Search - Otomo Yoshihide :: Tails Out

Musical bliss

greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 04/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First some data. This 2003 recording was mostly the work of Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Quintet- Otomo on guitar, Kikuchi Naruyoshi on tenor, Tsugami Kenta on alto and soprano sax, Mizutani Hiroaki on bass and Yoshigaki Yasuhiro on drums and trumpet. They are joined by Kondo Yoshiaki on echo machine on Strawberry Fields, Sachiko M on sine waves and Taka Kumiko on the vibraphone on the last two compositions.

There are many ways and degrees to be musically outrageous. My guess is that Otomo has tried out most of them. I find his music from the last few years to be just brilliant. Both his own tendencies toward noise jazz and Sachiko M's sine wave creations are very restrained on this album. Unlike the first reviewer I find the music to be searchingly melodic. It can be dreamy as in the title cut, both drunken and orchestral as on Strawberry Fields or just plain lovely as on the Mingus tune. While I sympathize with the first reviewer (one person's bliss is another's screech), I cannot agree with his remarks on the saxophone technique. On the Mingus tune, Kikuchi and Tsugami demonstrate an deep schooling in the great Mingus horn men of the sixties. Their sound is sweet. On other tunes, they are outre allright but they are far from the radicalism of a Butcher or a Brotzman as Butcher and Brotzman are from each other. As I said, there are a lot of ways to be outrageous.

Finally, it must be said that Otomo as a guitarist is revealed on this CD perhaps better than on any other of his of which I know. He is brilliant and his knowledge of the tradition is complete. Listen to the way he introduces Strawberry Fields or any of his solos.

So, in spite of the first reviewer, this is a great, nay, an important CD. Yes, Otomo lives on the borders of melody versus texture, music versus noise, jazz versus everybody. If you are musically adventurous, you should definitely give him a listen. And look for his recent Orchestra CDs. His genius continues to bloom."