Ayumi Tanaka: Windflower

BBC Music Magazine called Ayumi Tanaka’s Subaqueous Silence “sparse, subtle and determined as much by silence as by sound,” and Windflower carries that same quiet force. It is a record where intensity comes through restraint, focus and beautifully light touch.

Here, though, the music is mostly shaped collectively in the moment by Ayumi Tanaka, Thomas Strønen and Thomas Morgan. Tanaka, born in Wakayama and based in Oslo, has worked with Strønen for a decade in Time Is A Blind Guide and the Bayou trio with Marthe Lea.

Morgan is the new connection. The trio first played together at Oslo’s Nasjonal Jazz Scene Victoria in September 2024, then recorded Windflower at Studios La Buissonne in May 2025, following a suggestion from producer Manfred Eicher. The album features eight luminous free ballads and Tanaka’s composition La Source.