THE MIMIKOTO PROJECT — Blackbird’s Philosophy (lp)

Like the MIMIKOTO project’s previous albums, also “Blackbird’s Philosophy” can be described as a symbiosis of jazz with electronic music and other styles of groovy stuff. On this album the electronic elements melt into the acoustic sounds and rhythms on a quite subtle way, while the acoustic patterns partially adopt styles of electronic music reminding of deep house, ambient and Detroit house. Jazzy Rhodes, bass, drums and sax solos performed by jazz-rooted musicians like Darius Blair, Uli Schiffelholz, Johannes Schwarting and Justin Zitt, play a more important role than on former releases and bring nuances of funk, modal jazz, free jazz and bebop to this album. With Fabio Kumori’s string orchestral sound created with upright bass, effects and looper in the track “Notes from Kirishima”, even elements reminding of classical music and atmospheres from soundtracks become a part of this album. These elements merge with rhythmic sound arpeggios of analog synths and vibraphone, which create a maybe unknown style of new music. On the last track of the album, namely on the track “Blackbird’s Philosophy (Part II)”, you hear the soulful and expressive voice of Noomi Mae Coleman, who joined the MIMIKOTO crew in 2020. The MIMIKOTO project was founded in 2019 as a collective of musicians related to jazz, funk, soul and electronic music, after a certain period of composing and playing as duo, trio and quartet