Okazaki Brothers
Album Release Celebration
Shinjuku Pit Inn April 7, 2026
Yoshiro Okazaki岡崎好朗 - trumpet
Masanori Okazaki岡崎正典 – tenor sax, clarinet
Yuki Hirate平手裕紀 - piano
Shimpei Ogawa小川晋平 - bass
Shinnosuke Takahashi高橋信之介 – drums
Special guest: Makoto Ozone 小曽根真 – piano
When I first jumped into the jazz scene in Tokyo, the Okazaki brothers played together often. For a few years, they went their own directions. Their reunion was marked by the release of a stellar collaboration, “Blood But Blues,” released last year. It’s old school jazz in the best sense, with a mix of hard bop, west coast, and contemporary jazz that really swings.
One year later, they packed Shinjuku Pit Inn for a commemoration of the album’s release. The Okazaki brothers brought their great rhythm section and absorbing tunes together again to see how the songs sound live a year later. They sounded fantastic.
The quintet kicked off with the CD’s opener, “Gotta Decent Shoes?” The bass-drums-piano held tight beneath a searing melody line. It felt a bit like the classic cool Blue Note sound but filled with energy that dished out great solos all around. Of course, they were just getting warmed up.
“Great Cold” had a harder, more contemporary drive that let Hirate take command of the flow with the two Okazaki brothers riding his harmonic wave patterns with an old-school sense of “how far can we take this melody line?” Fascinatingly far, it turns out. “L’Hirondelle” “swallow in French” sounded like its name, with melody lines that tumbled over each other darting like swallows. Takahashi on drums and Ogawa on bass both opened up with great solos, loosening the swing while strengthening its thrust.
“Long Way Home” slowed down the tempo, showing what the Okazaki brothers can both do with a ballad. Yoshiro’s honeyed tone gave the song a clarity and resonance and kept the feeling intimate and warm. “The Dragon Flies” picked the pace up, and Masanori took flight, answering older brother Yoshiro’s controlled tone while really zinging along. The two songs were sibling rivalry at its finest!
The second set kicked off with “10-6-12” a hard-swinging number with great changes that pushed everyone to find new directions on the solos, shifting tempos and turning the chords inside out. “Theme for Z” was in some ways the most contemporary tune, with a shifting set of rhythmic patterns that pushed the melody into turns, cutbacks and climbs. “The Sunset Over the Horizon” set out a bolero rhythm that eased into a rumba and gave Masanori a chance to play clarinet with just as honeyed a tone as his brother.
“Dream Hunter” set out at a quick pace, and the brothers brought Makoto Ozone, who produced their CD, to the stage. He fit in perfectly, taking over from Hirate and then handing back keyboard duties after having a great time.
The encore, “Awkward Beauty,” a bouncy, fun tune, that was deceptively complex, let everyone in the quintet take one more rambunctious solo with a sense of tying up the evening. This is old-school jazz pushes deep into jazz styles with a fresh eye and confident virtuosity. The Okazaki Brothers are not only a great asset to any group, as they have been for years, but now have a stellar recording and a tight band that hopefully will get back into the studio soon and stay out in the clubs even more often.
