Kaoru Abe, Motoharu Yoshizawa, Toshinori Kondo, Derek Bailey - Aida's Call

Kaoru Abe: alto saxophone
Motoharu Yoshizawa: bass
Toshinori Kondo: trumpet
Derek Bailey: guitar

Review

by Skip Jansen

This 1978 session saw three leading figures of the Japanese free improvisation scene in collaboration with the godfather of British improvised music, Derek Bailey. The guitarist is at home in the highly abstract rapid-fire ad-hoc setting with trumpeter Toshinoro Kondo, bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa, and saxophonist Kaoru Abe, the latter in fact the outstanding player of the quartet through the sheer force with which he plays. The recording is let down somewhat by poor recording quality -- but nonetheless is a vital and historical date for Derek Bailey, who worked with all the players in duo settings on other occasions -- but rarely with three of the Japanese avant-garde's finest musicians.

1978 AIDA'S CALL

Milford Graves - Meditation Among Us

Kaoru Abe: sopranino & alto saxophones
Mototeru Takagi: tenor saxophone
Toshinori Kondo: trumpet, alto horn
Toshiyuki Tsuchitori: drums, percussion
Milford Graves: drums, percussion, piano, voice

Review

by Thom Jurek

Recorded in 1977, Meditation Among Us is the collaboration of American vanguard jazz drummer Milford Graves with a Japanese jazz quartet which included trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, saxophonist Kaoru Abe, drummer Toshi Tsuchitori (who also plays piano on this session), and bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa. There are two long selections here, credited to Graves, but they feel like completely free improvisations. The blowing intensity on any Graves' date is intense, but here it is over the top, as the Japanese players attempt to match his intensity -- something they only succeed at in part. The reedy tones of Kondo and Abe contrast well with Graves tom-tom heavy approach, but as the drummer continually plays in triple, and even quadruple time, their soloing comes off more as bleats of sound than an articulation of musical ideas. In other words, this date, feels more like tonal improvisation at a very fast pace, rather than any extended harmonic engagement. To whit, there is also a distinct lack of dynamic tension here, as everything is played in overdrive, making listening an arduous chore after 15 minutes, rather than revelation.

1977 MEDITATION AMONG US