MAKOTO KAWASHIMA Vinilo y CD

Review: Over the past decade, saxophonist Makoto Kawashima has established himself as an improvisational great. Zoe, his first studio album and second with Black Editions was recorded at Tokyo's iconic GOK Sound and captures his music with great clarity. Spanning five long tracks, it balances raw power and spiritual depth while retaining an unvarnished, intimate quality enhanced only by faint reel-to-reel pre-echoes. His sound is rooted in the lineage of iconoclastic Japanese saxophonists and blends silence, fragile hesitations and ecstatic bursts of sound into a spiritual, bluesy soundtrack that transcends boundaries.

Review: Over the past decade, saxophonist Makoto Kawashima has cemented his reputation as a brilliant improviser. Zoe, his first studio album and second release with Black Editions, recorded at Tokyo's renowned GOK Sound, stands out as a powerful and clear expression of his artistry. The album's two extended tracks capture Kawashima's music in its purest form, preserving its raw, spiritual essence. Unlike typical studio recordings, Zoe remains unpolished, with only the faint pre-echo of the reel-to-reel adding a ghostly touch. Kawashima's solo practice aligns him with iconoclastic Japanese saxophonists like Kaoru Abe, Tamio Shiraishi, and Masayushi Urabe. His work, situated at the fringes of improvised music, emphasises silence and subtle sounds as much as intense bursts of tone and texture. His approach is deeply intimate and vulnerable, steering clear of the bravado often seen in solo improvisation, effortlessly blending searing melodies with heavily textured passages.