Label: Cygnus Recordings, 2024
Personnel - Miles Okazaki: guitars, composition; Matt Mitchell: piano; Anna Webber: tenor saxophone, flute; Jon Irabagon: mezzo soprano, sopranino, slide sax; Caroline Davis: alto saxophone; Jacob Garchik: trombone; Patricia Brennan: vibraphone; Fay Victor: vocals; Ganavya: vocals; Jen Shyu: vocals.
First-rate NYC-based guitarist and composer Miles Okazaki is known for his fearless attitude and daring approach, usually blurring the line between notated music and improvisation with puzzling cells and powerful sequences within a proper and fluid structure. Escaping jazz conventions, his 12th album as a leader, Miniature America, features 10 wonderful improvisers, presenting a new concept that strings along with heavy-duty post-modern experimentalism. Here, little blocks of raw material were selected and then subjected to post-production for an optimum effect.
“The Cocktail Party” opens with juxtaposed voluble speech and deeply tender piano, leading to “The Funambulist”, which takes us off the beaten path with the rotational instrumentation creating intervallic surprise. Okazaki plays acoustic guitar on the latter, as well as on “Only Outer Space”, a duet with Fay Victor, who sings over his quirky accompaniment. The vocalist is also featured on “And the Deep River”, another duet anchored by plaintive fingerpicking on the electric guitar.
“The Funicular” embarks on an apparently out-of-phase conversation with pianist Matt Mitchell and vibraphonist Patricia Brennan before attaining a strange organic synergy with the arrival of guitar and saxophone, while “Open Road” has Jon Irabagon’s saxophone floating over a ghostly, atmospheric texture.
Quietly mystical in its searching path, “Promise Me” has the sounds of Okazaki and Mitchell seamlessly intertwined with each other, while “The Cavern” is an enjoyable duet between quarter-toned guitar and the melodious trombone of Jacob Garchik. In turn, “Venus Calling” offers a horn-infused classical dance with some irreverence coming from the swift and taut guitar work.
“The Firmament” is configured like an ethereal sacred hymn, while “Pulsation Station” is a tense exercise where Okazaki explores in unpredictable directions over a throbbing collective cadence. The bandleader slates “In the Fullness of Time” for six minutes, showcasing atmospheric layers in support of Ganavya’s dazzling Arabic chants, in one of the most enchanting pieces on the album.
Named after the artwork of American artist Ed Ruscha, Miniature America reveals an exquisite quality and contemporary taste, with the musicians directing their actions to polarities that never feel unfocused. It may not be Okazaki’s most immediate offering, but it’s certainly an opus that attentive fans of creative music will want to explore.
Favorite Tracks:
03 - The Funicular ► 06 - And the Deep River ► 08 - Open Road ► 11 - The Cavern ► 21 - In the Fullness of Time