Ayumi Tanaka, Thomas Morgan, Thomas Strønen: Windflower

Japanese pianist and composer Ayumi Tanaka has become a distinctive voice on the Scandinavian jazz scene since settling in Oslo. A graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music, she has forged musical relationships with Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and American bassist Thomas Morgan, whose intuitive rapport lies at the heart of Windflower. Following early performances at Oslo's Victoria, Nasjonal Jazzscene, the trio attracted the attention of ECM producer Manfred Eicher, leading to this debut recording.

The album follows on from Tanaka's 2021 release Subaqueous Silence (ECM). Windflower finds three experienced improvisers creating music of patience and restraint. Although eight of its nine pieces are freely improvised, the distinction between composition and improvisation is deliberately blurred. As Tanaka has said, "I want to compose music which sounds like an improvisation, and to improvise music that sounds like it has been written." The album's single composed work, "La Source," sits so naturally among the spontaneous performances that it becomes almost impossible to tell where one approach ends and the other begins.

Tanaka's background in classical composition continues to influence her musical language. Elements of a Japanese approach: economy, balance and an appreciation of silence, merge with the spaciousness often associated with Nordic jazz.

Throughout the recording, the trio shapes its music by listening and responding, weaving abstract ideas alongside the more melodic and changing their shared energy to produce expressive, freely improvised chamber jazz. The "Windflower" of the album's title is often regarded as a symbol of beauty across various cultures. That transient beauty is encapsulated in Tanaka's luminous piano, which suggests ideas, rather than driving them home, as Morgan's bass weaves over a framework built by Strønen's percussive patterns.

Among the album's highlights is "Tree Of Stars," where Strønen quietly uses a variety of percussive instruments, opening up space for Morgan's mellow bass to coil around the searching piano exploration. "Spring" also blossoms as the trio builds a warmer, fuller sound, while Tanaka's rhythmic phrases in "From Us, To You" and her rapid flurries and quicksilver touch in "The Sea Is Still" show her range of expression.

Alongside Morgan's sympathetic elasticity and Strønen's ability to imply an underlying structure, Tanaka's crystalline phrasing remains at the center of the music. She senses the right time to hold back or weigh certain notes heavier than others, and the intuitive, searching interplay makes this a made-in-the-moment pleasure.