Seiichi Nakamura and Shinobu Ito "Serenata" (Jazzbank) 2005

Seiichi Nakamura—Tenor Saxophone
Shinobu Ito—Guitar

Delicate, soft and nuanced, this guitar sax duo will make you shout out 'beautiful" every song and every solo. On first listen, I assumed all the songs were standards I didn't know. I kept wondering in my head, "What was that tune? I know that." But then, after looking at the notes, I realized they were all originals by Ito, (except "The Things I Didn't Do" which opens and closes the CD)—they all just sound like standards.

And maybe they will be. The songs are amazingly pretty. Most have a smooth easy modulation of chords, with lots of complexity from Ito's guitar. "Monday Night Special" sounds like a Jobim song, with a light melody and neat flow of chord changes that move like layers of soft paper. "Breeze Me Sky Me" seems to do just that, with a light and flowing melody line that moves upward gently and calmly. Other songs like "Modern Bluesology" are meatier, but still keep a beautifully lyrical approach.

The rapport of Ito and Nakamura forms the heart of the music. They both play with warmth and humanness. On "Ramonada," their conversation tumbles and turns up and down at an easy pace. The melody heads up high, then comfortably falls back down like a friend patting you on the back. The pleasure these two feel in this music comes through on every line.

The guitar has a Brazilian feeling, plucking neat harmonies and keeping a swaying rhythm, while Nakamura's tone stays full and resonant.  Though there are only two musicians here, the feeling all the way through is something like layers of sound. The lightness of both of the players creates its own beauty, but it is a complex one. Nakamura's saxophone holds all sorts of shadings, inner tones and breathy subtleties. Ito's guitar is plucked and strummed with a sense of accenting, stating and speaking. Both Ito and Nakamura have a strong, individual voice, but one that harmonizes with the other perfectly.

This music is not in a hurry. It has an easy pace that takes pleasure in every note. They ease into notes, enjoy them, and then move on to the next. This is not slow tempo music, but rather it always dances ahead with a comfortable balance of all elements. The philosopher Aristotle said 2000 years ago that beauty comes from balance, and "Sereneta" is the perfect embodiment of that ideal.