Albums I Continue to Love — 'Shin Suzukake no Michi' by Suzuki Shoji & Rhythm Aces - Hidetoshi Takada

Albums I Continue to Love — 'Shin Suzukake no Michi' by Suzuki Shoji & Rhythm Aces.

An Album I Encountered at a Jazz Bar

I started listening to Jazz when I began working part-time at a Jazz Bar during my college years.

After working there for about four and a half years, I opened my own Jazz Bar called "My One." Since my part-time days, I gradually accumulated records and CDs, so I ended up with quite a substantial collection. Since I played them throughout business hours, I think I listened to quite a lot of music. They still occupy a considerable amount of space in my room.

Among these, one album I frequently played back then was 'Shin Suzukake no Michi' by Suzuki Shoji and Rhythm Aces.

Playing Both Sides in Full

When playing records at the shop back then, I would usually play either the A-side or B-side and then change to the next record, but since I loved both sides of this album, I would end up playing it all the way through.

Even when I wasn't yet familiar with Jazz, this album was easy to listen to and drew me in naturally, which might have been significant. I absolutely loved the sound of the clarinet, and this would still be in my top 5 favorite albums today.

The Miracle of Double Clarinet

This album was recorded in 1957 with double clarinet featuring Peanuts Hucko, who was visiting Japan as a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra. "Suzukake no Michi" became a huge hit. Twenty years later, it was recreated using digital recording with Suzuki Shoji's youngest brother, Suzuki Masao, taking on Hucko's part.

The liner notes feature commentary by Isotelwo.

While the title track is of course excellent, all songs have extremely high completion quality, leading Suzuki Shoji to say that "such a performance could never be done again."

In Jazz, which emphasizes improvisation, there are certainly cases where it's better not to do too many takes. However, in the case of Suzuki Shoji and Rhythm Aces, I feel the appeal lies in the high level of completion achieved through well-coordinated members and carefully crafted arrangements and compositions that balance ensemble parts with improvised sections.

Given that Jazz is often performed with gig-style combinations of musicians, it would be quite rare to have such a fixed group of members active together for many years.

From Original Song to Jazz — A Completely New Brilliance

Now, regarding the title track 'Suzukake no Michi,' it was originally a wartime hit song performed by Haida Katsuhiko. It was composed by Haida Yukihiko (Katsuhiko's older brother) and written by Saeki Takao, inspired by the tree-lined path of plane trees (suzukake) at Rikkyo University, Katsuhiko's alma mater.

The original 'Suzukake no Michi' is in a relaxed 3/4 time, but here it becomes 4/4 time with two clarinets intertwining to combine theme and obligato melodies, creating an exquisite harmony. Additionally, what could be perceived as a lyrical but somewhat monotonous song gains impressive key phrases and becomes swing, transforming into a piece with speed and rhythm that radiates completely new brilliance. With the addition of wonderful improvised performances and other elements, it became the "unrepeatable" performance that had the power to make this song a huge hit.

The Fusion of Japanese Songs and Jazz

What strikes me when I listen to this song is how a purely Japanese wartime popular song was turned into a major hit through Suzuki Shoji's masterful clarinet performance, instantly making it part of Japan's Jazz standard repertoire.

This is quite a grand topic, and not something I should be commenting on, but…

I sometimes think, wouldn't it be great if Jazz could become a much more popular genre? Jazz originated in foreign countries, and there's a flow of music that has been supported in those regions during those times. Many of the so-called Jazz standards are covers of past pop songs or movie music that became popular.

How can we continue to fuse Japanese music and Jazz…

I think it's meaningful for songs that exist in the hearts of many Japanese people to continue being expressed in the Jazz style.

In this sense, 'Suzukake no Michi' is undoubtedly one of the "examples" to follow. Currently, when people think of 'Suzukake no Michi,' the Jazz version might have a stronger image.

A Man Who Seriously Engaged with Japanese Songs

Suzuki Shoji recorded many other Japanese songs besides this one. From art songs like 'Kojō no Tsuki' (Taki Rentaro), 'Hamabe no Uta' (Li Xianglan/Yamaguchi Yoshiko), 'Yoimachigusa' (Takehisa Yumeji), to popular songs like 'Futari de Osake wo' (Azusa Michiyo) and 'Saikai' (Matsuo Kazuko). He also composed 'Matsuri to Kodomo' himself, where drums represent Japanese taiko and clarinet represents festival music, which he performed with George Kawaguchi on drums as the final song of his 40th anniversary concert.

I think there are few Jazz musicians who have taken up so many Japanese songs.

This shows that he seriously engaged with songs that exist deep in the hearts of Japanese people as a Jazz musician, and 'Suzukake no Michi' must have been born from such feelings.

I Hope Japanese Jazz Becomes More Popular

I hope that in the future, many performers will continue to express Japanese songs through Jazz approaches, regardless of whether they're pop, rock, old, or new.

I really want Japanese Jazz to become much more popular.

Editor's Notes

Hidetoshi Takada (nickname: Dai-chan) was the manager when I (Namio) was working part-time at the Jazz Bar "Sus4" in Matsuyama during my twenties. Late at night, performers from nearby clubs would come to rest and tell us various stories. He's one of the people I shared those dense yet fleeting memorable times with.

Later, Dai-chan opened his own shop "My One" and has been in the food service industry for 40 years, running pizza shops, Italian restaurants, izakaya, ramen shops, and online sales. He continues to listen to music across genres and says music is like "a tranquilizer" for him.

Playing both the A-side and B-side all the way through. I think encountering such albums is one of life's great pleasures when listening to music. For Dai-chan, 'Shin Suzukake no Michi' is exactly that kind of album.

Related: Suzuki Shoji ｜ Suzuki Shoji and Rhythm Aces