Bouncing back from the COVID-induced crash in musical activity that came just a few months after the triumphant The Sky Below, guitarist, composer and bandleader Miles Okazaki is back with another triumph.
Thisness (out April 29, 2022) is the third entry from Okazaki’s lauded ‘Trickster’ quartet, a small ensemble nimble and astute enough to realize the highly deviceful vision of the leader. And like The Sky Below was to its predecessor Trickster, Thisness takes another significant artistic step forward.
The progression happens with the same talented bunch as before: Anthony Tidd on electric bass, Sean Rickman playing drums and Matt Mitchell handling keyboards both wired and unwired.
Okazaki’s songs move somewhat mysteriously; they also move logically. He is able to reconcile the two opposing traits by setting up his compositions as groups of themes with transition points and the timing and direction of the transitions guided by impulse. That’s probably why “In Some Far Off Place” commences with a classical guitar with an organic, folk-like backing and by halfway through, it’s evolved into a contemporary groove and then a quicker-paced one, never seeming to lose its way. That last segment becomes a launchpad from which Okazaki dubs one lead guitar over another: two moods that are perfectly contrapuntal.
“Years In Space” is a funk construction that eases into a tango – not a pure tango – but carries itself like one. Mitchell, on piano, has terrific rapport with Okazaki. The rhythm that Tidd and Rickman comes up for “I’ll Build A World” is even better still, as is the Mitchell/Okazaki unity. It’s cool, modern and very much jazz at the same time. And when the rhythmic patter changes without warning, everyone adjusts on the fly and it sounds very together.
The off-kilter beat that frames “And Wait For You” has gotten all four deeply involved with it, making rhythm the primary platform for the improvisation. But once again, there’s a moderate shift in tempo and harmony. Amid these series of grooves remains plenty of room left over for individual creativity, and you hear it with the increasing entanglement between Okazaki and Mitchell.
Miles Okazaki’s Thisness will be his third solid release in a row from Pi Recordings. Pre-order/order it from Bandcamp.
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