Itoko Toma: Beyond the Mountain
Schole Records
Itoko Toma isn't what one would call prolific. After her first solo album Dreamtime appeared on Felicity in 2010, the Okayama, Japan-based pianist (b. 1977) released When the World Will Mix Well (Schole, 2017) and The Window (1631Recordings, 2020). She's now issued her Schole follow-up Beyond the Mountain, which at twenty-four minutes is obviously modest in duration.
Whereas Toma's Schole debut enhanced its presentation with her singing, Beyond the Mountain is a purely instrumental affair. Further to that, while When the World Will Mix Well judiciously augmented her vocals and piano with strings and guitars, Beyond the Mountain features piano only. She recorded the material in the summer of 2023 at the studio library SALO in Oiso, a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, using an upright piano. Toma drew for inspiration from works created by Schole Records art director Shin Kikuchi that were displayed at SALO during the recording period (Kikuchi is also credited with the lovely visual presentation of Toma's release).
As evidenced by the minimalistic character of her oft-tranquil music and her preference for simple, single-word titles, restraint would appear to be a guiding principle of Toma's creative process. As her beguiling vignettes entice the ears, one visualizes forest leaves gently rustled by the wind or a nature setting enveloped in mist. As the peaceful “Rainy” plays, the image of a lone hiker unhurriedly making her way across a dew-covered field forms.
“Illuminator” could pass for a piano student's classical exercise but is no less entrancing for being so. With Toma's penchant for melody front and centre, it's easy to be swept away by the piece, as short as it is, and the equally succinct “Humming” is as delightful for the purity of its innocent tone and gentle radiance. While the classically tinged expression “Yori” exudes a quiet dignity, “Blowing” is an apt title for a setting buoyed by lilting arpeggios.
Only one composition exceeds three minutes, and that's the eight-minute closer “Umibe,” in which a seven-note folk melody acts as the foundation for Toma's delicate lullaby. In presenting her music in so uncluttered a form, it's possible to hear the action of the piano keys accompanying the notes in these pieces, which only makes listening to Beyond the Mountain an all the more intimate experience. Short the album is, but its eight pretty pieces are as exquisite as anything else she's shared with the world.August 2024