Banda Feliz: Boa Viagem
Banda Feliz is a group of Tokyo musicians playing festive Brazilian music, originals and covers, centered around Makiyo Sakai’s robust and jazzy flute playing. Her lighter-than-air flute sound is buoyed by her full six-piece palette with trombone, guitar, piano, bass, and drums, and the group’s voices happily join the melodies at times for extra oomph.
Happiness is integral to the band’s sound, even evident in the artist name and album title, roughly translated as cheerful, joyful, happy band and bon voyage.
With upbeat rhythms, effervescent melodies, and playful interplay, many of the songs stir the soul with positivity through poppy Latin rhythms and kinetic energy: #1 “Sunda Land”, #2 “Água e Peixes”, and #3 “Neste Pais” (with a jazzier feel heading toward Chick Corea or Joe Henderson-type territory) start the album with a great introduction of the band’s flavorful dynamics.
Slower bossas and poetic reflections also enter the mix through the slow romance of #4 “Outono de Ipanema” and the lonely longing of #8 “Sinto Saudade de Você”. Laid-back relaxation shines on a vaguely retro Herb Alpert-esque confection #5 “Bolo de Chocolate” and the cinematically heavy #6 “Ao no Kanata”.
Yet the indefatigable spirit returns in bold for several of the last songs, with the actively cute #7 “Samba de ReRe”, the brisk vamps of #9 “Cesar”, and the lighthearted and lovely last track #10 “Mackey”, to leave listeners uplifted with full spirits and good vibes.
Makiyo Sakai, Flutist/composer
Makiyo Sakai was born in Otsu City and started playing the flute at age 11, studying under Yumiko Furuya, Naohiro Yamakoshi, and Haruyuki Nakatsukasa and with a foundation of classical music education at school. She began to win awards at competitions, and she performed in front of audiences in solo concerts and as an orchestra member. Her flute education continued at Osaka Kyoiku National University, and later in Boston and Tokyo.
Her early releases include Silver Painting (Pony Canyon, 2016), the Jazz Lady Project’s Cinema Lovers (King Records, Jazz Lady Project, 2017) and Pictures at the Exhibition (Pony Canyon, 2018).
Further album releases continued and led to this release, Boa Viagem (Feliz Records, 2020) with her Brazilian band Banda Feliz. Ever active, she stays busy with an abundance of live performances, composing, and releasing new albums both with her groups and other musicians.
Liner Notes
(Translated from the original Japanese liner notes.)
1. Sunda Land
As the sea levels dropped during the ancient ice ages, a vast landmass called Sunda Land emerged throughout Southeast Asia. One theory claims that many of our Japanese ancestors migrated from there. This is a song that reminisces about those ancient times. (Obata)
2. Água e Peixes
There is a jungle on a tributary of the Amazon River. If you watch the water’s surface, you can see lots of fish jumping and diving. I tried to capture that image in this song. By the way, the water sounds flowing in the beginning and ending were recorded by the uncompromising Makiyo Sakai, who recorded the sounds while splashing around in the Tama River. Incredible! (Ikeda)
3. Neste Pais
I happened to be reading some books on world peace and suddenly wondered, as someone living in this country, how should we live and think about this? Although it is hard to express in words, I wrote my feelings at the time down on sheet music while reflecting on peace. (Sakai)
4. Outono de Ipanema
I first visited Rio in 2012 for an album recording. Immediately I headed to the beach to look for the Girl from Ipanema (?), but when I arrived, an autumn rain fell and few people were there. Is this saudade!?
Unexpectedly, this song turned out to remind me of an old flame. Someday, I’d like to write lyrics for it. (Ikeda)
5. Bolo de Chocolate
Ordinarily, I don’t cook very often, but I baked a chocolate cake. As the sweet aroma filled the room, I couldn’t wait to taste it. All of a sudden, with that feeling of excitement, I wrote this choro. It turned out to be a cute piece (haha), which is rare for me. (Sakai)
6. 蒼の彼方 (Ao no Kanata, Beyond the Blue)
The cloudless sky, the silent ocean,
Endlessly descending…
As the light disappears, blue stretches as far as the eye can see.
I wrote this song while thinking about that scene. (Kato)
7. Samba de ReRe
I was thinking that it would be great if our band had a song that the audience could sing along with, so I came up with this chorus. Please learn this and come to our shows, and we’ll sing together! By the way, the title “ReRe” refers to the “Re” in “Do Re Mi”. It’s because we keep playing “Re Re Do Re” for the verse (haha). (Ikeda)
8. Sinto Saudade de Você
I habitually go back to my family home for the Obon festival, but due to the worldwide situation, I refrained from going home this year. I was lonely then, and I spent the time writing this song while thinking about my hometown. An alternate title is Shiga de Saudade (haha). (Sakai)
9. Cesar
This is an homage to the maestro César Camargo Mariano, the famous Brazilian pianist who needs no introduction. Pianist Minoru Kato loves César just as much and produces an amazing groove. (Obata)
10. Mackey
Makiyo Sakai is this band’s founder. In addition to acting as manager for the band, she plays the flute spectacularly. I wrote this song for her, and it just seems to call out for lyrics and singing along. (Obata)
Obi Notes
The long-awaited first album from “Banda Feliz”, a unit formed of top musicians playing music from the world of Brazilian music! A collection of original gems played with lively rhythms and beautiful harmonies.
Boa Viagem by Banda Feliz
Makiyo Sakai - flute
Masaaki Ikeda - trombone
Kazuhiko Obata - guitar
Minoru Kato - piano
Kiichiro Komobuchi - bass
Satoshi Ishikawa - drums
Released in 2020 on Feliz Record as FLZ-0001
Japanese names: Makiyo Sakai 酒井麻生代 (Sakai Makiyo) Masaaki Ikeda 池田雅明 (Ikeda Masaaki) Kazuhiko Obata 小畑和彦 (Obata Kazuhiko) Minoru Kato 加藤実 (Kato Minoru) Kiichiro Komobuchi コモブチキイチロウ (Komobuchi Kiichiro) Satoshi Ishikawa 石川智 (Ishikawa Satoshi)
Audio and Video
Excerpt from “Neste Pais”, track #3 on this album: