Masabumi Kikuchi

The final studio recording from the late Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, Hanamichi is the culmination of a lifetime of musical exploration and discovery.

This is the debut release by Red Hook Records and features masterful, definitive performances by Kikuchi, who was continually searching for his ‘voice’, something he couldn’t articulate with words. It wasn’t until a few years before he died that his ‘voice’ found him! As Gary Peacock expressed.

Hanamichi contains six revelatory tracks recorded over a two-day New York session on a magnificent Steinway, the music marks a divergence from the mostly free improvising Poo (Kikuchi’s nickname), who died at age 75 in 2015, practiced during his final years. Kikuchi’s radiant playing sparkles with melodic exploration and expression in renditions of lesser-known tunes and popular standards.

TRACKLIST

1   Ramona
2   Summertime
3   My Favorite Things I
4   My Favorite Things II
5   Improvisation
6   Little Abi