Hanamichi, the last studio recording by the late Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, is the culmination of a lifetime of musical research and discovery.
The debut album from Red Hook Records contains masterful and definitive interpretations
"[Kikuchi] was constantly searching for his 'voice' that he could not express with words. It wasn't until a few years before his death that his 'voice' found him! " - Gary Peacock
Six revealing pieces by the late Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi are featured on Hanamichi, the debut album from Red Hook Records, which will be released in digital, LP and CD formats on April 16, 2021. The music, recorded during a two-day New York session on a magnificent Steinway, marks a departure from the mostly free improvisation practiced in his final years by Poo (Kikuchi's nickname), who died in 2015 at age 75. Kikuchi's radiant playing shines with melodic exploration and expression in his interpretations of lesser-known tunes and beloved standards.
As Kevin Whitehead writes in these excerpts from the album's liner notes:
"I have no technique," Kikuchi affirmed to Ben Ratliff of the New York Times a year and a half before recording Hanamichi. It would be more accurate to say that he developed his own. He played with curled fingers, his hands moving like crabs or holding themselves banana-shaped. Sometimes his palms hung below the keyboard, and sometimes he played with crossed or overlapping hands. The resulting knots of sound can be heard on "Improvisation" and the first track, "My Favorite Things." Swirls from which melodies suddenly emerge.
On Hanamichi, producer Sun Chung urged him to play melodies alongside his free improvisations. This turned out to be a good idea. Poo didn't bring any music or a set list, but simply chose the tunes from the moment. One of them is a personal standard, a staple of his sets since 1970, the ballad for his daughter "Little Abi."
Just how radically Kikuchi transforms Mabel Wayne's jaunty Spanish waltz "Ramona" can be gauged by the seven-second gap between the melody's first and second notes when he finally gets to it. The leisurely tempo lets it build, and the final melodic statement in a new key is full of accumulated feeling. This tempo lets us hear Kikuchi's mastery of pedal playing and harmonics at the edges: the high, thin shimmer of ringing harmonics that persists through changing chords.
While some pianists who use the sustain pedal overplay, Kikuchi holds back and chooses notes with special care to create clarity. The buzzing piano harp is a shifting backdrop to the present action, not a heavy curtain draped over it. Kikuchi's "Summertime" announces the melody with playfully ambiguous barroom tremolos, distorting the graceful timing of Gershwin's inner cadences. All the dynamics he had in mind are heard: The piano sounds in a variety of ways, across the registers - another zone of dynamic variation.
In the second half of the recording, a flyover of birdsong and dissolving high chords unleash Poo's eerie buzzard voice. Other pianists sing along with the right hand; Kikuchi's cry would beam in from beyond, an independent voice. On Hanamichi, his utterances are sparse and surprisingly accurate, enhancing the musical effect.
Two completely different "My Favorite Things" confirm Hanamichi's improvisational spontaneity: two days, two perspectives. Kikuchi takes his time on the longer recording, finding implications in the melody and harmony that are played over in the modal versions. As on "Abi," he strikes pounding, graceful chords, dynamic alloys of timbre, harmony and touch. They signal and remind us that Masabumi Kikuchi's piano music is not about rippling across the keys, but about making the instrument sound.
Masabumi "Poo" Kikuchi (October 19, 1939 - July 6, 2015) was a Japanese jazz pianist and composer. Born in Tokyo, he studied music at Tokyo Art College High School. He collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Lionel Hampton, McCoy Tyner, Mal Waldron, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis and Gary Peacock. His extensive discography covers a wide range of styles, from post-bop and classical avant-garde to fusion, synthesizer and digital dub. After winning a competition held by DownBeat magazine for overseas musicians, he received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music and played piano on Sonny Rollins' tour of Japan before departing for the United States. He made a name for himself as a leader, sideman and guest musician, recording albums and touring with the best jazz musicians. Over the decades he experimented with electric music, synthesizers, improvisation and new forms. In 1990 he released the album Dreamachine, produced by Bill Laswell, and began his significant, long-lasting collaboration with drummer Paul Motian. He continued to play and release new music until his death in 2015.
Red Hook Records is a new label founded in 2020 by former ECM producer Sun Chung. Red Hook Records is a meeting place where musicians have the opportunity to interact with creative minds, share insights, and explore and explore new and adventurous ways of moving forward creatively. Red Hook aims to dissolve musical boundaries by interweaving musical genres and exploring cross-cultural collaborations. Upcoming releases from the label include new projects by trumpeter/composer Wadada Leo Smith, drummer Andrew Cyrille and electronic musician Qasim Naqvi.
