Brooklyn-based Japanese jazz trumpeter Takuya Kuroda further expands his funky, cross-pollinated sound on his vibrant sixth album, 2020's Fly Moon Die Soon. Recorded in Brooklyn with producer Todd Carder, the album finds Kuroda crafting more of his fluidly atmospheric and textural, groove-based songs. It's a style he has explored since his dynamic Blue Note debut, 2014's Jose James-produced Rising Son, and one that he brought to a new heights on 2016's Zigzagger, combining elements of hip-hop, neo-soul, Afro-beat, and hard-charging post-bop jazz improvisation. However, where Rising Son and Zigzagger showcased Kuroda's organic, live jazz roots, on Fly Moon Die Soon he takes a more studio-oriented approach, crafting tracks bit by bit in the way a hip-hop or pop maverick might, leaving just enough room for his harmonically rich and agile trumpet solos to breathe. Joining him again are many of his Zigzagger bandmates, including guest vocalist Corey King, pianist Takeshi Ohbayashi, bassist Rashaan Carter, percussionist Adam Jackson, and drummer Keita Ogawa. There's a kaleidoscopic vibe to many of Kuroda's songs as he takes disparate elements, including harmonized trumpet melodies, synthesizer chord patterns, serpentine bass lines, and refracted percussion rhythms, then filters it all through a computerized studio blender before reshaping it into its final form. It's a sound that has its origins in the '70s fusion of Miles Davis and Donald Byrd, and has contemporary allies in the work of artists like Christian Scott, Flying Lotus, and Thundercat. Cuts like "Moody" and "Fade" are languid soul numbers that evoke the club-influenced trip-hop and acid-jazz of the '90s. Elsewhere, Kuroda takes a more athletic approach, drawing upon kinetic, guitar-based Afro-beat on "ABC" and combining a minor-key, late-'60s hard bop melody with a flamenco-funk pattern on "Do No Why." He also offers a slow jam R&B-take on the Ohio Players' "Sweet Sticky Things" featuring singer Alina Engibaryan, and dips into sparkling crossover jazz on "Tell Me a Bedtime Story." Throughout, Kuroda shines as a soloist, his fat, clipped trumpet tone bringing to mind a mix of Freddie Hubbard and Roy Hargrove. While vintage '70s and early-'80s jazz-funk aesthetics are at the core of Kuroda's sound, Fly Moon Die Soon never sounds retro and often feels less like a jazz album and more like a hip-hop or electronic artist's conception of a jazz album. Of course, that hybridized quality speaks to Kuroda's alchemic appreciation for music that goes far beyond the edges of the jazz tradition.
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