The Creator Has A Master Plan

Pondering longevity through the lens of Kyoto Jazz Massive

Another aspect of artmaking that’s undergoing transformation in digital culture: The very idea of longevity.

Not that long ago, it was possible to build a sound, then a base of followers around that sound, people who’d come to shows and snap up new releases year after year. Now that seems somewhat exotic – and, let’s be real, is often the result of algorithmic lever-pulling as much as genius art. Long careers happen, but not nearly as often as they did in the pre-digital age, when production tools were less widely available, and as a result there were fewer artists.

In December, brothers Shuya and Yoshi Okino, founders of Kyoto Jazz Massive, released a compilation called KJM Covers as part of a 30^th anniversary celebration. Its extended tracks typify the unusual niche that the brothers helped spearhead – a blend of percolating grooves and ad-libbed inquiry the group (or perhaps one of its champions, the British coolhunter Gilles Peterson) called “club jazz.”’

The Okinos started as club DJs. At some point, they clearly got curious about creating original sounds and textures; drawing on their keen sense of dancefloor tastes and a deep pool of Japanese instrumentalists, they hit on a sound that captivated club kids, music nerds and urban sophisticates. Here’s a track from the first KJM full=length, released in 2002:

Since then, KJM has evolved across several lanes; the duo is in demand as producers and remixers, and maintains a touring operation (Kyoto Jazz Massive Live Set) as well as several boutique labels. As its profile has grown, the project has embraced collaboration – the vocalist Vanessa Freeman is a frequent guest, and others include the vocalist/percussionist Bembe Segue and the keyboardist and producer Mark de Clive-Lowe.

The collaborative energy has pushed KJM into realms that might not have been available to an ordinary DJ duo – the Okinos were, for example, way ahead of the curve in dusting off songs and performance ideas associated with the spiritual jazz of the early 1970s. Check this percussive treatment of Carlos Garnett’s “Mystery of Ages” from KJM Covers; it’s got vocals from Bembe Segue and a wide-angle flourish of pitch-bend synthesis around the halfway point….

While we’re here, please enjoy the brisk, light-stepping samba/creation myth “Kowree Sambazzi” from the same compilation.

As sometimes happens, the energy surrounding Kyoto Jazz Massive sparked a mini-boomlet of recordings by other artists exploring similar fusions. Clive-Lowe, a Japanese New Zealander who is now based in Los Angeles, recorded several influential records that stretch further into cinematic improvisation and polyrhythmic discourse. Here’s an affirmation anthem from 2007 featuring Segue:

Clive-Lowe can also be heard on both full-lengths from the critically acclaimed horn-fronted Ronin Arkestra. Its first album included a diffuse cover of one section from John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme; the more interesting followup from 2019 expands the palette with prayerful melodies (“Fallen Angel”) and intricate close-interval horn voicings.

So….this is precisely the type of unlikely longevity that deserves a shout. Consider the contextual view: Here we have a little mini-scene that started in the electronic music culture of Japan, and caught on with listeners even as it inspired musicians. It spread globally (in part) because it doesn’t sound – or feel – like typical party-people club fare.

And, unlike many electronic sub-genres, it has continued to evolve. Following the breadcrumbs from the early KJM sides through the above projects, you eventually land at Hotel San Claudio from 2023, which features Clive-Lowe, Michigan based Japanese musician Shigeto and the wondrous Brooklyn-based vocalist and flutist Melanie Charles. This seizes the spark of Kyoto Jazz Massive and sends it into a stirring spiritual jazz fantasia, reworking several classic pieces by Pharoah Sanders, including “The Creator Has a Master Plan.” It’s disarmingly deep, and reverent to its multiple sources of inspiration. And at the same time, it just plain feels good.