3x3 "2857"

King Record 2005

Masatoshi Mizuno: Bass

Toshiyuki Daitoku: Piano

Rikiya Higashihara: Drums

Koichi Yabori: Guitar

The latest release by 3x3 is a wide-open, full-blast jolt of intense jazz. It's hard to avoid the ambiguous term "fusion" but this is serious music beyond categories. The eight songs move through well-conceived sections that gradually spin outward into deeper and more complex spaces that always burst open into great musical expressions. This moving from thoughtful control to pyrotechnical release is compelling.

On the opening tune, "Won't You Join Us?" the thick electric bass lines of Mizuno churns beneath first Yabori's solo, then Daitoku's. The quartet is tight, focused and driving. There's no extras here, no ego, no showing off, just solid, open energy. "Court" dips into more swinging rhythms, with a stretched-out walking bass and back and forth lead line. The solos here break themselves up into interesting patterns on their own, naturally and fluently.

Even though jamming fast and furious is their forte, the group rests with cool patches that let the listener catch their musical breath. The harmonies the groups have mastered are shown best on these slower unhurried numbers. "Amapola" sets a slower, Latin-ish rhythm as does the elegant "Anytime I Feel." These slower-tempo numbers show the trio's great sensitivity and harmonic sense. They move through pretty chord changes and solo with care and delicacy.

Still, though, it's the fast numbers that linger in your mind. "Dash Down" heads upward as much as downward, with Yabori's electric sound taking center stage with unrestrained guitar jamming. The trio really flies here, pushing and pulling against each other with great strength and inventiveness. "That's That" has a funky, almost gospel-blues feel, that quickly drops into rhythmic finesse. That doesn't mean, though, they avoid modern chords and "out" patches. All four know right how to rough the melody up, for interest, and then let it slip back into resolving patterns, for comfort. "6 x 3" goes furthest "out" with an interesting wildness made of intriguing modes and throbbing bass—an engaging combination of sounds.

This CD from 3 x 3 is full-on, tightly focused music. Nothing goes astray here, even when painting outside the lines. At whatever speed, whatever harmonies, whatever melodic direction, the band stays right on target.