Tomonao Hara

It used to be that the jazz life followed a relatively set pattern. Young players joined the bands of older pros, learned what they could, and finally became a leader themselves, and maybe with luck getting a contract. For years, that pattern was as certain s a theme song before the break.     

That was the jazz life. But nowadays, jazz players are as likely to get their education in a jazz college as on the bandstand. In recent years, too, they are more likely than ever to catch the ear of an A&R rep and get signed, often before their sound has fully matured.

Other musicians, like trumpeter Tomonao Hara, develop themselves in a different way, through individual perseverance and effort. His accomplishments would seem to bear this out. At 36, Hara has already released six important recordings, backed by superb rhythm sections from both the United States and Japan, and achieved a respected status as perhaps the most important trumpeter out of Japan since Terumasa Hino.

Despite his success, he has the most unassuming of biographies. Hara played in the brass band at high school in Chiba, and got into jazz in college where he studied to be a teacher. He starting playing professionally full-time at the age of 23, and released his first CD in 1996 at the age of 30. It's been one release a year since then. Perhaps that's what he means by the jazz life--internal development and unassuming dedication. For Hara, it seems, playing good jazz is less a matter of environment or lucky breaks than in hard work and challenge.

"Maybe because I started so young, it feels natural to live a jazz life," Hara said before a recent show at Shinjuku's Pit Inn to kick off his New York Quartet's Japanese tour. "It's very psychological, but it's very difficult." If it's still difficult, it doesn't show. Many players have down one or another aspect of jazz, or do their one trick perfectly, but Hara has rounded out his playing fully, with a savvy sense of improvising and composing, a polished technique, and a restless desire for newness.

Hara's most recent release, "Pinocchio," with pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Dwayne Burno and drummer Nasheet Waits clearly shows the completeness of his sound. The alternately muscular and reflective tunes on the CD are rooted in Miles Davis' classic quintet sound but have free and modal vocabulary added. "Of course it's the Miles Davis sound," Hara said of the CD without apology at having set his sights high.

At their first show of the tour the last week in July, the quartet moved easily between a loose, fun vibe and striking intensity. After keeping close to the ground during the first set, they were poised to break things open. During the break, when told that they sounded pretty good, drummer Nasheet Waits responded, "Pretty good? Just wait. We're going to get this thing together!" which is just what they did. Their take-out on the second set opener, "Autumn Leaves," raised the energy level a quantum leap and set up an interactive bravado that lasted to the end. Solos pushed the edges, with as many approving yells and smiles from the band as from the audience.

Unlike many players who only rework the past, Hara has an almost obsessive need to develop his sound through many types of challenges. That need has kept him traveling, moving back and forth between Japan and the U.S., playing with different groups. Most recently, he played the well-respected Rochester Jazz Festival with drummer Akira Tana's All-Star Quartet. "The thing about playing in the States is that there are a lot of trumpeters, and their level is very, very high," said Hara, shaking his head. "It makes me nervous, but it's supposed to."

Hara has also played with trumpeter's trumpeter Brian Lynch, with whom he recorded "Do that Make you Mad?" after Hara accompanied Lynch on his gigs in Japan last year. Their two-trumpet front line complicated the melody lines delightfully and provoked competitive soloing. The post-bop sound was given extra heft from the aggressive drumming of Jimmy Cobb, the rhythmic force behind countless classic recordings by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Wynton Kelly. Hara also hones his chops by sitting in with American jazz players, such as Charles McPherson, when they play Tokyo. He's usually up there on stage trading solos on the last couple numbers, and listening very carefully.

As for technique, Hara looks to classical music. Together with pianist and arranger Yuki Arimasa, Hara mixes jazz and classical in the Siena Brass Fantasy. The ten classical brass players are drawn from the well-known Siena Wind Orchestra. "The thing about classical players is their sound is so clear," he said with a genuine humility and a certain envy. "Classical players hope to improvise, but I'm always aiming at their knowledge and their skill." Their mixture of a jazz rhythm section with elaborate harmonies and precise execution brings out the best of both worlds. "Improvising with them at bottom is much the same, but the thinking is so very different," said Hara.

These two ensembles resemble Miles Davis' collaborations with arranger Gil Evans, which placed Davis' trumpet inside a lush orchestral setting. When I point that out, Hara smiles broadly, "Yes, exactly. I want to keep changing like Miles, not get stuck in one sound. Each one of his styles is perfect in itself. I like them all. I'd like to try them all." Even funk-fusion? "I've been thinking of that recently," he admits, the plan already clicking over in his head. "Improvising is not just in the songs, it affects your whole life, what you do and how you live," he says, less in explanation of his projects than in confident re-affirmation.

(Originally published in The Japan Times August 2002)