Hey there everyone – life and work have happened in a major way for me so far in 2025 – and the page has been neglected as a result. Shout out to Destroyer1985 for stopping by. Let's get back to the music.
Let’s start by finishing up what we started with the remainder of what I have for flautist, Tamami Koyake.
You may remember, we started
with Tamami’s sophomore album from 1982, Someday. I’ll refresh the link for
those that want to revisit or dive in for the first time. You also may remember
that drummer favorite of mine, Ryojiro Furusawa, had a large influence on that
album – which features a few of his tunes from a variety of his albums, as well
as being released on his label, Better Days. I must say, Someday likely is the best release of the bunch.
We’ll start today by stepping back 2 years into 1980, for Koyake’s debut album, Tamami First. Released on Paddle Wheel and produced and arranged by legendary bassist Isao Suzuki, Tamami is joined by Masayoshi Yoneda on keys, Takayuki Kato on guitar, Shuji Miyake on trumpet and flugelhorn, Shinji Ohshima on electric bass and Shigeo Hirayama on drums. Isao Suzuki also lends some help on bass and vibraphone.
Three tunes on each side for this one. We start with the upbeat and funky “Jubilation” with Isao jumping in on vibes right away. Koyake follows with some great playing of her own before giving way to the crisp playing of Kato on guitar. Yoneda is next up with a very nice part on Rhodes and we’re off to a great start.
Things slow down for the remainder of side A, starting with “Drowsy Time.” We have some very nice soloing from Koyake, as well as Isao on bass. “Sea And My Children” follows with nice playing from Yoneda on acoustic piano with a little support from Koyake, Suzuki and Kato.
Onto the B side and Isao starts off “Activity” with bow in hand. After a bit of a scattered opening, the remainder of the band joins in and we get our first listen to Miyake on trumpet. This one remains a little disjointed, in an early-70s fusion kind of way. A near duo of only Kayoke and Suzuki on bass follows with “Loneliness” before we close with the more traditionally jazzy, “Flying High.”
The opening tune “Jubilation” remains the highlight for me on an overall solid debut record. And we know she follows with a great sophomore album in Someday.
Into 1983, Tamami paired with guitarist Larry Coryell for her next release, Windows / Tamami Meets Coryell. Alongside the two, we also have Toru Tsuzuki on piano, Hideo Kawahara on bass with Hideo Sekine on drums.
A fully acoustic band for
this one – which I would characterize as a more contemporary jazz record,
albeit with a mostly quick pulse. Exception would be “Hill Town” which slows things
down. We also have a little bit of a Latin vibe on “Canta Marina” and the closing
“Quero Owvir O Cabaquinho.” I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of acoustic guitar
in jazz, but don't let that stop you from enjoying this record.
The following year in 1984, Koyake
returned with Face To Space. Again released on Paddle Wheel, this time she’s
joined by pianist Ichiro Doi, legendary trombonist Shigeharu Mukai, bassist Ikuo Sakurai,
percussionist Kazuo Yoshida and drummer (and husband) Mike Reznikoff.
This one starts off with a tune titled, "The Seagull And Dumbo Dancing In The Sky" and it somehow sounds exactly as you'd expect. Sometimes bouncy, sometimes stumbling, and it leads us to the quite pleasant, “I’m What I Am.” Next we're greeted by the groovy tune, “Eclipso de Calypso” before we flip to side B.
We open with my favorite from the record in “Set Point.” A very nice pace with the rhythm section holding things together quite well. Everything is better with a solid percussionist in the mix. We also get some nice soloing from both Mukai and Koyake before moving onto the very calming title track. A brisk walking tune follows in “Evidence” before we close with another rather calming tune in “How My Heart Sings.”
In 1985, Koyake teamed up
again with guitarist Larry Coryell for Elsa: Tamami Meets Coryell II. Returning on keys we have
Ichiro Doi and Ikuo Sakurai on bass, with Mike Reznikoff again on drums.
This one starts with “It’s You Or No One” and some may be familiar with Sarah Vaughn’s rendition or perhaps Miles Davis’s rendition with The Jazz Messengers. Next up is the calming title track which leads way to another relaxed tune in “Dear Lord.”
We flip from a more contemporary jazz sound on side A to a touch more of fusion with “Shadow Boxing” starting off side B. Which can’t help but remind me of Wu-Tang. The groovy tune featuring some nice soloing from Coryell, Koyake & Doi leads us to the popular Monk tune “Bye-Ya.” We get a little more action from the rhythm section here with bassist Sakurai & drummer Reznikoff shining. This one closes with Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” – familiar to many of us from the Coltrane album of the same name.
Overall I dig this one a bit more than the first Koyake/Coryell record. Larry bringing the electric along this time helped. I'd like to hear a full release from the quintet cut from the cloth of “Shadow Boxing.”
The last album I have here
for the flautist is titled Hot Flutes. Released as Tamami Koyake with Great Jazz Quartet in 1986 on Paddle Wheel, this time around we have the legend Hank Jones
on piano, Sam Most on tenor sax and flute, another
legend in Ray Brown on bass with Alan Dowson on drums. We also have Ichiro Doi
playing some electric piano on “Woogie Boogie.”
Pretty straightforward stuff here and a lot to like. Well arranged and well played. A nice rendition of Coltrane’s “Moment’s Notice” is here and I can only imagine how many times Jones and Brown played this one. “The Everywhere Calypso” adds a little flavor to the end of the A side before we flip to the final 3 tunes.
The previously mentioned Ichiro
Doi tune, “Woogie Boogie” starts the B side. A nice bluesy tune with great pace
and playing from everyone. “I’ll Remember April” follows before we close with the
classic, “Blue In Green.” Likely the tightest band we’ve heard accompany Koyake
thus far, with crisp playing through and through. A very nice showing again from the flautist.
That's all I have and I hope you found something you dig!
