278: AKI TAKASE – DAVID MURRAY. Cherry - Sekura
Intakt Recording #278/ 2017
Recorded April 30, 2016, at Studio SRF, Zürich.
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J
Twenty three years after their first studio date Blue Monk (Enja, 1993), Japanese pianist Aki Takase and American saxophonist David Murray reunite in Switzerland. There has been one live recording since, Valencia (Sound Hills, 1997), but the question remains what took them so long? The saxophone/piano axis has been a favored format for both. Murray's companions include Mal Waldron, John Hicks, Randy Weston and most frequently Dave Burrell, while Takase's partners encompass Rudi Mahall, Silke Eberhard, Louis Sclavis and Daniele D'Agaro. The attraction of the barebones set-up is obvious in the starkly lit stage and direct communication it affords.
The program of four by Takase, three by Murray and a lone interpretation of Monk contains a lovely mix of the bracing and the beautiful, which in a way sums up both their playing. Takase combines hints of tradition and modernity into a personal but appealing mélange. Murray displays a breathy full tone with just the occasional acerbic twist, deployed in a blend of dashes and suspensions which keep the listener guessing as to where he will end up. He also gives his accustomed control of the upper registers a thorough airing, though he does so in such a way that it enhances the emotional charge.
Half the pieces are tributes of one sort or another and they engender empathy by the barrel load. The ravishing title track gets the album off to a searing start, part mantra and part lament, before opening for Murray's tumbling tenor over Takase's rippling chords. Both take an unaccompanied break, Murray ascending into finely wrought falsetto, Takase edging towards dissonance, before a tender theme restatement which nonetheless takes some tangential liberties. That establishes the template, where the two take conventional roles, time and melody usually near at hand.
Of the other dedications, they swaddle Murray's "To A.P. Kern" in rich harmonies and murmuring Ben Webster-isms, while Takase's "Nobuko" is another gorgeous hymnal, bittersweet with traces of joy, in honor of her late mother and her "Blues For David" comes across as wryly affectionate. Elsewhere "A Very Long Letter" begins choppy and tense as Murray's agitated jostling cuts across the pianist's line, but after a bout of muscular piano introspection they end in jaunty unison. A similar breathless quality pervades "Stressology" where Murray hits the stratosphere. Perhaps unsurprisingly they are at their most playful on a sprightly "Let's Cool One," enlivened by Murray's insouciant bass clarinet. Two old hands in full command.
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/cherry--sakura-aki-takase-intakt-records-review-by-john-sharpe
K
The vast experience that Takase and Murray have as duet players is heard from the opening bars of the lengthy title track. It is a heavenly melody invested with an emotional depth to match technical mastery, as the long, langoruous tones ease into life like breath itself before gliding gently through the changes with great poise. To the credit of both performers there is very little superfluous activity on this and other pieces in the set, and the moments in which the duo breaks to a solo horn from Murray or solo piano from Takase do not fall prey to hyperbole in the face of solitude. Murray has a sensitivity as an accompanist that belies his reputation as a fearsome one-man whirlwind, and while he does launch some turbulent flights of fancy, which are duly matched by Takase's equally fiery comping, this is a deeply reflective album, pitched between sunlit romanticism and sombre melancholia. At times the spirit of Fats Waller's 'Jitterbug Waltz', recast as a corps in four rather than three, pervades the music, while at others the power of gospel, expertly nuanced by the players, illuminates the themes, none more so than the majestic 'A Long March To Freedom'. It feels very much of yesterday and today.
Reviews in Other Languages
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Spennende samtaler
Den japanske pianisten Aki Takase og den amerikanske tenorsaksofonisten og bassklarinettisten David Murray har funnet hverandre igjen etter over 20 års opphold. Aki Takase og David Murray har mye å fortelle oss – og hverandre.
Musikk for meg er ofte sammenliknbart med samtaler. Takase (70 ) og Murray (63) fant tonen på alle vis for nesten 25 år siden da de spilte inn «Blue Monk». Når har de plukka opp igjen tråden som om om det var i går og «Cherry – Sakura» har blitt nok en samtale av høy byrd.
De to kommer fra forskjellige tradisjoner – Takase med sin japanske bakgrunn og så frijazzbevegelsen i Europa. Hun har bodd i Berlin i mange tiår og er gift med en annen pianist i avantgardismens elitedivisjon, Alexander von Schlippenbach. Murray hører hjemme i den amerikanske tradisjonen med både modernisme og masse blues i seg.
Til troass for dette så har altså de to funnet det nyttig og spennende å utfordre hverandre – eller kanskje akkurat derfor. Denne gangen møttes de på halvveien, i Zürich i Sveits. Murray er nå nemlig bosatt i Portugal. Repertoaret er også bortimot 50/50 – de har skrevet halvparten hver pluss at de tolker forbildet Thelonious Monks "Let´s Cool One".
De to fører uten unntak meningsfulle og originale samtaler basert på sine enorme referanser. Det er ikke vanskelig å høre at Murray, som også var en del av World Saxophone Quartet, har en sterk tilknytning til alt og alle fra Ben Webster og Coleman Hawkins til Albert Ayler og John Coltrane, mens Takase bidrar med alt fra sin japanske oppvekst til Monk og enda friere toneganger.
Til sammen har det blitt et nytt, flott og tidløst møte med to strålende og originale musikanter.
https://torhammero.blogg.no/1525114416_spennende_samtaler.html
G
Het is iets meer dan twee decennia geleden dat pianiste Aki Takase en saxofonist David Murray ‘Blue Monk’ uitbrachten. Nadien ging eenieder zijn eigen weg om zoveel jaar later opnieuw samen de studio in te duiken.
Deze keer geen openlijke ode aan Monk. Toch staat er nog een Monk-compositie op het repertoire, namelijk ‘Let’s Cool One’. Meteen een speelse duik in de jazzgeschiedenis toen pianisten nog stille films begeleidden. Aansluitend is er het zwoele en bluesy ‘To A.P.Kern’ met Murray in pure Ben Webster-stijl. Kenmerkend voor het hele album trouwens het uiterst hoog toegankelijkheidsgehalte. Niets mis mee natuurlijk want ook titels als ‘Nobuko’, ‘Blues For David’ en zelfs ‘A Long March For Freedom’ bieden genoeg kanttekeningen om te blijven luisteren naar wat deze twee elkaar toevertrouwen.
Wie hen eerder verkiest op het scherp van de snede, opteert voor de twee eerste nummers en het epileptisch funky ‘Stressology’ waarin beiden om beurt elkaar ophitsen met meer snedige uithalen.
Duidelijk een plaat van twee artiesten die heel wat watertjes doorzwommen maar niet **** uitpakken met elk hun trukendoos. Integendeel, ze doseren op een ongelooflijke manier. Voor diehard fans van het extremere werk misschien net wat te evenwichtig. Toch durven we te hopen dat ze geen 23 jaar meer wachten om nog eens een duo-cd op te nemen.
http://www.jazzenzo.nl/?e=3738
C
Parmi les habitués du label, la pianiste d’origine japonaise Aki Takase : son dernier album, « Cherry Sakura », un duo passionnant avec David Murray. Chacun a une longue expérience du duo : un gage de complicité. Retour à la tradition avec Let’s Cool One de Monk (joué à la clarinette basse), un blues (Blues for David), des thèmes en forme d’hymnes (A Long March to Freedom), des tempos survoltés avec envolées du ténor et déluges de notes du piano. Aki Takase a aussi enregistré d’autres duos : avec Louis Sclavis (« Yokohama »), Han Bennink (« Two For Two »), le clarinettiste Rudi Mahall (« Evergreen »), le pianiste Alexander von Schlippenbach (« Iron Wedding ») ou la violoniste Ayumi Paul (« Hotel Zauberberg »). En solo, elle a aussi enregistré « My Ellington ».
http://jazzaroundmag.com/?p=16219
