Makiko Hirabayashi Trio
Makiko Hirabayashi (p)
Klavs Hovman (b)
Marilyn Mazur (ds/perc/voc)
Since the release of their first album ”Makiko” (Enja 2006), this trio has received wide critical acclaim as a unique voice on the international jazz scene. They have toured extensively throughout Europe and Asia over the last 17 years.
Makiko Hirabayashi Trio is known for their vibrant interplay and strong compositions with a great storytelling quality. They have released 5 studio albums to date, and won Best Album 2919 and Jazz Melody Award in the Japanese jazz journal – Jazz Critique for their second album, Hide And Seek.
Their music reflects Makiko’s multicultural background, where elements of jazz, classical music, Far Eastern sounds and Nordic moods are all incorporated into an original and engaging idiom of her own.
Weavers
Fredrik Lundin (ten/sop sax)
Makiko Hirabayashi (p)
Thommy Andersson (b)
Bjørn Heebøll (d/perc)
Weavers is a quartet with a distinct sound, based in Copenhagen. Their debut album “Weavers” won the prestigious award, Jazz Album Of the Year at Danish Music Awards 2021. Led by the Japanese pianist Makiko Hirabayashi, the group features some of the strongest voices on the Scandinavian music scene – the explosive saxophonist Fredrik Lundin, bassist Thommy Andersson with his rich, Swedish sound and the imagina-tive drummer, Bjørn Heebøll. Having each made their marks in such diverse areas of music as rock, jazz, world music and avant-garde, Weavers create genre-transcending music with the collective, creative force at its core.
Bespeak
Randi Potoppidan (voc impro/electronics)
Anders Børup (voc impro/electronics)
Soma Allpass (cello)
Makiko Hirabayashi (p)
Dalia Faitelson (gtr/perc)
BESPEAK is a collective of 5 musicians on a musical adventure, seeking new sounds and textures on both acoustic and electronic instruments. Their music is largely improvised, and has a wide range of perspectives, from looking at the smallest details in sounds, to reaching out into endless space. Together they create intriguing soundscapes and musical stories, using instruments in unexpected ways, and through electronic effects.
Makiko Hirabayashi/Bob Rockwell Duo
Bob Rockwell (ten/sop sax)
Makiko Hirabayashi (p)
This duo collaboration started in 2011, at a charity concert for the Fukushima tsunami victims. The music reflects the actual event and the years that followed, and has kept both its fragile and explosive elements. Unbound by stylistic limitations, Bob’s melodic lines and Makiko’s colourful textures interact freely. In March 2016, they released a full album with ten of Makiko’s compositions and one jazz standard.