Takemitsu film score tribute in jazz at Samueli Theater

It never took much to get Toru Takemitsu, the pioneering Japanese composer, drunk. A couple glasses of Scotch at a party after a concert could set him off on rambunctious descriptions of obscure Japanese science-fiction films. He knew them all, no matter how unbelievably cheesy.

He knew the classics too. Takemitsu's love for movies was second to none. He said he averaged seeing almost one a day from around 1957 until his death at age 65 in 1996. He also scored, on average, two or three a year during that period, including many Japanese masterpieces. Four years ago, after a DVD version of Akira Kurosawa's “Ran" was released, the musicologist Jan Swafford asked, with good cause, in an article on Slate, whether Takemitsu was the greatest film composer of all time. The late David Raksin, famed for his score of “Laura" and himself a great film composer, didn't need to ask. He told me more than once that he considered “Ran" the greatest film score of all time.

JapanOC, the Philharmonic Society's celebration of Japan this season, began its music programs Sunday night with a tribute to Takemitsu in the Samueli Theater, the intimate venue of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The four musicians, led by jazz guitarist Kazumi Watanabe, all knew Takemitsu personally. The music consisted of arrangements for two guitars, accordion and percussion of numbers from 10 of the more than 100 Takemitsu film scores. The concert was conceived by Maki Takemitsu, the composer's daughter.

A loving tribute this obviously was and one that showed a perhaps less well-known side of Takemitsu, whose considerable contribution to 20th century concert music was an intoxicating, original and unforgettable brew of Debussy, Messiaen, John Cage and traditional Japanese court music. Takemitsu's film music could be otherworldly, Bachian, gagaku and many other things (sometimes all in the same scene).

But some of it was pop, all kinds of pop, and Sunday's concert focused on what would suit jazz musicians. Watanabe is a a refined and swinging improviser. Daisuke Suzuki, a superb young classical guitarist with a flair for crossover, was a lyric foil for Watanabe and also contributed cogent rhythm guitar. The accordionist Yasuhiro Kobayashi, who goes under the name coba, is a character; sentimental and assertive, he knows how to surprise. Tomohiro Yahiro is a versatile percussionist, in rock and jazz.

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