Open Cluster

Description

***Product information***
Format: CD Album
Number of discs: 1
Package: -
Release Date: December 24, 2025
Record Label: BAJ RECORDS
Product Number: BJSP0014

***Work information***
Main Artists: Masahiko Sato, Yuji Takahashi

Original Release Date: December 24, 2025

***Recorded Contents***
Number of discs: 1

Total Running Time: 00:46:04

1. [CD Album]

1. Open Cluster 00:46:04

***Product Introduction***
This 2020 performance is a "completely improvised" performance by two pianists: Yuji Takahashi, whose background is contemporary music, and Masahiko Sato, whose background is jazz. It is performed without any prior consultation or pre-determined arrangements, and without a clear direction or destination. All that exists is the "sound" and "vibration" each emits. This is the trace of a "communication" that occurred when the pianists sensed each other's vibrations and transmitted the vibrations generated within themselves to the keyboard. As the title, "Open Cluster," suggests, refers to a space in which simultaneously generated sounds remain close to each other. Sato himself described this miraculous performance as "a truly remarkable level of completely free improvisation that I have ever experienced," and he has documented it as a work. (C)RS
JMD (November 14, 2025)

This rare session saw Masahiko Sato, who has spent half a century exploring free improvisation, communicate with his revered colleague, Yuji Takahashi. This is a valuable record that shows Masahiko Sato's achievements. The 2020 performance is a "complete improvisation" by two pianists: Yuji Takahashi, whose background is in contemporary music, and Masahiko Sato, whose background is in jazz. It was performed without any prior consultation or preconceived ideas, and without a clear path or destination. All that exists are the "sounds" and "vibrations" emitted by each other. This is the trajectory of a "communication" generated by sensing each other's "vibrations" and transmitting the resulting "vibrations" to the keyboard. As the title, "Open Cluster," an astronomical term, suggests, this refers to a space in which simultaneously generated sounds are still close to each other. Sato himself described this miraculous performance as "a truly remarkable level of completely free improvisation that I have ever experienced," and has documented it as a work.

Published and Distributed by: Yuji Takahashi, composer/pianist who has premiered and dedicated many of Toru Takemitsu's piano pieces, and Masahiko Sato, a pianist with a background in contemporary music, this "completely improvised" album was created by two artists. There was no prior consultation or decision-making, no route, and no destination. As the title, "Open Cluster," an astronomical term referring to a space in which sounds born simultaneously are still close to one another, suggests, this is a sound (trajectory) generated solely through the mutual communication of the sounds and vibrations emitted by each other. Sato himself described this album as "a truly outstanding example of completely free improvisation that I have ever experienced." It's great, it's great. Intoxicate (C) Tomonori Kuroda "Hype"
Tower Records (vol. 179, December 10, 2025 issue)

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