Shigeto: Versions Vinyl 12″ Shigeto

“Whether in subtle or sweeping gesture, jazz has guided the drummer and producer’s output from day one.” Celebrating almost a decade with Ghostly International, Zachary Saginaw aka Shigeto picks 4 tracks from his catalog and reinterprets them with live instruments. He credits Vincent York as a major influence on his music career (“York showed me how to play based on feeling and ear.”), and this project’s building blocks can be linked back to when Saginaw and his friends would jam with the jazz luminary in high school (York was the school’s artist in residence.) For the EP, he puts together a tightly knit ensemble: Marcus Elliot on tenor saxophone and flute, Ian Fink on Keys, Brennan Duncan Andes on bass, Dez Andres on congas, and Christopher Koltay on modular synths and analog delay. Although fans of Shigeto’s music will hear inklings of the original compositions, the songs are entirely rewired for live instruments and interplay — check out “Back 2 Basics,” which replaces the rigidly programmed drums of The New Monday‘s “In Case You Forgot” with “loosely sputtering fills and rolls” while leaving the melody intact. “MCW” is an interpolation of “Field Day” from Lineage, and “River Bank Drive,” which also takes from the album, closes out the EP with a vivid, confident, and creatively juggled version of the original.

• matte finish jacket
• design by Vinnie Massimino
• music label: Ghostly International 2019

reviewed by singing in japanese 10/2019