Koichi Matsukaze

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Koichi Matsukaze (松風 紘一) Quartet "Private Notes" (Studio Wee) 2005 Koichi Matsukaze—tenor sax, alto sax, flute Takayuki Kato—guitar Hiroaki Mizutani—bass Akira Sotoyama—drums Saxophonist Matsukaze's new CD starts out with an indirect listlessness that gradually, like a musical stream building into a strong, flowing river, achieves an expansive, complex power. The first tune, "k2," kind of pokes around, like an orchestra tuning up, then song by song, the quartet travels a huge territory of improvisation and very cool expression. The second song "j.c. nagase" is where the drive takes off. Kato's guitar, Mizutani's wildly thumping bass, and Sotoyama's multi-directional energy drive this funky, soaring number. Matsukaze's solos are robust and edgy, while Kato spices up the sound with weird feedback before dropping back into an intense groove. Even funkier is "No. 513," which just explodes into wide-open free funk. The tune has a tensile quality that is a very hip, good time. Matsukaze's solos here are some of his best, with everyone else throwing down all around him. At other points, and on every song at some point, the band works with very free jazz style. They always come back together into recognizable forms but work with a counter-balance of energies that push and pull between them. The band also has an easy sense of driving forward very hard, then dropping back calmly into a slow, exploratory mode. They do these shifts comfortably, though, unlike many free jazz addicts,

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