Megumi Yonezawa Masa Kamaguchi Ken Kobayashi

Boundary

All the members of this trio are Japanese. The pianist and drummer live in New York City and often collaborate; the bassist lives in Madrid but comes to N.Y.C. twice a year for a month each time. The producer heard them at Manhattan jazz bar Tomi Jazz and immediately booked a session to capture their magic before Kamaguchi left town. Yonezawa, from Hokkaido, earned multiple awards while studying performance and composition at Berklee, then joined Greg Osby's group on Jason Moran's recommendation and can be heard with him on the Blue Note album Public. Other credits include work with David Liebman, George Garzone, Sam Newsome, and many more. In 2016 the Fresh Sound New Talent label released her debut album, A Result of the Colors. But none of these credits reflect the freedom with which she plays on Boundary. Kamaguchi , also from Hokkaido, has the most recording credits (upwards of 30) in the trio, ranging from Ahmed Abdullah's Actual Proof (CIMP, 1999) to a series of tribute albums with Vinnie Sperrazza and Jacob Sacks (Fresh Sound New Talent). Inspired to play bass after hearing Jaco Pastorius albums, he studied with Gary Peacock student Yoshio Ikeda, then moved to Boston to attend Berklee, followed by a dozen years in New York City performing and recording with ESP star Sonny Simmons, David Murray, Charles Gayle, Paul Motian, Dave Douglas, Frank Kimbrough, and even Toots Thielemans. Kobayashi, who put the trio together, hails from Tokyo, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in art criticism and art history from Tama Art University. After moving to New York, he expanded his knowledge at the Drummer's Collective. He can also be heard on Jan (2014) with bassist Jochem van Dijk and Nine Stories (2016) with Takeshi Asai.


Megumi Yonezawa, piano; Masa Kamaguchi, bass; Ken Kobayashi, drums

All tracks by Megumi Yonezawa/Masa Kamaguchi/Ken Kobayashi (ESP-Disk' Ltd.) except "I’ll Be Seeing You" by Irvin Kahal/Sammy Fain (Fain Music Co./BMG Gold Songs).

Cover art by Kiichiro Adachi

Photos by Eva Kapanadze

Liner notes by Matthew Shipp

Produced by Steve Holtje

Recorded at Park West Studios on June 4, 2017 by Jim Clouse

Track List:

01. Boundary 4:23 https://soundcloud.com/esp-disk/01-boundary

02. Alchemy 6:03

03. Tremor 4:40

04. Meryon 7:18

05. I’ll Be Seeing You 6:39

06. Reef 7:31

07. Veil 8:50

08. Onement 6:08

09. Wavelength 5:15

10. Nostalgio 9:51

Total time 66:37


Press quotes:

“Japanese expats Yonezawa, bassist Kamaguchi, and drummer Kobayashi use space and silence to riveting effect on nine originals and the standard ‘I’ll Be Seeing You.’ But like her country mate Satoko Fujii, Yonezawa can shock, occasionally sending shards and clusters exploding from the keyboard.”– Derk Richardson, The Absolute Sound

“New York-based Japanese pianist Megumi Yonezawa co-leads a sharp new trio with fellow countrymen, bassist Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Ken Kobayashi. Integrity, freedom, and an extraordinary improvisational facility are part of the group’s philosophy, and Boundary proves their individual and collective value in the process of creating spontaneously from predetermined ideas.” – jazztrail.net


Musicians: Megumi Yonezawa Masa Kamaguchi Ken Kobayashi Matthew Shipp

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