Fusion and elegance are two inalienable maxims for Takuya Kuroda, the Japanese trumpeter and producer whose creative profile is the closest thing to a 21st century Dizzy Gillespie.
The musician from Kobe starts from jazz, obviously, but his silky and distinguished formula has always been characterized by combining soul, funk, afrobeat and some other spices in the same discourse. Well-trained in the New York scene, having collaborated with José James, Akoya Afrobeat or Badder (DJ Premier’s band) and having been part of record labels with such pedigree as Concord or Blue Note, the Japanese lands in Villanos del Jazz to present his latest and sixth album, Fly Moon Die Soon (2020) which, in his own words, is about “the paradox between the greatness of nature and the beautiful obscenity of the human being”. An album of a telluric beauty, almost inexplicable.