My Dear Pianists Yoshio Suzuki

My Dear Pianists

Yoshio Suzuki

One (2009)

鈴木良雄 Yoshio Suzuki – bass

ケイ赤城 Kei Akagi – piano

秋吉敏子 Toshiko Akiyoshi – piano

野力奏一 Soichi Noriki – piano

小曽根真Makoto Ozone – piano

イサオササキIsao Sasaki – piano

山本剛Tsuyoshi Yamamoto – piano

This marvelous CD from a few years back made its way to me only recently. It’s a warm, unaffected, and wonderfully performed collection. The concept is Suzuki on bass together with six of the very best pianists from Japan, all in the same intimate space. All the instruments and studio set-up stayed the same as the pianists performed two apiece. The result is a refined, dynamic set of duets.

 Almost all the tunes were written by Suzuki, with Akiyoshi contributing two great compositions, and Sasaki bringing in the delightful “Kesaran Pasaran.” Sasaki also plays the standard “Some Other Time,” a loving tribute to this song so often played by Bill Evans. The rest of the songs were written by Suzuki. From these twelve, I couldn’t begin to pick standouts. They’re all standouts.

The pianists delve into the tunes with an elegant sense of the breadth of the pieces, and a focused sense of what piano and bass can attain with experienced and heightened focus. Suzuki himself occasionally plays piano in Tokyo’s clubs, so he knows the piano almost as well as the bass. That is part of what makes his interplay with the pianists so intuitive and immediate. He knows the right fit for every note so the pianists can relax into exploring the pieces.  

The twelve pieces all stay away from quick-tempo bop or too-gutsy blues. Instead, they linger on intricate harmonies and sensitive depths. The pianists move at their own pace, which ranges from nimble to weighty. Suzuki isn’t so much keeping time, following them, or supporting them as merging sensibilities with them. It’s not question-and-answer so much as mutual meditation in jazz.

The recording is high-level with great acoustics, the kind of recording audiophiles use to test out stereo equipment. You can really hear the nuanced plunk of bass strings vibrating and the enormity of their control over the keyboard. You can almost hear the smiles of satisfaction the musicians made as the last note faded. With musicians like this, it’s wonderful to hear every subtlety of their music.

Some CDs are documents, others are great listening. This CD is both.