In contrast to the narrative, composed Kaidan Suite, Kioku’s new album Both Far and Near is fiercely aggressive in its crusade for a powerful, liberated music that takes the great tradition of free jazz and steeps it in Japanese spirituality. Combining Taiko drum (Wynn Yamami), a massive instrument initially used on the battlefield, with saxophone (Ali Sakkal), electronics (Christopher Ariza) and other percussion, the trio immediately gives off a sense of outrageous liberation. Track one, “Pinari”, is an adaptation of a Korean prayer song. The tune’s tribal drumming pokes through long, abrasive saxophone lines while reverberating steel washes over it and electronics sweep the area clear with warped bursts. The group takes on John Coltrane’s “The Drum Thing”, interpreting Elvin Jones with meditative reverence. December 2007 | ALLABOUTJAZZ-NEW YORK Percussion and electronics wrap gently around Sakkal’s saxophone before embarking on their own textured, rhythmic venture. “Binalig” features a mesh of gongs, hollow percussive sounds and the muffled chaos of a crowd, resulting in a brilliant track where fantastical rhythm dances with reality and atmosphere moves from frenzied turmoil to moody serenity. At times incredibly tribal, or futuristic, Both Far and Near takes an ancient tradition and infuses it with vast doses of the new.