Progressive jazz all the way from Japan

Music-lovers in the City recently gathered at BFlat, Indiranagar, for an interesting evening of jazz. Yuichiro Tokuda Ralyzzdig, a collective of five talented musicians, presented a line-up of numbers which were pleasant as well as curiously different, striking the right chord with those who had gathered there.

 The group comprised of Yuichiro Tokuda on the saxophone and vocals, Naoto Suzuki on the guitar, Kazuhiro Tamura on the piano, Kumpei Nakabayashi on the bass and Gaku Hasegawa on the drums. 

All five musicians are well-known in the Japanese jazz scene. 

All the songs played by the group were written by Yuichiro Tokuda, who is well-known for his ability to combine different elements to come up with a more progressive form of jazz. 
In fact, some of his tracks — such as ‘Nothing There’ — have won awards in the past. The jazz quintet recently released a new album, called ‘Crossing Colours’, which brings together refreshing sounds and interesting techniques, presenting their fans with an experience they’re bound to remember for a while. As part of the performance, the band presented pieces from this latest body of work, as well as some old favourites which their fans reacted favourably to.

The music was light and refreshing, perfect for a pleasant evening. A fairly large crowd gathered at the venue to watch the quintet perform. 

Their mastery over the instruments impressed the audience, as well as the coordination between the members and the ease with which they remained in sync. While Yuichiro Tokuda’s proficiency with the saxophone was obvious, the other musicians didn’t fail to disappoint — Naoto Suzuki’s notes were crisp and clear, while Kazuhiro Tamura’s manipulation of the piano held everyone spellbound.