Would you mind if I share something simply for no other reason than: it’s beautiful? From the packaging to the music, I have to say Tomoyuki Hayashi & ForestIII’s The Forest is just plain pretty. If you had your hands on the physical copy, you can lift up the CD cover and feel the same textured paper that used to be the providence of equally pretty-sounding records like Bread’s Guitar Man. Man this thing just feels as soft as it sounds.
Thankfully, though, one of the things we can both share is it’s wonderful design aesthetic, one that zeroes in on all the little details that make “the forest” a forest. Nothing too fussy, just minimal outlines that refreshingly get the point across. Now imagine experiencing all this before you even get to the pop out the album?
Inside the compact disc you’ll find the compositions and arrangements of sometime VGM composer, but more often than not healing music writer, Tomoyuki Hayashi. I’ll spare you precious details since this won’t be the first and only time I’ll write about him but there are a few things you should know now:
Tomoyuki was born in 1953 and hails from Hiroshima. A graduate of Tokyo University of the Art’s composition program, it was there that he studied piano and computer music production. Of his many professions and loves, none seem to be as strong as his love of jazz and of the music of Bill Evans. By the time Tomoyuki graduated, his preternatural talent for stage and music craft led him to be hired by Japanese New Age heavyweight Kitaro to be his music director.
However, working under the tutelage of others wasn’t too long in the offing for Tomoyuki. By the mid ‘80s, he’d become a prolific writer, composing myriad music instructional books and songbooks detailing for Japanese audiences the deep ins/outs of standards, jazz, and contemporary music. However, it wouldn’t be until 1989 when Japanese avant garde pop and jazz record label Better Days convinced Tomoyuki to put out his first record with them, one he’d dub Seaside Feelings. As described elsewhere, that first release displayed the elegant, nostalgic-sounding music that would become his calling card.
The Forest would point to a turn in his winding road. Moving away from the lighter side of muzak, Tomoyuki would come into his own as a composer. Whether it’s tackling impressionistic orchestral music or toying with combining jazz with soft ambient, first and foremost, Tomoyuki wants you to hear what he sees when he experiences the world in vivid color. It’s music that in the beginning might sound hopelessly maudlin, twee, and contrarian but once you let your guard down reveals itself to be the opposite: quite romantic, affecting, and earnest, in league with like-minded musicians such as Hajime Mizoguchi, Satsuki Shibano, and Yukie Nishimura.
For me it reminds me of the promise found (to go back to the start) in the influence of Bill Evans. One can write something ornate but not say anything of importance or one can write something that’s simply beautiful because it audibly means something. Put on a track like “Snowy Trail” or “The Forest”, find some open window to stare to and try not to ruminate. This music is a daydream masquerading within simple notes that matter to someone (at least this special someone). And on that note I’ll let Tomoyuki take it from here…
When I write a song, I first think of the scene. It could be a quiet daytime sea, a dawn moon, a beautiful flower, a clear stream in a valley, but there are many so-called nature (or natural materials) to pick from, which varies from time to time.
This time, “forest” and “green” came into view. What do you think of when you think of a “forest”? For some it may be a coniferous forest lined up neatly toward the sky, while for others it may be a well-dense forest of guardians.
The “forest” exists in everyone’s heart. Perhaps human beings were born from the forest, and it seemed natural to feel peace of mind in the forest.
When I come into contact with nature, I discover myself as a supplicant. “Natural nature” motivates me to create. At such a time, in my studio, I’m able to reproduce the scent of chlorophyll, and the melody and harmony come naturally as it were. When I close my eyes, I can clearly see the colors called ecological colors, such as the green of the leaves, the brown of trunks and branches, the color of the earth, and the color of the sky.
Please close your eyes and listen quietly. It’s a new CD, but it’s been around for a long time. It feels like that sound that was in the air. Hopefully, you will feel refreshed as if you were bathing in the forest. I hope to refresh your mood and plant a beautiful forest image in your heart.
– Tomoyuki Hayashi (from liner notes to The Forest)
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