It’s been a while since Ayumi Tanaka has headlined her own album, serial collaborator that she is. Which means it’s no surprise that the Japanese pianist and composer adds her sidepeople next to her own name for Windflower. Her relationship with Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen goes back a ways, as she also appears in ensembles he leads. (She was also educated at the Norwegian Academy of Music.) American bassist Thomas Morgan may be a new friend in terms of time, but he fits right in with this pair’s shared aesthetic as if he’d been playing with them for decades.
The point, however, is not how long this trio has been hanging out together (since 2024), but how well they work together (very well indeed). Though known as one of the foremost experts at playing everywhere but on the beat, Strønen hews closer to a steady groove than usual, with Morgan adding subtle accompaniment. This foundation – light but steady – gives Tanaka plenty of room to move. She’s not a firebreather – rippin’ solos aren’t her bag. Instead she composes expansive melodies enhanced by lush chording and uncommon arpeggios, straddling a line (much as Strønen does with his band Time is a Blind Guide) between classical romanticism and jazz discordance. Check out the gorgeous “From Us, to You” for the perfect music on a Sunday morning, or the rickety “Spring” to get the brain moving in a languid but propulsive way, or “Driftwood,” for some gently swinging postbop.
As might be guessed merely from the album’s title, the music on Windflower is for listening rooms, rather than nightclubs. Indeed, a church sanctuary might make the perfect venue, with that room’s natural acoustics being as much of a natural partner to these sounds as the players are with each other. And, yes, that’s meant as a high compliment.
