Skip to main content

Marcin and Hayato Sumino: 'I Wish'

Every once in a while, music hits my inbox and jumps straight onto my regular playlist. That was true yesterday when I heard Polish guitarist Marcin for the first time: his collaboration with pianist Hayato Sumino on Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Wish’ brought incredible energy into my ears and my life.




Describing musicians as social media sensations can often mean more emphasis on the influencing than the music, but this is absolutely not true of these two artists. There is a vibrancy and virtuosity from both musicians that comes from extensive musical studies across all genres of music. Their version of ‘I Wish’ takes the Stevie Wonder classic and blows it apart with this extraordinary live recording.

Marcin discusses the arranging and performance process: “Working with Hayato on ‘I Wish’ was one of the most challenging and fun experiences. We arranged the song in about two hours at Hayato’s studio in Tokyo, and two days later we were already recording it live in the studio! It was the first time I was tracking a true, live, jazz-style performance with another artist and Hayato is such a beast! I knew how crazy he was on the piano before, but actually seeing how he worked in the studio was so inspiring for me. Take 12 is the one that we used. It’s a fun and pure piece of music – just two friends from completely different continents jamming in a studio.”

Hayato adds: "I’m beyond excited to collaborate with my friend, the incredibly unique and charismatic guitarist, Marcin. The blend of guitar and piano isn’t something you hear every day, which makes this project even more thrilling. The chemistry between us was absolutely electric!"

There is pure energy and creativity in this version of ‘I Wish’: jazz, funk, soul, blues, hip hop all combine with these exceptional musicians’ enthusiasm and effervescence.  Give it a listen and look out for opportunities to see either (or both) of them live.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album -  Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man  brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...

Playtime: 'Morse Code Through The Lights'

Every once in a while, an album drops into your inbox and isn't going anywhere. Morse Code Through The Lights is just such an album. Incontrovertibly controversial, this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but this one has absolutely, instantly, made it onto my list of top albums of 2024. Drummer Tom Bancroft and his band Playtime, which began in Edinburgh as Adventures in New Music ten years ago as a weekly session, have produced something delightfully experimental and brilliantly creative. Four of Scotland's most-established jazz musicians - Martin Kershaw (sax), Graeme Stephen (guitar), Mario Caribe (bass) and Tom Bancroft (drums) - tried out new music and new ideas together. Once lockdown struck in 2020, they decided to explore the possibilities of improvising music together online, partly for something to do, and partly because it was something they could do for their audience. Most of us discovered - or thought we had - that improvising online was difficult or impossi...

Remembering season 20 of Harmonious World

In June 2020, I released the first episode of my podcast -   Harmonious World  - and I had no idea how much delight it would bring me to share conversations with musicians from around the world. Whether you're a guest, a listener or one of the collaborators who have helped me find my guests, thank you! I now have listeners in 2, 475 cities across 129 countries, so wherever you are, welcome to our collective musical attempts to make the world more harmonious. Season 20 guests were: Chris Gall Sultan Stevenson Fotina Naumenko Quinn Sternberg Tara Minton for International Jazz Day Nicole Zuraitis Dave Keech Ute Lemper Vonn Vanier Iain Farrington Cecilie Strange Becca Wilkins Dave Handler