Masahiko Osaka Quintet
Naru
January 17, 2026
Masahiko Osaka 大坂昌彦 - drums
Akane Matsumoto松本 茜 - piano
Kengo Nakamura中村健吾 - bass
Nao Takeuchi竹内 直 – tenor sax
Kazuhiko Kondo近藤和彦 – alto sax
Naru is always a great place to hear live jazz, and especially so on the three nights a month given over to Masahiko Osaka’s collections of the best jazz musicians in Tokyo. Starting with Charles Mingus’ “Boogie Stop Shuffle,” taken at a fast pace, the group kicked right into gear. Most groups take a couple of numbers to get warmed up, but not here. The Mingus number gave plenty of time for Nakamura to show off his bass skills, both soloing and punctuating everyone else’s solos. “Tragic Outline,” an original from Osaka, sank into beautiful ballad territory, with softly shaped and delicately played solos.
“Self-Portrait in Three Colors,” another Mingus tune, kept the vibe in ballad mode, opening up space for Matsumoto to deliver her delicate harmonies and moving melodic lines. It’s clear she listens not just to the great pianists, but to the ones who’ve backed the jazz giants. She comps and solos with equal elegance.
Charles Lloyd’s “Sweet Georgia Bright” picked the pace back up, with both Takeuchi and Kondo working the melody hard, then moving into solos rich with invention and popping with energy. It was just the end of the first set, but already the evening felt whole and complete. Fortunately, the full-house audience was given only a short break.
Kicking off the second set was “Petrichor,” an original by Kondo, featuring a nicely written melody with a melancholy, modern sensibility. The melody did sound (synaesthetically speaking) like the smell of the earth and streets after the rain following a dry spell. Titles like that show artistic complexity, and the musicians aimed for precisely that, and found it with each new solo. Both saxes let loose on this complicated number, with feeling and understanding.
Matsumoto contributed “Goodbye Mr. Miller,” a tribute to Mulgrew Miller that delivered both grace and swing. The up-tempo, yet somber, song featured an especially muscular solo from Matsumoto, with nimble, full chords, another tribute to Miller. Her tune caught the feeling of Miller, who was a pianist’s pianist.
Osaka’s “In the Park” was written while he was walking in Yoyogi Park. Though he said he expected Nakamura to use pizzicato, in fact, he took the melody with a gorgeous arco that fit it perfectly and blended with the breathy solos from Kondo and Takeuchi. Osaka not only knows how to pick musicians but also how to drive them forward to their best playing.
Joey Calderazzo’s hard-swinging “The Mighty Sword” finally let Osaka fully out to take a spirited, full-on solo that the others answered in kind. There was no way the excited crowd would let them leave without an encore, and “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” was played with an open, loose swing that gave one more chance for one more solo from everyone. It’s hard to think of a more composed, vibrant, and balanced quintet than this one.
