SHINOBU ITO

From the liner notes:

“Shinobu Ito is probably the guitarist most worth of attention right now.”

For many years, Shinobu Ito has lived in New York, putting his body and soul into the jazz scene, representing the essence of mainstream jazz. For someone who has been watching him for the past ten years, this new album represents quite a change in direction.

The new musical aspects he is challenging are all quite interesting, and the result is certainly quite significant in the world of jazz guitar.

Ito left for the U.S. back in 1977, and some fourteen years later returned to Tokyo in 1991, and played a session at the Pit Inn jazz club. Ito had made his album debut as a fusion player, and the session included old friends Ken Shima on piano, Hidefumi Toki on alto sax and Kenji Takamizu on electric bass. However, what I heard on the live session recording ‘One Life To Live’ were not the songs I remember from my youth.

Apart from “S.O.S.” by Wes Montgomery, all songs were originals by Shinobu Ito, and all had very beautiful melodies. Ito’s capabilities have been well recognized in the musical composition awards sponsored by Billboard magazine. While this has been well publicized, Ito doesn’t favor remaining in this category.

After he returned to New York, he took a direction not quite possible for a guitarist in Japan’s jazz scene – he felt he needed to question himself on what musical direction he should be taking.

As a guitarist, he reached out toward the musical treasure chest of Spain, and of Latin America, and listened broadly and deeply for sources of inspiration.

Traditional music for guitar draws heavily upon tango, choro and flamenco, and Ito found inspiration in the works of Enrique Granados and Isaac Albéniz, along with contemporary Latin American composers Antonio Lauro and Manuel Ponce. As well, he began listening intently to the works of Villa-Lobos, who could be called the ‘Bach of Brazil.’

These styles of music were mostly composed originally for the guitar, while even orchestral works as well as piano pieces were arranged for the guitar,

all of them made up the core repertory for classical guitar. “When these types of music are played with improvisation, they organically link with jazz, which enables the creation of a new kind of music, does it not?” wonders Ito.

Fortunately, there are many of Latin guitarists in New York, who all exchange ideas with each other. The construction and modes of expression in these styles of playing and phrasing can be closely studied. Moreover, the beautiful melodies and active rhythms can be further brought to life within the context of the jazz groove.

One very significant influence on Shinobu Ito has been that of Baden Powell (1937 – 2000), the Brazilian-born guitar genius who developed the primitive percussive style of guitar known as Afro Samba and used it for jazz improvisation.

It was this inspiration that led Ito to release the album ‘A Tribute to Baden Powell and Antonio Lauro’ in 2002. While Ito was criticized for nylon strings on a Spanish guitar performance, it marked his decision to take a new direction.

While Ito is known as a jazz guitarist who plays with a pick, in this new direction he plays only with his fingers, as do classical guitar players. Moreover, he improvises on these tunes, effectively fusing classical guitar and jazz.

In a Harlem jazz club, Ito played blues on a full-size archtop guitar, and was said to create the exact same groove that first-rate American blues musicians would. However, when he played hard bop, he was admired for being top level in Japan. However, Ito would not settle for that, and without sticking strictly to jazz, he sought out to broaden his sense of expression on the guitar.

Classical guitar genius Kazuhito Yamashita is also someone of interest to Ito. From this influence he got to know a guitar solo CD called Bolero, containing famous orchestral composition by Ravel, played by Larry Coryell, considered a young revolutionary for his fusion of rock and jazz in the 60s.

Finding Yamashita interesting as a classical guitarist, Coryell engendered a new era, and this spirit of adventure overlapped with the bold decision taken by Ito to improvise on classical guitar pieces.

When Executive Producer Yoichi Nakao first heard of Ito’s idea to make an album of classical repertoire rendered with improvisation, he was quickly reminded of what Larry Coryell approached many years ago.

As a jazz guitarist who dares create a new approach, Ito has released a second Spanish guitar album that truly captures this stance of adventure. The album is titled Musica Para Enamorados – Ramonada, and it fully captures this feeling.

Shinobu Ito is currently an instructor in the Jazz Division of the Senzoku College of Music in Tokyo, and moves between Tokyo and New York to attend to various projects. Tenor sax player Seiichi Nakamura visited New York in 2005, and at that time recorded an intimate duo album with Ito called Serenata.

Shinobu Ito is a mature musician who still is willing to take on a challenge and explore new directions. The planning, arrangements, rehearsal and recording of this new project have taken two years. During that time, Ito has enjoyed the support of Toru Yamauchi as co-performer.

The album leads off in a light rhythm with Carnival, composed by Liona Boyd, who made her debut in the 1970s as a female classical guitarist.

La Fiesta is an original Spanish-style composition by pianist Chick Corea, and made its debut in the best-selling album Return To Forever. It features the appealing sound of beautiful string reverberations.

Oblivion is a beautiful and passionate tune composed by Astor Piazzolla, Argentine-born genius of the bandoneon. Here, Ito has rendered it delicately, note for note, in a truly melodic rendition.

Composed by Antonio Lauro, Vals Criolo is a Creole-style waltz. Andreina and Carora were both performed as a solo, but after creating a new arrangement, it offers a feeling that better represents the world of Shinobu Ito.

Andante follows the motif of the second movement of the Guitar Concerto composed by Villa-Lobos in that Preludes No.1 to 5 from the 12 Etudes are included, creating both fantasy and rhapsody, allowing the imagination to soar freely.

The Danse Espanole No.5 from Granados has become part of the standard repertory for classical guitarists ever since the famous performance by Andrés Segovia. However, in recordings of it by Laurindo Almeida and Charlie Byrd, some writers may feel they are taking some kind of revenge since the foot rhythm differs from that of the standard classical guitarist, but these are still good performances. They reflect a touch of naïve attitude expressed with a bit of humor.

Manuel de Falla has many compositions that have been arranged for guitar in a very Spanish vein. This Danse Espagnole is a very swinging performance that I strongly feel can be approached by a jazz guitarist.

Spain, also by Chick Corea is, of course, an essential number for a guitar duo to perform. Here, Shinobu Ito takes a restrained approach to the tempo to make it more traditional like compositions by Granados and Albéniz.

This results in a fresh new appeal.

by Tetsuya Yanagisawa, Aug, 2006

MUSICA PARA ENAMORADOS

JAPANESE TITLE: RAMONADA

JAZZBANK/MTCJ-1095 (August 23, 2006)

SHINOBU ITO: guitar TORU YAMAUCHI: guitar (accompanist)

01. Carnival (2:55) (Liona Boyd)

02. La Fiesta (6:51) (Chick Corea)

03. Oblivion (6:49) (Astor Piazzolla)

04. Vals Criolo (3:25) (Antonio Lauro)

05. Andreina (3:21) (Antonio Lauro)

06. Carola (3:59) (Antonio Lauro)

07. Andante（from "Guitar Concerto"）(5:38) (Villa-Lobos)

08. Danse Espagnole No.5 (5:43) (Enrique Granados)

09. Danse Espagnole (from "La Vida Breve) (Manuel de Falla)

10. Spain (6:44) (Chick Corea)

All songs arranged for two guitars by Shinobu Ito except Carnival arranged by Liona Boyd with partial arrangement by Shinobu Ito

Produced by Shinobu Ito

Executive Producer: Yoichi Nakao for Jazzbank

Front Cover (Illustration): Setsuko Tamura

Art Direction: Kumiko Suzuki for Bad Nice

Photography: Terumi Ohta, Mari Ikeda

Notes: Tetsuya Yanagisawa

Recorded at SKY24 Studio, New York, between August 2005 and February 2006

Engineer: Ken Shibusawa

Shinobu Ito plays Kohno Model Special (1993)

Toru Yamauchi plays Kano Kodama (1984) #20 & Jose Ramirez (1972)
(tracks 2 & 9)