Miho Hazama: Journey to Journey (Live)

Miho Hazama: Journey to Journey
m_unit featuring Steve Wilson (Alto sax.)
m_unit
Miho Hazama (Composition/Cond.)
Cam Collins (W.W.1), Lucas Piano (W.W.2), Andrew Gutauskas (W.W.3)
Matthew Jodrell (Trumpet), Bert Hill (French Horn)
Sara Caswell and Tomoko Omura (Violin)
Celia Hatton (Va.), Maria Jeffers (Vc.)
James Shipp (Vib.), Alex Brown (Piano)
Sam Anning (Bass), Jake Goldbas (Drums)
January 24th, 2014 at The Jazz Gallery, NYC
filmed by Yusuke Suzuki
edited by Simon Yu
Miho Hazama Official Website
www.jamrice.co....
Miho Hazama m_unit's debut album "Journey to Journey" is available online!
iTunes:
itunes.apple.c...
Sunnyside Records:
sunnysidestore....

[@stevemartin4249]

The day after Halloween, 2019, I was at Orchard Hall in Shibuya, anticipating some good 'smooth' jazz and bossa by old favorites Lee Rittenour, Dave Grusin, Ivan Lins, and Lisa Ono. But Miho Hazama, and her crew, were the opening act ... and not even knowing her name, I expected just a little stage time for a local group. How wrong I was.
'Journey to Journey', I think, was the opening piece. Within the first minute, I was mesmerized. Within three, I was blown away. The technical virtuosity of the players were 'best of the best' professional level, and only partially because I was near the back, I couldn't keep up with Miho's swinging arms and the unexpected changes in tempo and rhythms.
'Opening act' my butt.
While the headliners were professional, and the sound was good, they also somewhat predictably played what I thought I was paying for. A few high lights for me included Ritt playing anything by Jobim, Ivan Lins opening with my favorite of his tunes ... 'Velas Icadas' (though Ritt kept insisting it was 'Dindi' 😂), and Dave and Lisa's poignant arrangement of Chega De Saudade in honor of the passing of Joao Gilberto ... with that delightful little ending of 'Aguas de Marco', as a philosophical brushing away of death as an illusion.
But Miho Hazama and crew?
Everything they did had me on the edge of my seat - wondering how in the heck did they pull off those high-tension balancing acts in an orchestral setting.
As I leaned forward and listened to the sound of one direction that I hope jazz is heading ... I knew that this was 'new' ... but I thought I could hear bits and pieces of so many other influences. Being in Japan, the first names that came to mind were Toru Takamitsu and Akiyoshi Toshiko. But I also thought I heard echoes of The Mahavishnu Orchestra, my beloved Claus Ogerman, or Weather Report with strings. And there was Snarky Puppy - on steroids.
Miho Hazama is a new name for me, and not being a musician myself, I could never begin to guess where she got those compositional chops. But this is a name I will now be following with great interest. Dave Grusin was NOT kidding when, during on-stage chatter, he praised her performance by saying he could listen to this for another three hours or more. I could too. Bravo!!!