| Jazz |
Emi Makabe’s Echo: A Sonic Reflection on Loss, Culture, and Memory
This new album by Japanese-born, Brooklyn-based artist Emi Makabe is among the most compelling releases of the season. Blending elements of jazz with traditional Japanese music, Echo offers compositions that are both richly textured and hauntingly lyrical. Makabe’s classically trained voice floats above the arrangements like the chorus of a lullaby, gentle yet precise, leading listeners into a world both intimate and profound.
To truly appreciate Echo, however, one must first understand the album’s inspiration. Without this context, its depth risks being overlooked. Across cultures, the word “echo” resonates in myriad ways. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Echo is the mountain nymph cursed to repeat only the words of others. In Arabic, ṣadā (صدى) evokes echo, resonance, vibration, terms bound to desire and remembrance. But it was the Japanese interpretation that struck Makabe most powerfully: ekō, a word that sounds like its English counterpart, yet means “to pray for the deceased.”
This meaning took on profound significance after the death of Makabe’s father in 2021. “It was during the pandemic,” she recalls. “No one could visit. I saw him go to the hospital in a wheelchair. I prayed he would turn back to look at me, just once. He didn’t. That was the last time I saw him.” And yet, something of his spirit remained, a reverberation of the soul that found voice in Echo, Makabe’s second full-length album, due May 16 on Sunnyside Records.
The album is a quiet triumph, deeply personal yet universally resonant. It features a remarkable ensemble: Thomas Morgan (bass and vocals), Vitor Gonçalves (piano, accordion, Wurlitzer organ), and Kenny Wollesen (drums, percussion, vibraphone, electronics). Special guests include the revered Bill Frisell (guitar), Meshell Ndegeocello (vocals), and Jason Moran (piano), each adding nuance to an already intricate sonic tapestry.
Echo also marks a poignant continuation of Makabe’s earlier work. Her previous album, Anniversary (2020), introduced her as a singular voice in world-jazz. Five years later, Echo digs deeper into her cultural roots, gradually guiding the listener, perhaps even Makabe herself, toward an increasingly open embrace of Japanese tradition.
Frisell, ever the chameleon of genre, appears right from the start on “Birthday Song.” “Musically, it’s quite simple,” Makabe explains. “But during the recording, I couldn’t stop crying, Bill’s guitar was just so warm, so deeply moving.” The lyrics, sparse and heartfelt, reflect her grief: “I’ll never forget that moment / when I realized how fast the end can come.” Frisell, often more inspired on world-jazz projects than conventional jazz records, seems to thrive in this setting, sensing the emotional tone and playing with palpable joy.
As the final track “Overture” gently closes the album, it also signals a beginning. “It symbolizes that an ending is also a start,” says Makabe. The piece recalls her father’s childhood walks along a river on his way to school, a memory distilled into melody. “Let’s talk, if we ever meet again,” she sings, an invitation suspended in time.
Whether or not such a reunion awaits is unknowable. But with Echo, Makabe’s essence remains profoundly present. This is not merely an album, it is a cultural and emotional journey, one that invites repeated listening to truly grasp the full weight of its understated yet meticulous artistry.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, April 30th 2025
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Musicians:
Emi Makabe – voice, shamisen, flute
Thomas Morgan – double bass, backing vocals
Vitor Gonçalves – piano, accordion, Wurlitzer electric piano
Kenny Wollesen – drums, percussion, vibraphone, electronics
Meshell Ndegeocello – MC (2 & 9)
Jason Moran – piano (2)
Bill Frisell – acoustic guitar (1)
Tracklisting:
1.The Birthday Song
2.Morisan
3.Mu
4.Dignity
5.Snow
6.Scape
7.Text
8.Letter
9.Echo
10.Overture