Disoriental by Genzo Okabe

Genzo Okabe

Disoriental

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Challenge Records
UPC: 0608917344226
Catnr: CR 73442
Release date: 05 May 2017
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Label
Challenge Records

UPC
0608917344226

Catalogue number
CR 73442

Release date
05 May 2017

"The quartet plays stylistically a rigid form of postbop that has been arranged with great attention to detail."

Jazzism, 15-9-2017

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

Press

About the album

Disoriental is a musical exploration and expression of the complexity of identity. As an expatriate artist who has been living as a minority in different places for most of his lifetime, Okabe attempts to critically approach the versatility and universality of jazz, a genre that absorbs all kinds of external elements to form its shape anew. Since its birth in the USA with black music at its heart, jazz has been incorporated into music education all over the world. This institutionalization has certainly helped spread musical knowledge and techniques, making many people familiar with jazz and contributing to the development of jazz performances and productions. On the other hand, since a sort of structure and control are an inevitable part of institutionalization, the more systematic the curriculum, the more our thinking process necessarily suffers from standardization. As a result, artists start to de-emphasize musical creativity and only become excited at opportunities to

Eines der eindeutigsten Merkmale von Disoriental sind unterbrochene Akkorde. Gewöhnlich ist ein harmonisches Spannungsverhältnis in westlicher Musik entweder Dur oder Moll, in den Volksmusiktraditionen weltweit aber findet man fünf Klänge, und ihre Universalität hat eine sehr enge Beziehung zu der Vielseitigkeit von Jazz. Ausgehend davon verfolgt Okabe die Möglichkeit einer pentatonischen „Skala“, die es nur in der japanischen Musik gibt, bestehend aus den Stufen 1, b9, 4, 5 und 7, in dem Versuch, diese fünf Klänge auf eine Art zu reproduzieren, die nicht mit der konventionellen heptatonischen Skala des wohltemperierten Systems korrespondiert. Durch diesen Suchprozess nach musikalischer Originalität wird asiatische Identität mit Jazz und westlicher Musik verbunden – es entsteht eine einzigartige, unbekannte, disorientalische Musik.

Artist(s)

Genzo Okabe (saxophone)

Born in Tokyo, Genzo moved to Italy at the age of twenty, where he studied classical saxophone at the Conservatorio di Musica di Perugia and jazz saxophone at the Conservatorio di Musica “Santa Cecilia” di Roma. Moving to the Netherlands, he obtained bachelor’s degree in jazz saxophone at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague. During this period he founded his own group Okabe Family and released his first album as a leader, Okabe Family (O.A.P. Records, 2013), in which he demonstrated his insights in composition and arrangements as well as a unique sense of creativity. Having accomplished his master’s degree in Jazz Saxophone at the above-mentioned conservatory in 2014, Genzo re-interpreted and incorporated the essence of old pre-jazz music into new contemporary sound in his second album, Second Line. The feedback of Second Line was extremely positive and in 2016, his project was selected for the Young VIP’s Tour. In this occasion, Genzo released his third album “Disoriental” from Challenge Records International receiving once again great responses from audience and critics.

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Miguel Rodríguez (piano)

Steven Willem Zwanink (double bass)

Francesco de Rubeis (drums)

Composer(s)

Genzo Okabe (saxophone)

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Press

The quartet plays stylistically a rigid form of postbop that has been arranged with great attention to detail.
Jazzism, 15-9-2017

The four musicians move technically at a very high level. The alto play of Genzo Okabe is formidable, its reach is enormous and the power of command very convincing, this is really great. This album is an absolute delight.
Rootstime, 08-7-2017

.. It sounds very hypnotic and draws very slowly into the spell, until one has lost in the song. I'm curious about the next record and how it goes on ...
musikansich, 01-7-2017

Genzo Okabe is an alto saxophonist with a refined expression, lyrical play and a nicely balanced quartet.
JazzFlits, 01-5-2017