New Tamura Album Finally Available on Amazon

Cover of the album being discussed

I first learned that Not Two Records would release a new album of a trio led by Japanese jazz trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, performing with his wife, pianist Satoko Fujii, and drummer Ramón López, at the end of this past November. Since that time, I have been frustrated by two months of Google searches, none of which could turn up a Web site from which this album, entitled Yama Kawa Umi, could be purchased. I am now happy to report that the album is available for purchase through an Amazon.com Web page, but only as a compact disc.

This is my second article about Tamura this year. Almost exactly a month ago, I wrote about What happened there?, his duo album with guitarist Keiji Haino. The last time I wrote about one of his performances with Fujii was in September of 2024, when she released her quartet album Dog Days of Summer. I follow both of them closely, because every new release turns out to be yet another journey of discovery.

The title of this new album consists of the three Japanese nouns for mountain, river, and ocean. It will probably not take much effort on the part of an attentive listener to appreciate the extent to which each of the eight tracks on this new album reflects on natural forces. Indeed, most of the titles of the tracks guide the listener along those lines, although the liner notes do not provide any guidance to why the eighth track is entitled “Bolognaise.” Perhaps the intention was to reflect a viscosity thicker than that of water! (The advance material I received says of this track only that it “modulates through contrasting grooves that form the foundation for energetic playing from all.” Any relationship to pasta is left to the imagination of the reader!)

To return to the more serious, I was particularly moved by the stillness of the fourth track on the album, entitled “One Day Later.” There is clearly a semantic infrastructure for this title, but I have no idea what it is! Nevertheless, I am content to listen for the unfolding of soft dynamics and the subtleties of López’ brush work. The release of this album may have been delayed; but, for me at least, the wait was worth the time!