By Eyal Hareuvei
The power trio Arashi (嵐, storm in Japanese) - Japanese reeds legend Akira Sakata, Swedish double bass player Johan Berthling (of Fire! trio, Fire! Orchestra and Gosted) and Norwegian powerhouse drummer Paal Nilssen-Love - was named after the album Arashi of the seminal Yosuke Yamashita Trio and the dance group Dairakudakan (Frasco, 1977). Drummer Takeo Moriyama was a founding member of the legendary Yosuke Yamashita Trio while Sakata joined this trio in 1974, before its first European tour, and both of them played in the Trio’s iconic album Chiasma (MPS, 1976).
Tokuzo, Arashi’s fifth album, was recorded live at Nagoya’s jazz club by the same name in February 2019, and brings back Moriyama and Sakata (both of them were born in 1945) to the same stage. Sakata and Moriyama recorded in 1986 the explosive duo Mitochondria (Trost, 2022). This collaboration was part of a series of collaborations arranged by Sakata for Arashi with some of the most innovative Japanese artists, including experimental dancer Min Tanaka (known for his work with guitarist Derek Bailey and pianist Cecil Taylor) and pianist Yuji Takahashi (known for his interpretations of the works of John Cage, Iannis Xenakis and Toru Takemitsu as well as his albums with Steve Lacy, Joëlle Léandre and Nilssen-Love and Ken Vandermark).
But Arashi's meeting with Moriyama was far from being nostalgic. Since its first performance at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway in 2013, Arashi has a bold attitude of kicking the often stale sax-drums-bass format forward with such force that it feels completely fresh. Now, having such heavyweight drummers on the same stage promises intense and uncompromising typhoons and Arashi does deliver such propulsive and fiery storms that simply know no limits. Moriyama immediately fit right in and already in the opening piece “Colour Flames”, he and Nilssen-Love keep pushing Sakata to stratospheric realms, and the mid-piece duel of the two drummers proves that the veteran drummer is a worthy match to the younger, authoritative Nilssen-Love. Both drummers melded beautifully, driving the music forward but also clearing space for one another and forging astonishing feats of interactivity. Sakata and Moriyama show no sign of age in this seventy-minute performance.
Arashi is more than just sheer power, or being possessed by such power. The following “Man Came From Strange Kiswahiri”, with Sakata’s inimitable spoken word and lyrical alto sax playing, allows Moriyama, Nilssen-Love and Berthling to offer complex and layered rhythmic patterns. “Clay” takes back the quartet to fiery, free jazz realms, absorbing more history, more ideas, and more energy, with immense and greater concentration and focus than ever, and another, short and masterful drum duel. “Rakuda (Camel Walking)” highlights the crucial, driving force of Berthling’s double bass in Arashi’s rhythm section, before Sakata turns this piece into an open ballad. Tokuzo ends with the emotional, folky “Ondo No Hunauta”, with Sakata’s moving sax and clarinet solos, and an instrumental, anthem-like cover of the beloved Japanese folk song “Hamabe no uta” (song of the Beach), whose lyrics deal with memory and reflection. A perfect conclusion for such a fantastic and inspired collaboration.
Tokuzo by ARASHI & Takeo Moriyama