curiosity of a young Japanese woman with jazz stalwarts. After all, Barron, Carter, and Cobb don’t need to do anything just for the money. They do it for jazz. Musicians reach career levels at very different paces, some sooner than usual, some later. That’s just in the nature of jazz, and why a recording like this one is so intriguing and so satisfying. (August 26, 2015)