Though he is hardly a household name, Japanese pianist Masabumi "Poo" Kikuchi has played, recorded, and toured with dozens of musicians since his career began in the early 1960s. He is well-known to ardent jazz fans as a member of Tethered Moon, the decades-old trio that featured him alongside the late drummer Paul Motian and double bassist Gary Peacock, and Motian's Trio 2000. Kikuchi is rightly regarded as a unique and even iconoclastic stylist. Sunrise is his ECM debut. It's also the last studio session Motian played on. It's a collectively improvised trio album recorded in 2009 with Motian and double bassist Thomas Morgan. Most of these ten tunes are mid-length, four, to just-under-seven minutes, with one over and one brief interlude at two. This is a quietly astonishing recording, because it is, essentially, a freely improvised rubato suite based on the ballad -- pillared at beginning, middle, and end (with selections that have the word "Ballad" in their titles). It showcases an approach to the form that is mysterious, intuitive, and purposely unsystematic. Key changes and slight tempo variations occur suddenly, and then vanish as if their appeal has been exhausted, only to return at a later time -- or not. Kikuchi's touch reveals no hesitation in his ideas. His harmonic statements are instinctive, canny, sometimes spare, sometimes subtly dissonant, but always compelling; they never force their way. Motian's unshakeable and melodic sense of time is present at each moment, seemingly anticipating the many shifts, and Morgan's bass playing shimmers rather than pulses. It asserts pointillist moments in shapes and shades in accordance with the pianist's impeccable sense of direction and his centering presence. Singling out an individual tune is futile since all of this music is of a piece, full of subtlety and elegance, but nearly radical in its lyric invention and rhythmic flow. Sunrise is, like its title, a gradually unfolding, poetic stunner.
|This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'|
Tracklist :
1 Ballad 1 5'38
(Thomas Morgan, Paul Motian, Masabumi Kikuchi)
2 New Day 4'46
(Masabumi Kikuchi, Thomas Morgan, Paul Motian)
3 Short Stuff 2'11
(Thomas Morgan, Masabumi Kikuchi, Paul Motian)
4 So What Variations 5'27
(Thomas Morgan, Paul Motian, Masabumi Kikuchi)
5 Ballad 2 7'13
(Masabumi Kikuchi, Thomas Morgan, Paul Motian)
6 Sunrise 5'48
(Thomas Morgan, Paul Motian, Masabumi Kikuchi)
7 Sticks And Cymbals 6'17
(Paul Motian, Thomas Morgan, Masabumi Kikuchi)
8 End Of Day 4'47
(Paul Motian, Thomas Morgan, Masabumi Kikuchi)
9 Uptempo 4'05
(Masabumi Kikuchi, Paul Motian, Thomas Morgan)
10 Last Ballad 5'22
(Paul Motian, Masabumi Kikuchi, Thomas Morgan)
Credits :
Masabumi Kikuchi Piano
Thomas Morgan Double-Bass
Paul Motian Drums 
'Gefion' is Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s first ECM album as leader, following recordings for the label as sideman with Paul Motian and Tomasz Stanko. Like the work of those masters Bro’s balladeering distils a sense of jazz history in its specific and highly personal atmospheres. The open forms of Bro’s compositions leave plenty of space for his companions – drum legend Jon Christensen and creative bassist-of-the-moment Thomas Morgan - to make their statements, interactively and in parallel. And there is space too for the listener’s imagination to follow the flow and the delicate melodic tracery of Bro’s electric guitar in this thoughtful and poetic album. 'Gefion' was recorded in Oslo’s ecm
Tracklist :
1 Gefion 10'33
(Jakob Bro)
2 Copenhagen 4'24
(Jakob Bro)
3 And They All Came Marching Out Of The Woods 4'30
(Jakob Bro)
4 White 5'09
(Jakob Bro)
5 Lyskaster 4'14
(Jakob Bro)
6 Airport Poem 3'28
(Jakob Bro)
7 Oktober 4'17
(Jakob Bro)
8 Ending 2'46
(Jakob Bro)
Credits :
Jakob Bro Guitar
Thomas Morgan Double Bass
Jon Christensen Drums 
Danish guitarist Jakob Bro plays jazz as if in a dream; a harmonic sparkle of ocean spray, dispersing on a rocky shore. It's a sound he displays to potent, soothing effect on his third album for ECM, 2018's Returnings. Joining him are longtime bandmates drummer Jon Christensen, bassist Thomas Morgan, and legendary Scandinavian jazz trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg. While this is Bro's third outing for the storied European label, he has been recording since the early 2000s, and got early experience with luminaries such as Paul Motian and Tomasz Stańko. He brings all of that experience to bear here, collaborating with his bandmates on a set of deeply evocative, soulful, yet always restrained performances. Mikkelborg, who began his career in the '60s, is the perfect addition to Bro's ensemble, offering his lyrical lines and warm, somewhat mournful, Miles Davis-esque tone. Tracks like the opening "Oktober," with its far-eyed, Spanish-tinged melody, and the supple "Song for Nicolai" bring to mind a minimalist take on Davis' work with Gil Evans. Similarly, the eerie title track is a dissonant fever dream, with Mikkelborg and Bro filtered through a refraction of delay effects, like jazz played on the surface of the moon. Bro also clearly loves space and openness in his improvisations, and offers his bandmates plenty of room to express themselves. "View" begins with extended interplay between Morgan and Christensen, before the rest of the group enters from the aural mist. Though subtle and rife with harmonic nuance, there is a straightforward sensibility to many of the songs here, a style that recalls the work of fellow guitarist Bill Frisell. The sweetly played "Lyskaster" sounds like a Nordic cowboy song, as if the band is performing campside at the edge of an expansive fjord. Matt Collar
Tracklist :
1 Oktober 4'19
(Jakob Bro)
2 Strands 4'43
(Jakob Bro)
3 Song For Nicolai 5'19
(Palle Mikkelborg)
4 View 8'38
(Jakob Bro)
5 Lyskaster 5'03
(Jakob Bro)
6 Hamsun 5'14
(Jakob Bro)
7 Returnings 5'36
(Jakob Bro, Palle Mikkelborg)
8 Youth 2'37
(Palle Mikkelborg)
Credits :
Jakob Bro Guitar
Palle Mikkelborg Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Thomas Morgan Double Bass
Jon Christensen Drums 
John Abercrombie's longstanding partnership with Mark Feldman has yielded several albums of exquisite music, and Wait Till You See Her is no different. The mood is naturally restrained, contemplative, and introspective as you would expect, while there's a common thread of healthy respect that keeps the quartet in the softer mezzo piano range. With acoustic bassist Thomas Morgan and the irrepressible drummer Joey Baron, the electric guitarist and violinist weave their way through one standard and seven originals from Abercrombie that comes straight from the heart. It's not all sedate music -- check out "Line-Up," a fun listen as sneaky melody lines and frisky interplay is infused in a neo-bop context. A sprightly two-step beat, walking along with a brief, folksy musical snippet makes "Out of Towner" a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Ralph Towner. Then there's another cutely titled parody, "Chic of Araby," a bass-led tango with Abercrombie's secretive, snake-like guitar in the lower key dynamic the band prefers. A bluesy and reverent piece, "Anniversary Waltz" is in the midtempo pace that sports a more universal appeal, and it's draped in a pretty, elegant dress. The extremely slow "Sad Song" paraphrases the melody of "Speak Low" as Feldman's violin speaks to the emotions of the fallen, the title selection, a Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart evergreen, is reduced to a wisp of an anticipatory theme, and "I've Overlooked Before" has the seascape-at-midnight audio quality evocative of the best film noir soundtrack, ultimately dusky and sighing. One track sans Feldman -- "Trio" -- is a pretty good jazz swinger as you hear the sparse signature sound Abercrombie has held close to his soul for four decades. Feldman always holds sway with his beautiful and piquant voicings. Alongside Abercrombie, you always know there's a compatible, agreeable sound forged between these high-level contemporary jazz string players. It's not a commanding performance, but the subtle nuances outweigh any kind of loud pronouncements that distract from musicality. At the bottom line, it's another consistent and at times excellent effort from these tried and true modern musicians. by Michael G. Nastos
Tracklist :
1 Sad Song 7:15
John Abercrombie
2 Line-Up 7:18
John Abercrombie
3 Wait Till You See Her 5:44
Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
4 Trio 5:14
John Abercrombie
5 I've Overlooked Before 7:31
John Abercrombie
6 Anniversary Waltz 9:29
John Abercrombie
7 Out Of Towner 6:14
John Abercrombie
8 Chic Of Araby 8:22
John Abercrombie
Credits :
Double Bass – Thomas Morgan
Drums – Joey Baron
Guitar – John Abercrombie
Violin – Mark Feldman 
Esbjörn Svensson has stood not only once on stage in Montreux. He was already a guest in the summer of 1998 at the jazz festival on Lake Gen...
