Isao Suzuki Oma Sound

Sometime April 22, 2011Isao Suzuki – bassKeisuke Takamura – trumpetAkihiro Yoshimoto – saxophoneMamoru Ishida – pianoRyo Shibata – drumsDavid – saxophoneIsao Suzuki’s Oma Sound is one of the longer-running groups in Tokyo’s jazz scene. That is, it’s been running with Suzuki at the helm and a cast of hot, young players revolving in and out of the line-up for years. This most recent incarnation is one of the best—high-energy, chop-heavy, and cooler than ever.Suzuki is a master at running a group. He obviously digs honing the connections between the brash horns, countervailing piano and a drummer who moves easily between jazz, funk, hip-hop and rock rhythms. Suzuki obviously digs working with much younger musicians and they obviously dig him. Of course, Suzuki’s at the center of the sound, and should be, with a bass technique all his own. More than that, though, he has an energy level all his own. The younger guys have to work a bit to keep up with him!A large part of the pleasure of this latest group is they way they support and spur each other, especially whenever someone solos, which is most of the time. They keep the flow upbeat and jammed full of life. Suzuki’s bass is smack in the center of the sound. His pliant, taut and unique voice just begs to be answered, and everyone does, circling around him to make a fluid, fat sound.As predictable as a song like “All the Things You Are” can be, Oma Sound gave it a blood transfusion. It hopped. The trumpeter called the tune after the band had already started vamping an intro. Everyone laughed as they didn’t know what he would pick until he blasted out the melody! The tight lines and soaring upbeat grooves go back to the five and six-piece hard bop of the late 50s and early 60s, but with much greater freedom and funkiness.The center of the first set was an arrangement of the Beatles’ “Come Together.” The melody was veiled beautifully beneath jazz harmonies and agile rhythms, and only gradually emerged as the whole band poured their hearts into each succeeding chorus and solo. Another Beatles revision, (it would not be right to call it a ‘cover’), “Yesterday,” was pumped into an open-ended ballad sprinkled with funk. The closing tune, another intriguingly arranged (by Suzuki) Beatles’ tune, “Get Back,” jumped the energy level even higher. The band’s progressive heart was worn on their sleeves every song. There’s a Mingus-like earthiness in the way they merge contrary intentions—open but focused, fun but angry, laid-back but intense. It all works because of Suzuki’s Puck-like spryness. Oma Sound is one of the most engaging groups in Tokyo--scorching with energy and packed with spontaneity.