The Jazz in Japan Edition

On detail, obsession, and vibes

Graydon Gordian (GG) is the Head of Marketing at Fractal Software. He’s written several WITIs over the years, but his favorites are probably the Jazz Legend, Mallmann and Pacenotes editions.

Graydon here. Just around the time the Japanese became obsessed with selvedge denim and baseball, they fell in love with another iconic American invention: Jazz. No foreign nation, with the possible exception of France, embraced jazz so wholeheartedly. And just like jeans and bat-and-ball sports, at some point jazz transformed from an import to an export. Musicians such as Masabumi Kikuchi, Terumasa Hino, and the incomparable Toshiko Akiyoshi (whom I cannot overstate the genius of) created music that rivals that of their American inspirations in terms of quality and inventiveness. It’s hard to identify what exactly typifies Japanese jazz, but at the risk of sounding cliché, I’d argue it’s the attention to detail and the ability to find power in the gentle that unites many of the leading voices of the subgenre.

Pianist and composer Toshiko Akiyoshi

Why is this interesting?

A little while back, Colin Nagy asked me to make a jazz playlist for him and, after spending what is an embarrassing amount of time reflecting on what theme should tie the playlist together, I decided that Jazz in Japan was something Colin of all people would appreciate. Any semi-regular WITI reader will know what I mean.

Jazz in Japan is interesting for countless reasons, but it’s Friday. I’ll let my playlist do the explaining.

Album of the Day

The legendary jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders died this past Saturday, September 24th. His second album, and first for Impulse! Records, Tauhid, is among my favorites of his, partly because it includes the rhythmic and enchanting “Japan,” which serves as a cleansing interlude in between the longer and more adventurous opening and closing tracks. 

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