JITR Feb: Fazer, Yama Warashi + more TBA

Jazz in the Round + Serious presents Munich-based quintet Fazer who perform their first ever UK show with their new studio album, Yamaha. After 2022's Plex, Fazer contemplates the defiance and embrace of expectations, both in the industry and in art at large, on a record that melds indie, jazz and psychedelic rock with humour and depth.

FAZER @fazertheband
Embracing a DIY approach, Fazer recorded and mixed the record with engineer and friend Noël Riedel at bassist Martin Brugger’s studio in central Munich. Without the pressure of a costly daily rate, the band took plenty of time figuring out the setup and experimenting with sound. Brugger gives an example: “We would spend an afternoon looking for the perfect reverb for the trumpet and ended up using the spooky-sounding staircase next door as an echo chamber.” While all tracks were still recorded live with everyone in the room, there are noticeably more overdubs on ‘Yamaha’ compared to previous records. Acoustic guitars, trombone, Wurlitzer, and assorted percussion add depth and colour to Fazer’s core setup, which MOJO Magazine described as a “tightly coiled, well-oiled machine.

YAMA WARASHI (solo) @yama_warashi
Founded in Bristol circa 2015 and centred on a close-knit coterie of gifted collaborators led by Shigihara, the output of Yama Warashi has since flourished across one EP and three albums, from the graceful spiritual jazz of 2016’s ‘MOON ZERO’ to the evocative, psychedelic dreamworlds of her debut album ‘Moon Egg’ - released in the same year - to the existential, Bon Odori-inspired music of 2018’s ‘Boiled Moon’. Relocating to London, after being drawn to the city by its open-minded music scene - especially the activity centred around Cafe OTO and the Total Refreshment Centre - Shigihara released ‘Crispy Moon’ in 2022, unfurling even grander, more lavish depths within her multifaceted soundworld.