NATSUKI TAMURA & JIM BLACK

NATJIM

Libra Records

Natsuki Tamura, trumpet/voice; Jim Black, drums.

To open this duet, Natsuki Tamura blows a tribute to the sunrise through the bell of his trumpet, with strong support from the dynamic drums of Jim Black. The composition is titled, “Morning City” and becomes an introduction for what is to follow. This project is a career highlight for two musicians who have both helped define the cutting edge of improvised music. They are old acquaintances. This is their first duo recording in twenty-five years and represents an inspired reunion.

The next tune is “Afternoon City” and continues with the excitement and unique improvisation of two master musicians. It is just as boisterous as the first tune, but with Tamura using a mute on his trumpet, and Black unleashing some surprise rhythm changes.  Tamura and Black met back in 1999 on a Buzz Records recording.  They have also been members of the Satoko Fujii Four, along with bass man, Mark Dresser and that quartet recorded two albums.

This project allows extreme freedom for the trumpeter and the drummer, yet they are in perfect tune to each other. They play like a well-oiled machine, moving smoothly from one groove to the next, playful one moment and dramatically serious the next. They reunited when Black was in Japan, September of 2023.  The two simply jumped into the moment with both feet and let their music carry them wherever it might go.

With their attention still on city life, they play “City of Dusk.”  Black’s maximalist drumming rumbles like thunder through the piece.  Each song they play is an exhilarating romp into the unknown, coloring tones and combustive percussion parts, like a vibrant rainbow across space.  Natsuki Tamura also uses his voice to utter sounds and express unusual feelings during tunes like “City of Night.”

This is freewheeling, experimental music that grows from what each musician offers to the other.  We hear the music develop like a rainstorm in the distance.  First lightening strikes, then thunder from a far, and finally the pouring down of water from threatening clouds.  In the same breath, the warmth of their music is like the sun settling the matter.  This duo music is cold and hot; pensive and boisterous; explosive and eerily quiet, all in the breadth of nine original improvised pieces of music.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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