Saxophobia

Live at Sometime
January 25, 2003

Makoto Ota--tenor sax, flute, shinobue
Nao Takeuchi--tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute
Hiroshi “JuJu” Inoue--baritone sax, flute
Hidenori Midorikawa--alto sax

The saxophone quartet must be one of the most difficult formats in jazz. Without the timing of the drums, the depth of the bass or the comping of the piano, there’s simply no help to get back on track, no one to catch you when you fall and no place to hide. It’s like soloing in unison. In the sax quartet, the players are exposed, raw and, as they say in New York, “in your face.”

But with Saxophobia, all that is good--very, very good. There’s no evidence that Saxophobia has any fear or anxiety, or if they do, they turn it to wonderful effect, charging straight ahead  without the least inhibition. Last Saturday at Sometime, they played three robust sets of invigorating jazz.

It helps that all four are masterful players, but it’s no less important that they have an ego-less ease with group interaction. Saxophobia creates a vibrant atmosphere through refreshing unpredictability. Like a complicated musical game that keeps you guessing, they shift parts between them like tectonic plates under the earth, but with inspired, controlled fluidity. They fly apart and then come back together, but you never quite know when or where.

Standards and pop numbers alike were rejuvenated  by the counterpoint of high and low, the shifting of melody lines from place to place, and the varied, driving meters. “God Bless the Child” was arranged with the clean precision of the flute floating over the rough breathiness of the saxes. Their arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” stripped the lush funk riffs to their stark essential components, keeping the musicality high while still letting loose.

Another aspect of the group’s musical creativity are the tunes they choose--everything from traditional Japanese melodies to calypso to gospel to blues fall inside the space created by their four parallel lines of thought. The earthy drive of tunes like Mingus’ “Better Get Hit in Your Soul” kept the sets rooted in a soulful, good-time vibe. When they march off, and on, stage still playing, it’s an homage to the marching bands of New Orleans and creates a little piece of carnival right there.

On their excellent first release, “Fancymen in the Darkness,” the arrangements went for a faster pace and a kind of sneaky surprise in each tune. However, on this, their first gig of the year, the most moving pieces were the mid-tempo ones, which gave them space for them to really show the maturity of their conceptions and the readiness of their chops. The quartet will release a new CD in April of this year.