Minga

Sachi Hayasaka, Japan's brilliant jazz composer, arranger, and saxophonist, has taken her own skills to an entirely new level on Minga. Using her regular quartet and a group of Japanese musicians who play folk musics from around the globe rather than jazz, she has come up with an accessible, magnificent, and seamless new context for her jazz sensibilities. First, the quartet, especially bassist Toshiki Nagata are all first-rate ensemble players. The interplay between the various percussionists — most notably sabar player Wagane N'Diyae Rose and guitarist Kido Natsuki is like a sea breeze in August. In approaching this album, it's important to consider the pioneering work of Abdullah Ibrahim, Johnny Dyani, and Dudu Pukwana, Airto Moreira, and Hermeto Pascoal. Hayasaka uses a deep, multi-textured approach to lyricism that has its roots in South African township jazz, and in the celebratory angularity of Brazil's otherworldly jazz experimentalism in the 1970s. The inspiration here is obvious, but the music is all Hayasaka's. There is no extrapolation or appropriation — this is transcultural jazz that offers a wide variety of new possibilities. This is exotic music, not exotica. There are elements of so many cultures and rhythms here, melodic, harmonic, chromatic, and modal, that it is impossible to box it, yet it remains so lovely and warm to listen to, so engaging, soulful, and lyrical that it reflects the highest form of musical achievement. Highly recommended.