Hikari Ichihara Live at Naru

Hikari Ichihara QuartetMarch 1, 2015Naru市原ひかり Hikari Ichihara--trumpet宮川純 Jun Miyakawa--piano清水昭好　Akiyoshi Shimizu--bass横山和明Kazuaki Yokoyama--drumsHikari Ichihara’s quartet sounds as great live as they do on CD. That’s a very good thing, since her seven releases leading up to “Dear Gatsby,” a marvelous work dedicated to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, have been consistently excellent. Live, though, the quartet knows how to create not just great jazz, but a very fun vibe. Their enthusiasm is infectious, joyous and straight-on.For this evening, Ichihara drew on some standards, but also played original work from the Gatsby CD. The standard “Old Folks” got them, and the audience, warmed up in the first set. But, without listening to her name the tunes, her originals might be standards, too. You hear something deep-rooted in them, but also hear her present voice coming out strongly on trumpet.“Waltz for Ms. Baker” had plenty of room for solos from Miyakawa and Shimizu. The rhythm section is tight, but tight in the sense of opening up space, not just linking together. The blues-bop feel to most of the songs, lets everyone relax while searching the tunes for new directions and fresh ideas to play. Their relaxing into the songs is not an act, as it sometimes is with younger groups. They are relaxed in the right way that gets the music coming up from deep inside.They also have lots of camaraderie. As leader, Ichihara gives ample time to each of the members to say what they think on each song. There’s a graceful, easy give and take that you usually only hear with much older musicians. That connection produces plenty of intensity, but naturally, without being forced. There’s also none of the grab-the-spotlight overkill that mars some younger players’ solos. They know they’ll have another chance to solo again, and wait for the right moment.In the third set, Ichihara really showed her stuff on another tune from the Gatsby release, “Can You Repeat the Past?” The melody is happy and sad, strong and thoughtful, a perfect rendering of one of the novel’s central themes. The melody line is emotional and intense, and Ichihara’s solo took the melody deeper into the past and into the musical past, too. It is not that the quartet relies on tradition, but rather that they tap tradition for style, harmony, composition, and ideas, to express their musical views in the current moment. Ichihara’s quartet is great live. Highly recommended!