1985 · Album
Time Stream
Recorded 1984, New York · Toshiba East World · Personnel: Toshiko Akiyoshi (piano), George Mraz (bass), Art Taylor (drums)
A Trio in Motion: Akiyoshi's New York Session
Art Taylor's drumming keeps everything loose and conversational, never pushing, always listening.
Art Taylor is the secret engine here. Akiyoshi's trio with George Mraz on bass and Taylor on drums moves with an easy confidence that comes from musicians who know how to stay out of each other's way. Taylor's touch is particularly important on a piano trio date — he could overpower, but instead he floats beneath and around the piano lines, suggesting rather than stating the pulse. You hear it especially on the ballads, where his brush work becomes almost atmospheric.
Akiyoshi recorded Time Stream (1984) in New York, capturing herself at a point when she'd spent decades establishing a reputation as both a performer and a composer-arranger. This isn't a showcase album with guests or orchestral arrangements; it's her in her most direct form, playing standards and original pieces with a trio that sounds like it's played together many times. Mraz anchors everything with solid, inventive bass lines that give each tune shape without calling attention to themselves. The interplay between piano and drums makes the whole thing feel alive — not flashy, just attentive.
If you know Akiyoshi primarily for her big band work, this trio session offers something different: intimate, conversational, the kind of record that rewards careful listening. It's not as immediately striking as some of her larger orchestrations, but it shows why she's always been taken seriously as a pianist, not just a composer.
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