Takeshi Ohbayashi and Live at Alfie - Foresight (2023)

The world-renowned pianist Takeshi Obayashi appears in the Live at Alfie series, featuring two gorgeous bands: "Trio Standards" with Takumi Awatani & Shun Ishiwaka, and "Trio Renaissance" with Shinpei Ogawa & Yujiro Nakamura. This is the latest in a series of live recordings at Alfie's, a long-established jazz club in Roppongi. The fifth installment in the series features the world-traveling pianist Takeshi Obayashi, who transcends genres. In June this year, he released his first album "THE BIG NEWS" (EIRD-8007) with the "TBN Trio" formed with Ben Williams (bass) and Nate Smith (drums) and toured Japan with great success. This album features live performances by two bands. One is a "back to basics" trio standard featuring Takumi Awatani and Shun Ishiwaka, who have been friends since the "Hokkaido Groove Camp" that led them to Berklee and the U.S. The other is a "back to basics" trio standard featuring Takumi Awatani and Shun Ishiwaka, who have been playing together since their graduation from Berklee. And Trio Renaissance with Shinpei Ogawa & Yujiro Nakamura, a band that weaves together the history and present of jazz, which they have arrived at through their many studies. We hope you will enjoy these two trios, which inherit the fun and excitement of jazz, in a superb live space.