After releasing three albums for DIW Records with Ben Waples and Dave Goodman, Hakuei Kim is making his major-label debut under Universal Records with Trisonique. It lives up to expectations.
With Tomokazu Sugimoto on bass and Hidenobu 'Kalta' Otsuki on drums, Kim's new trio, Trisonique, is truly a child of the Japanese school of jazz. With its radical and modern interpretation of jazz, the album has a strong abstract sound, as highlighted by the arbitrary pacing and randomly placed violin notes in the trio's cover, Take Five. The album can be compared to works by established names like Quasimode, but with more of a meandering ambience.
Although there are no vocals, Kim's piano, at times energetic, at others melancholic, serves as an anchor to the various tracks, some of which could be mistaken for being improvised. From the hints of tropical influences in the playful tunes Kuala Lumpur and Hidden Land to the mellow and sparse melodies of Delayed Resolution and The Archeologist, the album conveys a generally reflective mood.