J Masters Shinjuku Pit Inn
May 6, 2024 Shinjuku Pit Inn
Kosuke Mine峰 厚介 – saxophone
Shigeharu Mukai向井滋春 – tuba
Tomonao Hara原 朋直 – trumpet
Soichi Noriki野力奏一 – piano
Yoshio Suzuki鈴木良雄 - bass
Shingo Okudaira奥平真吾 - drums
The appropriately named J. Masters started their evening of great J-jazz with a Bud Powell number, “Bouncing with Bud.” They took the classic bop tune at a rapid tempo as if they had warmed up before the show began. But with the depth of experience these musicians have, they probably never cool down. The Bud Powell opener was not strictly bop, but the front line turned it into lovely West Coast cool jazz.
After the first tune, whether playing a Herbie Hancock standard or a much rarer tune from the Antiguan guitarist Roland Prince, the sextet turned already great arrangements into great live jazz. Each of the tunes featured solos that were tastefully played without the need to impress. The soloing was always about what sounds best.
On a beautiful arrangement of “Norwegian Wood,” bassist Suzuki inverted the well-known Beatles tune, with the bass taking the melody and sax, trombone, and trumpet building on a melody everyone knows to show what everyone hasn’t thought of yet. It’s always pleasing to hear pop songs refurbished with added chords and harmonies, but it was especially well done here. It uncovers the depths of the tune.
“E.J. Blues” by Elvin Jones (who played regularly at New Year’s at Pit Inn until his death) was robust but unhurried, muscular but refined. That might sound like the music was going in different directions, but one of the best parts of hearing experienced and creative musicians together is the creative tensions. They create depth, emotion, and new meaning.
Thelonius Monk’s “Let’s Cool One” kicked into a steady groove with a great arrangement from saxophonist Mine. The solos here were the focus, held up to shine by Suzuki’s unpredictable yet always walking bass and Okudaira’s textures and tempos on drums.
Wayne Shorter’s “Infant Eyes” featured an especially marvelous piano intro from Noriki, who is with Hara, the younger faction inside the group. (Hara noted he’d seen the other musicians play on NHK when he was a boy!) But he and Noriki fit in perfectly with the older musicians. There was no ageism in either direction in this group. It was truly balanced all around. The front line balanced the rhythm. Everyone contributed an arrangement. Solos were evenly distributed. Everyone listened to the others. That balance reminded me of Wynton Marsalis’ comment that jazz is the most democratic of musical forms. The evening was straight-ahead jazz written by masters and played by Japanese masters and simply beautiful.
