Aki Takase Japanic - Thema Prima

2019 CD release.

Having feted a number of significant composers in the past - from Fats Waller, W.C. Handy and Duke Ellington to Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy - this recent collaboration of Takase's with DJ Illvibe reveals a culmination of the pianist's fascination and influence of a non-jazz composer this time around in Conlon Nancarrow, who arguably was best known for his works for player pianos that went well beyond human capacity and capabilities.

"I have been working with DJ Illvibe for a long time and I think it relates to my inspiration of and approach to Nancarrow... (so) I thought I could compose in a similar way," explains Takase regarding this new project Along with DJ Illvibe, the members of the band here are tenor/soprano saxophonist Daniel Erdmann, bassist Johannes Fink and drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen. And the selections they play herein are a result of her decades-long work as a composer. With this electro-acoustic instrumentation in mind, however, only a few of the tunes are actually notated. She admits, "the bigger part of it is definitely improvised. (...) I wanted to show several ways, - with different times and speeds - the dynamics simultaneously together, and through them to achieve overlapping and crossings. (..) The music shows my direction. I am very satisfied with the results... Our music is expression of freedom and a hymn to life."