A weekly crate of new prog, fusion and the fringes, dug out of the week’s music writing.
The restless line: Seoul to Tokyo
Thirty-nine tracks across the living East Asian jazz network — Tokyo's small-combo economy, Seoul's writing-first jazz axis, the Chinese/Taiwanese edges, and two 1976 archive roots. Press bot-walled this week; catalog-verified editorial harvest, honestly labeled. — ed.
East Asian Jazz
Seoul/Tokyo/Shanghai jazz-fusion as it stands this year — technically luminous, culturally restless.
Who is making this now
Seoul to Tokyo, 2026: technically luminous, culturally restless.
The Tokyo block is an economy, not a genre: horn-led funk (TRI4TH, JABBERLOOP), club-jazz combos (Quasimode, bohemianvoodoo), math-jazz piano-duo (mouse on the keys), the Nujabes-aftermath beat-jazz line (Uyama Hiroto, Ovall), and the piano tradition (Satoru Shionoya, Senri Oe) feeding a trumpeter in New York (Takuya Kuroda).
The Korean axis writes programs, not just tunes: Hareem's symphonic fusion, Sungjae Son's folk-rooted saxophone suites, Kim Oki's free-jazz, Jambinai's gugak-doom crossover, and Hyukoh's indie low-end. The Chinese and Taiwanese edges (Wang Wen, Chui Wan, Mong Tong) show post-rock and electro absorbing the same restlessness.
BANDS IN THIS EDITION
- jizue
- mouse on the keys
- TRI4TH
- Ovall
- JABBERLOOP
- bohemianvoodoo
- Quasimode
- Uyama Hiroto
- Takuya Kuroda
- Satoru Shionoya
- Senri Oe
- Hareem
- Jambinai
- Kim Oki
- Sungjae Son
- Chui Wan
- Wang Wen
- Mong Tong
LABELS / COLLECTIVES
- theBasis
- Criss-Cross Jazz
- Bromide
- bromide records
- Schole
- Hydeout Productions
- Modern Records
CITIES / PLACES
- Tokyo
- Kyoto
- Seoul
- Dalian
- Beijing
- Taipei
PICK
PICK
mouse on the keysspectres de mouse
mouse on the keys — Tokyo instrumental duo (ex-Zeal & Ardor offshoot scene two pianos/drums); 'spectres de mouse' is their knotted, cinematic math-jazz opener energy. (scene lane).
jizueshiori
jizue — Kyoto jazz-fusion quartet on theBasis; 'shiori' folds math-rock breaks into warm modal keys — the current sound of Kansai's small-club jazz. (scene lane).
TRI4THHorns Riot
TRI4TH — Tokyo five-horn funk-jazz outfit with Calmera; 'Horns Riot' is exactly the title — festival-brass punch with tight fusion rhythm. (scene lane).
OvallSlow Motion Town
Ovall — Tokyo jazz-trio-meats-beatmaker collective; 'Slow Motion Town' rides the jazz-hiphop line the city's 20s scene is known for. (scene lane).
JABBERLOOPBeginning of Life
JABBERLOOP — Tokyo jazz-funk quartet, two decades deep; 'Beginning of Life' is their big-horn, hard-groove signature. (scene lane).
bohemianvoodooCleopatra's Dream
bohemianvoodoo — Japanese jazz-fusion crew splitting time-signatures over swing; 'Cleopatra's Dream' nods to Bud Powell with modern fusion teeth. (scene lane).
Gong Gong Gong 工工工Criss-Cross 縱橫
Mong Tong — Taipei duo sampling temple ritual and '80s cassette culture; 'Criss-Cross 縱橫' is hypnotic East-Asian electro-psych. (scene lane).
Chui Wan另一種愛
Chui Wan — Beijing psychedelic rock band named after a Zhuangzi story; '另一種愛' layers woodwinds over motorik drift — the capital's art-rock flagship. (scene lane).
Kim OkiCotard's Syndrome
Kim Oki — Korean free-jazz saxophonist; 'Cotard's Syndrome' is raw tenor philosophy — Seoul's improvising vanguard. (scene lane).
Hareem사랑이 다른 사랑으로 잊혀지네
Hareem — Korean prog-fusion band led by composer Hareem; this track folds Korean ballad harmony into symphonic fusion. (scene lane).
JAMBINAITime of Extinction
Jambinai — Seoul post-rock/gugak trio (haegeum, piri, geomungo); 'Time of Extinction' is their monument — traditional instruments detonating into doom-riff catharsis. (scene lane).
Wang WenSweet Home, Go!
Wang Wen — Dalian post-rock institution, 25 years running; 'Sweet Home, Go!' is patient crescendo-building from China's quietest loud band. (scene lane).
Uyama HirotoTaiko
Uyama Hiroto — Tokyo producer from the late Nujabes circle; 'Taiko' carries jazzy lo-fi hip-hop's melodic lineage into the present. (scene lane).
QuasimodeDown In The Village
Quasimode — Tokyo jazz ensemble in the club-jazz tradition; 'Down In The Village' keeps the crossover-jazz flame alive. (scene lane).
Takuya KurodaEverybody Loves The Sunshine
Takuya Kuroda — Kobe-born, NYC-based trumpeter; 'Everybody Loves The Sunshine' recuts Roy Ayers with soul-jazz brass — the Tokyo-NYC axis in one take. (scene lane).
Satoru ShionoyaBRAZILIAN RHYME
Satoru Shionoya — Pianist with TOKU's band and solo credits; 'BRAZILIAN RHYME' is Japanese piano-jazz's samba flirtation. (scene lane).
Senri OeRain
Senri Oe — Veteran pop star turned NYC jazz pianist; 'Rain' shows the reflective side of Japan's piano-jazz diaspora. (scene lane).
IamthemorningLighthouse
Iamthemorning — Russian chamber-prog duo with Mariusz Duda guesting; 'Lighthouse' is delicate piano-voice chamber rock. (core-prog lane).
HARU NEMURIharutosyura
Haru Nemuri — Tokyo art-pop storm; 'harutosyura' ('spring battle-rose') frames shrieked poetry in maximalist arrangement — the restless edge of the Tokyo underground. (wildcard lane).
HYUKOHTOMBOY
Hyukoh — Seoul indie quartet led by Oh Hyuk; 'TOMBOY' shows the low-key, groove-first side of the city's indie-jazz crossover. (wildcard lane).
WobblerFive Rooms
Wobbler — Oslo symphonic-prog band on vintage instruments; 'Five Rooms' is Nordic prog's theatrical side, fully alive. (core-prog lane).
Southern EmpireGoliath's Moon
Southern Empire — Adelaide prog outfit; 'Goliath's Moon' pairs Australian melodic prog with heavy Hammond work. (core-prog lane).
MagentaTrojan (Single Edit)
Magenta — Welsh prog band led by Rob Reed; the 'Trojan' single edit is their compact melodic-symphonic calling card. (core-prog lane).
KarfagenFaces in the Clouds
Karfagen — Ukrainian one-man prog project by Antony Kalugin; 'Faces in the Clouds' is pastoral symphonicprog from Kyiv. (core-prog lane).
Sullivan FortnerQue Diablos
Sullivan Fortner — New Orleans-born pianist (him of the Samara Joy duo); 'Que Diablos' is modern mainstream jazz with Caribbean shadow. (jazz-fusion lane).
Ryan BarryI'll Close My Eyes
Ryan Barry — Young American pianist-composer, reviewed by The Jazz Word this month; 'I'll Close My Eyes' is elegant trio convention. (jazz-fusion lane).
PanzerballettTake Five
Panzerballett — Munich jazz-metal band; 'Take Five' at blast-beat tempo — the fusion lane's heaviest edge. (jazz-fusion lane).
Sungjae SonThe River of Imjin
Sungjae Son — Korean saxophonist-composer; 'The River of Imjin' sets a folk melody in contemporary jazz — Seoul's writing tradition. (jazz-fusion lane).
Eugene UmanCumbia Dramática
Eugene Uman — Vermont Jazz Center director; 'Cumbia Dramática' folds Colombian cumbia into piano-jazz. (jazz-fusion lane).
AnomalieMétropole
Anomalie — Montreal keyboardist (producer for the classically-trained jazz set); 'Métropole' is his orchestral-fusion showpiece. (jazz-fusion lane).
Yosuke Yamashita TrioChiasma - Live
Yosuke Yamashita Trio — The great Japanese free-jazz pianist (b. 1942); 'Chiasma — Live' is the archive root every Tokyo combo stands on. (archive lane).
Ryo FukuiScenery
Ryo Fukui — Hokkaido pianist whose 1976 'Scenery' became a global gateway to Japanese jazz; the archive anchor of this edition. (archive lane).
EtceteralFacci Sognare
Etceteral — Ljubljana octet on the 100th bond of Slovenian jazz; 'Facci Sognare' is hypnosis-jazz with twin drums. (fringe lane).
KiasmosThrown
Kiasmos — Olafur Arnalds + Janus Rasmussen's minimal-techno/neoclassical project; 'Thrown' is the fringe lane's pulse. (fringe lane).
Hior ChronikRemember
Hior Chronik — Athenian pianist in the neoclassical school; 'Remember' is sparse, elegiac piano. (fringe lane).
Black HillA wild river to take you home
Black Hill — French one-man acoustic-post-rock project; 'A wild river to take you home' is fingerpicked melancholy. (fringe lane).
BalmorheaDays
Balmorhea — Texan post-rock sextet; 'Days' is their glassy, hopeful chamber-folk flagship. (fringe lane).
Peter BroderickAnd It's Alright - Nils Frahm Remix
Peter Broderick — Oregon multi-instrumentalist (Efterklang, Nils Frahm circle); 'And It's Alright' here in its Nils Frahm remix. (fringe lane).
Akira KosemuraAsymptote
Akira Kosemura — Tokyo neoclassical pianist on Schole; 'Asymptote' closes the edition in near-silence. (fringe lane).