Atsushi Ikeda with Joh Yamada

Live at B Flat
June 24, 2002

Atsushi Ikeda--sax
Joh Yamada--sax
Yuichi Inoue--piano
Shin Kamimura--bass
Toru Takahashi--drums

Bird Lives! Or at least he flew for a couple hours at B Flat June 24. Atsushi Ikeda and Joh Yamada put their chops to the test with finger-busting lines at double-time on two full sets of all Charlie Parker tunes. Leading off with "Red Cross" the complexity of the arrangements jumped up the speed and technique straight away. Ikeda took the first solo and set a high standard for swooping, flowing rapid-fire soloing. Yamada, not to be outdone, answered, as did Inoue. The set continued with ballads, "Laura" being especially lovely, and ended with the always-popular "Salt Peanuts." The solos on "Salt Peanuts" finally kicked into confident, uninterrupted phrasing over repeated choruses. The first set suffered slightly from shifts of tempo, too fast on "Red Cross" and too slow on "Laura." The second set, though, solved the question of groove by dipping into "Confirmation," among others. "Confirmation" found a steadier rhythm that not only let everyone's breathing return to normal, but gave all the players room to stretch out into more coherent, unified solos. Kamimura and Takahashi took shorter solos, showing the effort of keeping the rhythm locked tight all evening. By the time the set-closer "Cherokee" came around, though, everyone caught their second wind and delivered the most fiery solos of the evening. These final solos showed how the language of bop can blend with post-bop dialects. Of the three, Ikeda stayed more firmly within the bop mode, but Inoue and Yamada dusted their solos with voicings, modes and ideas taken from a range of soloing styles. The contrast was intriguing. Ikeda's warmer swing answered by Yamada's taut edginess, followed by Inoue's strong punctuating chords amid single-note lines. While the first set was more of a tribute, the second set showed what the three find interesting and relevant in Parker's legacy. The second set also was enhanced by the sax of Saori Yano, who, at only fifteen years of age, already shows insight, technique and tremendous promise. Praise should also go to B Flat for instituting a once-a-month, no-charge evening. Other club owners could do the jazz community a great service by opening up their club every so often to a wider public. Every seat was filled, with considerable turnover between sets. It was especially heartening to see students and young people, who might not normally afford the 2 to 3,000 yen cover charge, packing in to hear some of the best jazz Tokyo has to offer.