Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Radar: Easy Listening

96

Radar: Easy Listening

By

View read count
Radar: Easy Listening
The tempo you might expect from new music made in Japan is certainly not what you get from the trio known as Radar. In fact, their fresh approach to music making transcends geography and genre.

The trio of horn (mostly soprano saxophone), bass, and piano plays hesitating tunes, paced by experimentation and plenty of space. The disc opens with the band creeping along, feeling out long notes, and warming the expansions of "BGM1." Just about every track in the "BGM" series (improvised compositions?) is a darkened passage of search and reflection.

The closest reference to the familiar playing here is William Parker. Bassist Inada Makoto's playing is addressed up front in the mix, with his powerful vibe evident throughout. Whether plucking or bowing notes, Makoto—like Parker—exhibits force throughout. His sawing bow on "My String (Radar Version)" gels an ambient grit for his bandmates to drop notes like rain drops on the hypnotic track.

The bassist is also a vocalist, sounding like a Japanese Tom Waits with megaphone or Japanese-scatting through "Aitai No De-Su-Ga." What to make of it? The simple song "Obieru (Frightened)," too. Is it theater? A drinking song? A child's song?

The monk chants on "Cardinal Number" might be from some Kodo drummers' free jazz get-together. But could that be? Sure, why not. Radar plays with music on this Tzadik release, like London improvisers do on Emanem discs or Amsterdam musicians do at the Bim Haus. The cultural divide we cross is made possible through this very creative act.

Track Listing

BGM1; Sound Check; Cardinal Number; BGM4; Paul (Song Of Gumtape); My String (Radar Version); BGM3; Obieru (Frightened); BGM2; Aitai No De-Su-Ga; Melody 1; Namida.

Personnel

Radar
 

Inada Makoto - Contrabass, Vocal; Katori Koichiro - Piano, Accordion, Low Voice Chorus; Mizutani Yasuhisa - Soprano Saxophone, Clarinet, Percussion, Chorus.

Album information

Title: Easy Listening | Year Released: 2005 | Record Label: Tzadik

Tags

Comments

About Radar

Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar

PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

The Shieling
Fergus McCreadie Trio
City Suite
Rin Seo
Sometimes By Surprise
Mike Mizwinski
Of the Near and Far
Patricia Brennan

Popular

All That Matters
Benjie Porecki
Motions
Louis Jones III
Keep it Movin'
William Hill III

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.