MIYUMI Project improvises and innovates

By Cadence Chen chencade@grinnell.edu plucking his upright bass. His improvisational collaborators joined in with patience. Some of the music built off of musical structures the band was previously familiar with, giving them the opportunity to improvise around these structures. and the energy,” she said.

“There are times when, like, ‘oh, I feel like this is a moment where I can join,’” Kioto Aoki said. “But then the music shifts and maybe that moment has passed, and you're finding a new way.”

Founded and led by Japanese bassist Tatsu Aoki, the MIYUMI Project is a band that melds traditional Japanese music with Chicago’s experimental jazz tradition. With the band having had over 20 years to hone their craft, Aoki told the audience after the music’s first pause that what they were hearing was “the core essence of Chicago avant-garde jazz music.”

The group’s current roster rotates for each of their performances, so every show does not feature every band member. At this performance, collaborators were Mwata Bowden and Edward Wilkerson Jr., both on the horn and didgeridoo, Jamie Kempkers on the cello, Tatsu Aoki on the upright bass and shamisen, Coco Elysses on the conga drum and Noriko Sugiyama and Kioto Aoki on the taiko drum.

In the dimly lit museum, Tatsu Aoki began the performance by