Babskim Uchem. Muzyczny Pamiętnik: Takeshi Asai: "Trio Vol. VI", Fono Bono Records, 14.04.2022

Last year, an incredibly versatile pianist and composer, but also a teacher (in his own music school, as Steinway's Educational Partner), producer and sound engineer - Takeshi Asai, in his New York DTC studio, founded a label with an eloquent name - Fono Bono. The first release of the label was his last year's project "The Electric Project, Vol.2", which was well received, collecting a lot of positive reviews all over the world. Meanwhile, on April 14 this year, another album by the Artist is announced, this time - recorded in an excellent piano jazz trio, which - again - proves that the label invests only in truly beautiful, top-shelf sounds!

He dazzles with his technique, seduces with lyricism, amazes with the concept - Takeshi Asai: "Trio Vol. VI", Fono Bono Records. Premiere: April 14, 2022

Although I have been observing the fantastic work of the New York pianist closely for almost a decade, and the full collection of albums with his music on my bookshelf is one of the most frequently listened to by me, Takeshi Asai does not cease to delight, amaze and move the borders of beauty into areas previously recognized by many too unattainable for a human being. Each subsequent project of an extraordinary composer and visionary producer is also another bold and at the same time amazing raising the bar in terms of playing the instrument (which, by the way, is the wonderful Yamaha C7 piano!)

The album consists of 9 original compositions by Takeshi Asai and the final piece by James Taylor:

1. "WI"

2. "Yonder"

3. "(I didn't know that it was) Bacon"

4. "Iota"

5. "Air on the White Keys"

6. "Ave Marta"

7. "Mes Demoiselles"

8. "Blue Brain"

9. "CΔ/Db"

10. "Fire and Rain"

The compositions contain numerous references to the world of art, as well as jazz giants and great figures of classical music, whose power and beauty Takeshi has always been able to express in an amazing way through improvised music.

The artist's extraordinary sensitivity and above-average sense of taste are noticed not only in the immeasurable beauty and elegance of the composition or the effective piano playing technique, but also in the graphic designs adorning the covers of albums published by his label.

The composition of the trio, in which the compositions were recorded, is also excellent - both the brilliant bassist, Bob Gingery, and the fantastic drummer - Brian Woodruff, brought a lot of energy and beauty!

The recordings were made in Takeshi Asai's New York studio, DTC, on December 15-17, 2021. Immediately after the recordings, I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing the full line-up of the jazz trio, which were published in the following magazines: Muzyk (Takeshi Asai), TopBass (Bob Gingery) and TopDrummer (Brian Woodruff). Here are excerpts from the musicians' statements:

Takeshi Asai: I always thought and told my students; "before becoming a pianist, you have to be a musician, before becoming a musician, you have to be an artist." If you don't find "beauty," what do you play?

I started finding the beauty in photography of great landscape, cooking with beautiful natural ingredients, gardening, the joy of life from planting to harvesting, as well as composing music in many different genres that I find beautiful, Broadway music that I was so much mesmerized when I was a teen, recording engineering to capture the beauty of music. There's a joy of building a studio with my favorite gears. Everything is categorized in one adjective; Beautiful. (link: https://muzyk.net/takeshi-asai-wywiad/, in english: https://tinyurl.com/3jepj65a)

Bob Gingery: Takeshi always plays with a lot of passion and energy. He really puts it all out there when he performs. (...) Takeshi's compositions are very interesting. There's never any formula. Every tune is really unique. His tune Bacon is short, just 4 bars, kinda funky, and a vamp, but it was a blast to play. Then there is Yonder which has a long winding form. I think my favorite as Ave Marta which was really challenging with changing time signatures throughout. Takeshi said he took harmonic ideas from Shubert, it's really beautiful. I haven't heard any of the recordings yet, but I really look forward to hearing them. (link: https://topbass.pl/dobrze-wkomponowane-melodyjne-solo-basowe-jest-swietne-ale-to-nie-dlatego-gram-na-basie-wywiad-z-bobem-gingery/, in english: https://tiny.pl/9pqbs)

Brian Woodruff: Takeshi is a warm, friendly gentleman with many, many interests. Takeshi and I are both fans of the Keith Jarrett Trio, so I feel a good connection with him there. The things that I appreciate the most about Takeshi’s playing are his sincerity and simplicity. There are a lot of people on the NY scene who are playing overly complex, overly technical, ego-driven music that is designed to awe and impress the listener, but Takeshi is just honestly expressing whatever he hears in the moment. (...) I enjoy playing all of his tunes, as he’s a fine composer. In my mind, they come in two categories, tunes we had been playing together for a while, and some new tunes that were presented to us just before the recording. Of the older ones, I really enjoy playing I (iota) because of how open it is, and of the newer ones, I really enjoy Air On the White Keys, as well as a great arrangement he made of Schubert’s Ave Maria. I also appreciate Takeshi‘s knowledge of Classical music.

(link: https://topdrummer.pl/brian-woodruff-wywiad/, in english: https://tiny.pl/9pqzw)

Takeshi Asai also gave an interview for the JazzPRESS magazine (https://www.jazzpress.pl/wywiady/takeshi-asai-odkrywam-kim-jestem) and, as the jazz authority and expert, an outstanding journalist and music critic - Dionizy Piątkowski mentions on his website: "It seems to me that Takeshi Asai found a good time to propose his musical world, because there is a lot of interesting and creative eloquence and precise creativity (...)" (link: https://jazz.pl/takeshi-asai-the-electric-project-fono-bono-records/).

Press Release: http://triov6.takeshiasai.com

Audio Preview for press is available. Email Amy d'Harcourt @ i@takeshiasai.com