my soul and spirit into that word.”
Though it wasn’t intentional on Kuroda’s part, the title also can’t help but evoke The Sidewinder, Lee Morgan’s 1964 that became one of the foundation stones of the then-burgeoning soul jazz style. Morgan has been a major influence on Kuroda as a player and as a conceptualist, and with Zigzagger the 36-year old trumpeter offers his own take on the state of the soul jazz art more than half a century later. His version takes into account the electronic innovations of artists like Flying Lotus and J Dilla, but the window-rattling funk and soul-stirring groove forcefully carry on the tradition.
Kuroda’s vision is realized with the help of his regular working band, most of them friends and collaborators for more than a decade since they were students together at New York City’s New School. They include trombonist Corey King, who also shows off his vocal chops on the simmering neo-soul tune “Do They Know;” bassist Rashaan Carter; drummer and percussionist Adam Jackson; and the band’s newest addition, keyboardist Takeshi Ohbayashi, who joined up in 2011. Three tracks bolster the band with master percussionist Keita Ogawa, who first crossed paths with Kuroda 20 years at jam sessions in their native Japan. Album closer “Think Twice” features the electrifying sounds of the popular Brooklyn Afrobeat band Antibalas.
Produced by Kuroda himself, Zigzagger is more purely an expression of his own distinctive approach. It maintains the unified style and infectious grooves of his earlier work, but mixes things up with more eclectic, shifting inspirations and perspectives. “When I write music I see a lot of elements and put them in different places, with different angles, a lot of counterpoint and strong melodies,” Kuroda explains. “It’s always easy to sing to, but has something like advanced changes underneath, kind of hidden so that people don’t get confused by the difficult elements. But it’s there. Musicians always tell me my music is easy to listen to but difficult to play.”
Ohbayashi’s burbling, singing keyboards open the album on “R.S.B.D.,” soon punctuated by Jackson’s forceful, driving rhythms before Kuroda and King burst in with the piquant horn melody. Electronica influences invade midway through the track, with post-production elements including sound effects and wordless vocals transforming the sound from the organic to the constructed, a dichotomy captured by the mash-up title, which stands for “Red Spade Black Diamond.”
The title track is built on the Afrobeat sounds that have become a key part of Kuroda’s music since he began working with the New York-based band Akoya Afrobeat nearly a decade ago. That sound recurs in full flourish when Antibalas joins on the Fela Kuti-inspired “Think Twice” Both show off Kuroda’s gift for combining spiky jazz melodies with buoyant, compelling rhythms.
The title of “I Don’t Remember How It Began” tells the story of its own creation, which began as a heavily electronic Flying Lotus-inspired piece that leaned in a much more straightahead jazz direction once the band got a hold of it. The name also captures the sensation of getting lost in a powerhouse groove, so transporting that it’s hard to recall where it came from, as the band does in the second half of the cut.
Late, lamented hip-hop super-producer J Dilla is an obvious influence on “No Sign,” with its dragging, attitude-laden beat, while a more recent loss is called to mind in the sultry, clever funkiness of the Prince-evoking “Thirteen.” Kuroda’s vulnerability shows in his playing on “Little Words,” which suggests that deep meaning can be found in terse, tough phrases. Finally, both the hip-hop driven “Actors” and the densely layered “Good Day Bad Habit” feature the dazzling percussion of Keita Ogawa. Both were originally written on Kuroda’s computer, with percussive sounds that he expected to be impossible to replicate in the studio. “Ogawa showed up with probably 50 percussion instruments and recreated all these impossible sounds with acoustic instruments,” Kuroda recalls. “He’s a crazy guy.”
Zigzagger is the latest stop along a serpentine path that began in Kobe, Japan, where Kuroda followed his trombonist brother into the local music scene. He moved to the U.S. to study and graduated from the New School’s Jazz and Contemporary Music program in 2006. It was during his time at New School that Kuroda befriended José James, appearing on two of the singer’s albums and writing horn arrangements for his breakthrough album, 2013’s No Beginning No End.
James returned the favor by producing Kuroda’s 2014 Blue Note release Rising Son. That album followed three earlier independent releases, Bitter and High in 2006, Edge in 2011 and Six Aces in 2012. He’s become an active member of the diverse and vibrant NYC jazz scene, playing with the likes of José James, Akoya Afrobeat, Jesse Fischer(changed), and others. Crossing into the world of hip-hop, he’s been playing with and writing arrangements for the legendary DJ Premier, half of the ground-breaking duo Gang Starr.
TRACK LIST:
1. R.S.B.D
2. Zigzagger
3. I Don’t Remember How It Began
4. No Sign
5. Do They Know
6. Thirteen
7. Little Words
8. Actors
9. Good Day Bad Habit
10. Think Twice
Online Media Kit:
http://mediakits-showcase.concordmusicgroup.com/p/zigzagger/
CONTACTS:
Mike Wilpizeski at 718-459-2117
Mike.Wilpizeski@concordmusicgroup.com
1980 兵庫県に生まれる
1992 12歳からトランペットを始める
1996 神戸や大阪のジャズ・クラブでの演奏活動をスタート
2003 渡米、ニューヨークのニュースクール大学ジャズ課に進学
2005 ニューヨークはブルックリン在住の日本人ミュージシャン
黒田卓也(tp)、菅野知明(ds)、本間浩之(g)を中心に
soul, jazz, funk バンド、Chicken Gravyを結成
2007 Chicken Gravy 1st Album『It's better with Chicken Gravy』
2008 Chicken Gravy 2nd Album『JOYRIDE』
2010 初のリーダー作『Bitter & High』を発表
2011 2nd Album『Edge』を発表、全米ラジオチャートの3位にランクイン。
2011 Jose James bandに参加し、world tourに同行。
2013 3rd Album『Six Aces』を発表
2014 USブルーノート・レーベルよりJose Jamesのプロデュースで
Album『Rising Son』でメジャー・デビューを果たす。
2015 1月 DJ Premierのバンドに参加し、
DJ Premier & The BADDER「Bpatter」を発表
2015 8月 JUJUのBLUE NOTE TOKYO 公演に参加
2015 10月 ceroと初めてステージで共演
2016 1月 テレビ朝日「題名のない音楽会」に出演
2016 9月 BLUE NOTE JAZZ FESTIVALにて MISIAと初共演
2016 スペシャル・バンド「J Squad」のメンバーとして
テレビ朝日「報道ステーション」のテーマ曲を手掛ける。
2016 10月 Album『ZIGZAGGER』を発表し、Europa tourへ。
12月 『ZIGZAGGER』Japan tour
2017 4月 キューバで開催されたInternational Jazz Dayに唯一の日本人として出演
2017 5月 TAICOCLUBに出演
2017 6月 DJ Premierの全米tourに参加
2017 7月 J Squad でFUJI ROCK FESTIVAL 17’ に出演
2017 8月 黒田卓也 Europa tour を遂行
2018 9月 黒田卓也 全7公演のJapan tour を遂行
2018 12月 J Squad で全15公演のJapan tour を遂行
自身がホストを務める音楽大忘年会「aTak 2018」を渋谷WWW Xで初開催。
2019 3月 タイバンコクにて若手3人組のユニットMAPをプロデュース。
2019 4月 自身がホストを務める「aTak」をNYで初開催。
2019 5月 Atlanta Jazz Festival に出演
2019 8月 BLUE NOTE Hawaii でのライブに出演
2019 9月 韓国・大邱国際ジャズフェスティバルに出演
2019 12月 自身がホストを務める音楽大忘年会「aTak 2019」を渋谷WWW Xで開催。
黒田卓也& aTak band /石若駿& フレンズ(feat.角銅真実) /田我流/ものんくるが出演
2020 2月 自身がホストを務める「aTak」をNYで2回目を開催。
