On a Journey, Ailing

Wataru Uchida
Duration: 3:41

Tabi ni yande
yume wa kareno o
kake-meguru

On a journey, ailing,
my dream goes running
over the withered field.
(English translation)

This is the last haiku ever written by the 17th century Japanese poet Basho Matsuo, dictated from his deathbed in a rented room in Osaka in 1694. A few days later he was dead. Tough times may often seem to last forever, but at least your imagination can remain as active as it was in your childhood.

This album has 8 tunes that I wrote between 2022 and 2024, and one that I wrote in 2015. By the time of the recording session, it had been 24 years since I moved to New York City. And This Japanese man has grown old.

The blessings and challenges I've encountered in this city have provided the framework for my understanding of life.

Just as you need both light and shadow to perceive the form of something, now I realize I require both aspects to comprehend its entirety. In this project, my intention wasn't to record solely happy or sad tunes. Each composition lies somewhere in between, expressing abstract impressions or sound of appreciation and affirmation.

I recorded music with two excellent Brooklyn-based musicians, creating pieces we had never heard before. It's as if someone might have whispered a spell to share each individual's history of emotions.

—Wataru Uchida