Sabu Toyozumi with Peter Brötzmann, Toshinori Kondo and Derek Bailey

By Kenneth Blanchard

 Peter Brötzmann, Toshinori Kondo and Sabu Toyozumi - Complete Link (No Business, 2024) 

This album was recorded live in 2016. Released this year, it is a nice addition to legacy of Brötzmann and Kondo, and stands on its own as a document of a fierce trio. “To the Nature from the Heat,” opens with Brötzmann channeling Albert Ayler over Toyozumi’s drums. For about three minutes we get this steady, ghostly wail, before it turns into the more frenetic, metal scouring sound that was the sax man’s signature. Kondo’s trumpet sounds more like some kind of synthesizer than actual brass. Toward its end, the pace slows down considerably, becoming almost romantic. Kondo’s sound acquires an expansive, large space sound as if the energy of the trio had force the walls out and the ceiling up. The second cut, “First Monorail” is almost fifty minutes long. It has a slightly remote sound, as if the recorder were just outside the room. We hear the range of Kondo’s electrified horn. There is a marvelous line I can only describe as someone blowing up a balloon while firing a ray gun. As it passes the sound thickens and bubbles into something more like a full orchestra. Brötzmann continues his Ayler style moan until the end, when he and Kondo circle each other like tired bulls. Complete Link is a testament to the connections between body, mind, and spirit that are the focus of meditative Buddhism. 

Derek Bailey and Sabu Toyozumi - Breath Awareness (No Business, 2024)

 Reaching back a bit farther into the vaults, we find this 1987 Toyozumi document where he is joined by guitarist Derek Bailey. Like Complete Link, the thick brush strokes from a Japanese calligraphy pen appear on the cover. The title more directly references Zen practice. If you want your horns to sound like horns and strings to sound like strings, these two albums are not for you. If you like your jazz richly marbled and surprising yet evocative, you won’t be disappointed. Throughout “My Jimmy,” Bailey’s note sound more like a metal drum than anything else, turning the interaction between the two virtuosos into a percussive duel. “Diaphragm,” referencing the title concept, is a guitar solo. Here pluck alternates with sustained, tuning fork ringing. In “Relux or not Talking” Toyozumi softens his drumming from instant impact to distant thunder. Meanwhile, Bailey weaponizes his chords to make up for it. I applaud No Business for going back to its archives for these two recordings. It saddens me to reflect that the drummer is the only surviving member of either ensemble. 

Blagojche Tomevski, Filip Bukrshliev - Something Lonely in the Bone (PMG Jazz, 2023)

I can’t resist commenting on this recording, though it was released back in 2023. For some reason, Bandcamp sent me a sample and I was instantly sold. Ever since I first listen to Eric Dolphy, I have been in love with the low horns. Tomevski’s bass clarinet is substantial enough, you could just about float a boat on it. Both instrumentalists are more articulate than free jazz tends to be, but make no mistake: this passionate, inventive, and brightly textured. Don’t let it slip by without a listen.