KAZE

 

Shinjuku Pit Inn September 28, 2014

Natsuki Tamura – trumpet

Christian Pruvost – trumpet

Satoko Fujii - piano

Peter Orins – drums

 

As if calling in the gods of the wind, Kaze’s show started with Natsuki Tamura and Christian Pruvost blowing, tapping and inhaling air through their trumpets. There would have been no better way to start the show, since “kaze” means “wind” in Japanese. From the first musical breath, Tamura and Pruvost showed just what energy and art the wind could bring.

 

Satoko Fujii on piano and Peter Orins on drums was the perfect match for the trumpets, providing the earthy rhythmic counterpart to the airy trajectories of the trumpets. The balance tipped back and forth between the two sides, the ephemerality of the wind versus the solidity of percussion. The interaction of percussion and wind created unique tensions entirely different from typical quartets. It seems such a simple shift of instrumentation, but the total effect was an entirely unique musical experience.

None of the quartet’s playing was 4/4 and everyone was in wildly improvisatory mode. Yet, somehow the overall feel of the music, either by planned design or free-flowing passion, was symphonic. The pieces had movements from one section to the next, each of which was unexpected, but each of which also made sense. Through the successive interplay, they achieved the intimacy of a classical string quartet, even while playing at the opposite end of the musical spectrum. By erupting in always-new directions with unplanned sounds, they composed, though that’s not quite the right word, highly structured music.

Pruvost and Tamura played so differently there was no sense of even having two trumpeters in the band. Their ways of working the instrument were fresh and interesting. They used the trumpet by adding stretches of hose, stuffing mutes and balls and blocks into the bell, and generally exploring how many different ways air could move through the tubes, chambers and openings. It wasn’t just childish play, though, it was a real exploration of limits (there weren’t any) and expectations (they had to be changed).

Their virtuosity was not one of finding a new method but more of a release of the will to discover. Unlike some improvisation-absorbed groups, there was little ego, no pointless noodling and a lot of genuine discovery! The voices of all four musicians formed the center of most songs, and their individuality never had to submerge to the others. A real band of equals, each of the members contributed their own range of musical thoughts--profound, passing, off-the-wall and on target.

Kaze’s intense exploratory energy rewards the listener with the beauty of accident, the resolution following tension, and the pleasure of the completely unexpected. Unique, energetic and passionate, Kaze is a captivating, joyous and eloquent group.