BRANCHES VOL. 2

 BRANCHES VOL. 1

POST BOP GYPSIES

Inner Circle Music (2017)

Around the time I was finishing my previous album, “Roots”, the idea of recording a bebop album came to mind. I decided that I wanted to create an acoustic album with a guitar and a bass. This instrumentation is such a great format, but often times it’s only associated with the Gypsy jazz style. I wanted to create something that had more of the American jazz spirit that I had been exposed to in seven years of living in New York City.

Most of the songs on this album are classics by jazz giants like Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, but I’ve also included arrangements of a few of my favorite pieces by classical composers Heitor Villa-Lobos and Claude Debussy, as well as two originals: “JR” was inspired by the lively sounds you hear in Japan Railroad (JR) stations, and “Boy From Boylston” is dedicated to my husband, Glenn Zaleski.

I am very lucky to be joined by Alex Goodman on guitar and George DeLancey on bass. They’ve contributed not only their amazing musicianship, but also their beautiful spirits.

This band is unlike any I’ve put together before, and this record marks the beginning
of an exciting journey to come. Thank you for taking the time to share it with me.

Tomoko Omura

(From the liner notes)

Liner notes:

In 2009, after living in America for five years, I traveled back to my native Japan to release my debut album, “Visions”. For a concert in my hometown of Shizuoka, I decided to arrange a classic Shizuoka folk song, “Chakkiri-Bushi”. In this performance, I felt a special connection with the audience; there was a strong emotional resonance within this familiar melody. In this experience, the idea for “Roots” was born: to record a collection of familiar Japanese melodies, re-imagined through my experience as a jazz musician in New York City. I hope that this music will effectively connect the two worlds that have defined me thus far: my path in America with my roots in Japan.

-Tomoko Omura
Nov. 2013

"Roots" is a tremendous accomplishment, and undoubtedly one of the most important and creative jazz albums produced by a violinist in recent history. 

Whether you are a purist or a progressive proponent of the globalization of Jazz, Tomoko Omura's offering here, both informed and boldly creative, commands your attention.

It's hard to believe that within just the last ten years Miss Omura came to the U.S. from Japan and has already emerged as a proven powerhouse, one of the top calls in NYC on her instrument.

It might have been easier to stay in Japan and study Youtube videos... Instead, she learned a new language, made her way to one of the leading schools of Jazz at Berklee, and worked against the odds to ensconce herself in NYC amongst a community of world class young players who help to execute her exotic vision with perfect clarity on this recording.

  Miss Omura answers the question here concerning what she, and she alone, can contribute to the evolving global jazz movement, by setting her voice as a bandleader, composer, arranger, and player-equally bold and sensitive- within the framework of her native culture's folk songs. The fusion of traditional Japanese music that she heard as a child with the pushing sounds she has absorbed in New York mirror her evolving identity as a woman and artist who is now truly borderless.

 Here she demonstrates mastery of the jazz tradition while pushing it unquestionably forward, setting a courageous example and bringing us all closer together in the process. 

- Christian Howes

At once, Tomoko Omura’s “Roots” is stirring and melodiously captivating. She has successfully crafted a work that grabs and holds the listener’s attention from beginning to end. It’s a wonderful piece of art music which functions equally as soothing, yet provocative, musical art.

- Greg Osby

VISIONS

Self-produced (2008)