What a fascinating musical connection Japanese musical all-rounder Midori Takada and Danish guitarist Jakob Bro have. They have been playing together for years in various projects and あなたに出会うまで/Until I Met You is their debut as a duo.
It all has to do with Bro’s fascination with Japan. He taught himself Japanese, filling the many free hours between performances on tour with learning the language. This made it much easier to surround himself with Japanese musicians, although most Japanese musicians do speak English and the language of music always prevails.
The recordings that Bro and Takada made at Avaco Studio in Tokyo in October 2024 are truly remarkable. With Bro on acoustic guitar and Takada on percussion, piano and marimba, they create a tranquil musical world. Takada’s ambient background fits perfectly with the open sound that Bro can coax from his guitar.
Whereas Bro’s electric guitar sound, filtered through many effects, normally takes on atmospheric forms, here it sounds direct. His playing is more compact, yet, astonishingly, just as rich, particularly when combined with Takada’s piano and marimba playing. The pieces form a fusion of totally different musical worlds.
あなたに出会うまで/Until I Met You features two musicians who, each from their own place in the world, with all the musical backgrounds they acquired during their early musical years, rediscover themselves musically in all openness. The result is incredibly beautiful music which is in equal measures timeless and futuristic.
Their great pleasure in discovering new sounds and tones is the basis of their respective musical careers. And with that, it is also the basis for their first collaborative album. Music that cannot be pigeonholed, but in which folk and traditional music are the ever-present and connecting elements.
All the album’s tracks are both adventurous and intriguing. At the same time, they are also very accessible and warm. Two musicians who dare to dream and lose themselves in musical experiments without sounding difficult. Precisely because melody, atmosphere and sound are so important to both of them.
あなたに出会うまで/Until I Met You is not only very special. It is seven wonderful pieces of stunning beauty.
