{"id":1902,"date":"2020-11-11T22:18:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T04:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=1902"},"modified":"2021-06-24T17:00:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T22:00:08","slug":"emi-makabe-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/emi-makabe-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Emi Makabe&#8217;s &#8216;Anniversary&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The title cut of Emi Makabe&#8217;s debut full-length release, <em>Anniversary<\/em> (Greenleaf Music, 2020), is a graceful, bittersweet waltz about the kind of partings and reunions that form the bar lines in the lives of touring musicians. It&#8217;s a spare duet for voice and bass made all the more poignant by the empathetic accompaniment of the song&#8217;s dedicatee, bassist Thomas Morgan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The musical empathy between Makabe and Morgan is one of the throughlines of this quietly captivating 11-song, 49-minute program. Given that Makabe is a Japanese-born New Yorker who recently celebrated her 10th anniversary in the city, so is the interplay of East and West. Yet the more salient conversation here, and the most beguiling, is between the music of the Americas, North and South, specifically that of Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper fourthree\" style=\"width:420px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_IhAzAbNoNlc\"><div id=\"lyte_IhAzAbNoNlc\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/IhAzAbNoNlc\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/IhAzAbNoNlc\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/IhAzAbNoNlc\/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"420\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:420px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The influence is overt on &#8220;Rino,&#8221; a skipping, scatted melody that you&#8217;ll be humming all week, though you probably won&#8217;t get the demonically tricky rhythm exactly right. Elsewhere, Brazil is more felt than heard. The wordless vocal line of &#8220;Something Love&#8221; is as humid and mysterious as a Milton Nascimento rubato ballad and &#8220;Flash,&#8221; which has a prominent part for Makabe&#8217;s banjo-toned shamisen, evokes the dark flow of Nascimento&#8217;s &#8220;Lilia.&#8221;&nbsp; Even the relatively straightforward jazz waltz &#8220;O Street&#8221; has a melodic contour that owes more to Rio than to the Washington DC address that inspired it.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper fourthree\" style=\"width:420px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_pi2kYIbkX1Y\"><div id=\"lyte_pi2kYIbkX1Y\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/pi2kYIbkX1Y\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pi2kYIbkX1Y\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/pi2kYIbkX1Y\/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"420\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:420px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having Brazilian-born pianist Vitor Gon\u00e7alves on piano adds authenticity on these songs, and he&#8217;s a sensitive accompanist throughout. So is drummer Kenny Wollesen, who is as apposite lifting samba beats as he is doing the rustling, spooky Paul-Motian thing on ballads such as Makabe&#8217;s setting of William Blake&#8217;s &#8220;The Chimney Sweeper.&#8221;&nbsp; Morgan takes an especially heartrending solo on that song; he and co-producer Makabe provide ample solo space&nbsp; that Morgan fills with an eloquence and inwardness that brings to mind late-career Charlie Haden. It doesn&#8217;t get much better than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Makabe sings in English, Japanese, and on the soaring opener, &#8220;Treeing,&#8221; in a language of her own invention. Her voice is pure and deployed with admirable taste, and the sound, close-miked and cozy, suits both the material\u2014all Makabe&#8217;s\u2014and the conversational aesthetic of the music. It is as intimate as the performances on this understated and refined record, a very happy anniversary indeed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/greenleafmusic.com\/artists\/emi-makabe\/anniversary\/\"><strong><em>Anniversary is available now on CD, digital and on streaming services.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tracklist: (1) Treeing; (2) Joy; (3) Chimney Sweeper; (4) Moon &amp; I; (5) Something Love; (6) Flash; (7) I Saw The Light; (8) Mielcke; (9) O Street; (10) Rino; (11) Anniversary.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Personnel: Emi Makabe (voice, shamisen), Vitor Gon\u00e7alves (piano, accordion), Thomas Morgan (double bass), Kenny Wollesen (drums, vibraphone). &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The title cut of Emi Makabe&#8217;s debut full-length release, Anniversary (Greenleaf Music, 2020), is a graceful, bittersweet waltz about the kind of partings and reunions that form the bar lines in the lives of touring musicians. It&#8217;s a spare duet for voice and bass made all the more poignant by the empathetic accompaniment of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":41,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/EmiMakabe_RGB.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-uG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":613,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/miles-davis-bitches-brew-50th-anniversary-celebration-part-three-influence-on-jazz\/","url_meta":{"origin":1902,"position":0},"title":"Miles Davis\u2019 Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary Celebration- Part Three:  &#8220;Jazz&#8221;","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"March 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the penultimate chapter of our four-part series celebrating the legacy of the landmark Bitches Brew on its Fiftieth Anniversary. Our first piece focused on the album\u2019s compositions, the second on production techniques, and our forthcoming final feature will emphasize its influence on\u00a0 \u201cnon-jazz\u201d artists. Each adopts the list\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/special-series\/bitches-brew-50th-anniversary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bitches Brew \"Jazz\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_jazz.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_jazz.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_jazz.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_jazz.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":598,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/miles-davis-bitches-brew-50th-anniversary-celebration-part-two-the-influence-of-production\/","url_meta":{"origin":1902,"position":1},"title":"Miles Davis\u2019 Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary Celebration- Part Two: Production","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"March 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the second of our four-part series of lists celebrating the legacy of the landmark Bitches Brew\u00a0on its Fiftieth Anniversary. Our first piece focused on the compositions while forthcoming ones will emphasize the album's influence on subsequent \"jazz\" and \"non-jazz\" artists.\u00a0 Each list follows two general guidelines: that the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/special-series\/bitches-brew-50th-anniversary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bitches Brew Production","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_production.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_production.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_production.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_production.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11542,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-thomas-morgan-around-forest\/","url_meta":{"origin":1902,"position":2},"title":"Review: Thomas Morgan\u2019s \u2018Around You is a Forest\u2019","author":"Jim Hynes","date":"November 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"As evidenced by two recent collaborations with Wadada Leo Smith, Jakob Bro\u2019s Loveland Music, is releasing some of the most interesting improvised music recently. Yet, also on the label comes Thomas Morgan\u2019s Around You is a Forest (Loveland, 2025), which may well be the most unique album made in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Album Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Album Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/img_2508.jpg?fit=759%2C506&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/img_2508.jpg?fit=759%2C506&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/img_2508.jpg?fit=759%2C506&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/img_2508.jpg?fit=759%2C506&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":660,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/miles-davis-bitches-brew-50th-anniversary-celebration-part-four-non-jazz\/","url_meta":{"origin":1902,"position":3},"title":"Miles Davis\u2019 Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary Celebration- Part Four: \u201cNon-Jazz\u201d","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"March 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the final segment of our four-part series celebrating the legacy of the landmark Bitches Brew on its Fiftieth Anniversary. Our prior pieces emphasized the album\u2019s compositions, production techniques, and recent \u201cjazz\u201d albums it influenced. Each adopts the list format and follows two general guidelines: that the artist presented\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bitches Brew 50th Anniversary","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/special-series\/bitches-brew-50th-anniversary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bitches Brew Non-Jazz","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_nonjazz.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_nonjazz.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_nonjazz.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/BB_mainart_nonjazz.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3297,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/miles-revisited-introduction\/","url_meta":{"origin":1902,"position":4},"title":"Miles Davis: The Final Decade Revisited, Introduction","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"September 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"On September 28, 1991, the world lost a musical giant. An artist who, by his own estimation, changed the face of music five or six times. Miles Davis.\u00a0 During the mid-1940s, Miles was a sideman for one of history\u2019s great compositional innovators, Charlie Parker. He would follow it up by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Miles Davis: Final Decade Revisited&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Miles Davis: Final Decade Revisited","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/special-series\/miles-davis-final-decade-revisited\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/0mM5IegQ.png?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/0mM5IegQ.png?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/0mM5IegQ.png?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/0mM5IegQ.png?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5500,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/singing-billy-harper-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":1902,"position":5},"title":"Singing Through the Horn: A Conversation with Billy Harper (Part Two)","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"January 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"We continue our conversation with the great Billy Harper by discussing the beginning of his professional career in New York, his work with Lee Morgan and Gil Evans, the representation of Black artists in popular culture, and his compositional process. 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