Float In The Garden

"Float In The Garden" is an ambitious work by multi-reed player Ryoichi Yamaki, representing a pinnacle of contemporary jazz that seamlessly integrates composition and improvisation, structure and emotion, on a high conceptual level.

While studying at Berklee College of Music, Yamaki trained under George Garzone and absorbed the cutting-edge energy of the East Coast jazz scene through collaborations with Maria Schneider and others. After relocating to Japan, he has continued to pursue a refined creative vision. In this album, he reimagines each piece-centered around the alto saxophone-while embedding thematic dualities such as "old and new," "harmony and noise," and "form and deviation" as internal constraints.

The opening track, Aiiro no Yugure ("Indigo Dusk"), is an original 16-beat composition rich in density, shaped by the interplay of tight unisons and improvisation. On Epistrophy, a composition associated with Eric Dolphy, Yamaki plays with the slippage between melody and obbligato, creating a unique sense of anti-gravity and floating momentum.

In On Green Dolphin Street, the trombone and saxophone navigate a delicate balance between tonal adherence and exploratory divergence, evoking a sonic tension between comfort and uncertainty. All The Things You Are is a fully improvised dialogue with the piano, where the concept of "freedom through limitation" is tested to its core.

Perhaps the album's most striking feature is Yamaki's deliberate design of contrasts. From the clarinet-saxophone conversation in Spatial to the atonal drum duo Intermezzo, each of the ten tracks-spanning 70 minutes-follows a carefully crafted arc that builds towards the concluding title track, Float In The Garden.

The ensemble consists of top-tier musicians: Kozue Tsukayama (piano), Akiyoshi Shimizu (bass), Ryo Noritake (drums), and Itsumi Komano (trombone), joined by guest Tokuhiro Doi (clarinet). Their exceptional performance skills bring Yamaki's conceptual and improvisational vision to life with clarity and precision.

What does it mean for jazz to change? This album is a quiet yet determined answer to that question-a subtle but profound challenge to the listener.

Text: Hisatsugu Ishida

Tracklist:
Aiiro no Yugure / Ryoichi Yamaki
Epistrophy / Thelonious Monk
On Green Dolphin Street / Bronisław Kaper
Intermezzo 1 / Improvised
All The Things You Are / Jerome Kern
Spatial / Ryoichi Yamaki
35ºC / Ryoichi Yamaki
Sixteen Years / Ryoichi Yamaki
Intermezzo 2 / Improvised
Float In The Garden / Ryoichi Yamaki

Personnel:
Alto & Tenor Saxophone: Ryoichi Yamaki
Trombone: Itsumi Komano (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10)
Piano & Rhodes: Kozue Tsukayama (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10)
Bass: Akiyoshi Shimizu (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10)
Drums: Ryo Noritake (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
Guest Clarinet: Tokuhiro Doi (Track 6)

Production Credits:
Produced by: Hisatsugu Ishida
Recording Engineer: Akihito Yoshikawa
Mixing & Mastering: Akihito Yoshikawa
Directed by: Ryoichi Yamaki
Art Design: Kenji Nakamori
Photography: Nao Yamaki

Recorded at Studio Dedé, Tokyo - June 17, 2024