Kaze & Koichi Makigami — Shishiodoshi
Kaze and Koichi Makigami Unleash Musical Mayhem on New Album Shishiodoshi.
After 14 years of defying expectations, the international quartet Kaze takes a bold leap into gleeful absurdity. Featuring the ensemble’s core members — Japanese composer-pianist Satoko Fujii, trumpeters Natsuki Tamura and Christian Pruvost, and drummer Peter Orins — this new release also introduces the incomparable Japanese vocalist Koichi Makigami, known for his avant-rock pedigree and vocal theatrics. The result is an electrifying fusion of sophisticated improvisation and unpredictable humor, offering listeners an exhilarating and surreal auditory experience.
The collaboration was sparked by a chance meeting at Japan’s Jazz Art Sengawa festival, where Makigami serves as artistic director. Although familiar with each other’s work, the musicians didn’t perform together until Kaze’s 2024 Japan tour. Their instant chemistry led to an impromptu concert in Lille — home to Pruvost and Orins — which laid the groundwork for this recording. As Fujii recalls, “We had so much fun making this record. Koichi brought something unique to the music and it made us play differently.”
The album’s opener, “Make a Change,” launches listeners into a maelstrom of tight quartet improvisation that gives way to Makigami’s jaw-dropping vocal pyrotechnics. His sounds — ranging from squeaks and growls to tongue-twisting nonsense — bring a theatrical dimension to Kaze’s sonic experiments. The title track offers a more restrained yet equally surreal journey, taking inspiration from the rhythmic clack of a Japanese garden ornament. Closing with Tamura’s “Inspiration 2,” the album builds from gentle nature-inspired sounds to a fiery collective climax, highlighting each member’s virtuosity and sense of play.
Shishiodoshi is more than an album — it’s a celebration of musical risk-taking, absurdity, and the joy of collaboration. Through this unlikely yet organic partnership, Kaze and Makigami have created a vibrant, madcap soundscape that is as intellectually intriguing as it is wildly entertaining. For longtime fans and curious newcomers alike, this is an unforgettable ride through the outer limits of improvised music.
