Kyoto Mon Amour

For some time, traditional Japanese music and modal jazz have made for a fruitful synthesis. Both share a fascination with the use of space, as well as an emphasis on subtle explorations of tonal colour and texture. All of these elements are present on this new recording by German drummer Eric Schaefer, featuring a quartet completed by Kazutoki Umezu (clarinet, bass clarinet), Naoko Kikuchi (koto) and John Eckhardt (bass). Composed following an extended stay in Japan, during which Schaefer fully immersed himself in traditional culture, the music here is imbued with a Zen-like flow, in both its composition and delivery. Each piece evolves in a tidal ebb, the quartet eschewing virtuosity in favour of restrained bursts of melody, filled with nuance and introspection. The clarinet, filling the role of the shakuhachi, has a bamboo-like depth to its timbre, while Schaefer's drums resemble ritualistic taiko style patterns.
Largely pastoral in nature, the compositions evoke Schaefer's travels in Japan: through the holy mountain Hiei-Zan (‘Hiei-Zan Nightfall’) and the port city of Osaka (‘Ticket to Osaka’), for instance. Also present is a beautifully stark ensemble arrangement of ‘Rokudan’, a signature piece by 17th-century koto innovator Yatsuhashi Kengyo, which sits perfectly among the originals. Reflective in its softer moments yet broodingly dynamic in others, this is a recording graced with a rare combination of subtle beauty and understated complexity.