Tag Archives: Akiko Horii

Tree of Light

Be the light,
And you will merge
With all light.

“Tree of Light” is one of the last compositions I completed in 2020 (hence the silver Christmas tree in the YouTube video) and the very last one Akiko and I filmed and recorded in our Sunnyside apartment (Queens, New York) before moving to Reykjavík (Iceland) for a few months. Two of our friends, namely Dominique Muzeau and Thibault Perriard, joined us remotely from the Île-de-France (Paris Region) in this transition, contributing amazing bass and drum parts from their homes and lifting our spirits in the process. I’m sure their playing on this track will lift yours too!


Audio copyright-protected on Toroblocks
Sheet music copyright-protected on Toroblocks

Winter Rhythms – AfuriKo feat. Chloe Seunghyen Kim @ Soapbox Gallery / Dec. 1, 3PM

Jim Funnell’s Word Out @ Club Bonafide / Oct. 10, 8PM

Benji & Rita and AfuriKo @ The DiMenna Center for Classical Music / Oct. 5, 8PM

AfuriKo feat. Corey Wallace @ Tomi Jazz / Sept. 26, 10PM

Jim Funnell’s Word Out @ Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 / July 3, 7PM

breaking up the Dorian mode into two pentatonic scales


Sheet music for Igneous Alloy (from the album Spirit of the Snail), the tune used as an example in this video, is now available on SMP Press:


Visit http://funnelljazz.eu/lessons/ for detailed information about lessons or click on the image below to book your lesson today:
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comping practice on AfuriKo’s “Sorsornet” harmonization

Sorsornet is a rhythm from the Boke region in Guinea. The chord progression came from harmonizing Mamady Keïta‘s version (on his album Nankama) of one of the traditional songs that go with the rhythm (AfuriKo‘s arrangement will be featured on the duo’s upcoming album).

The chords I used for comping in this video are mostly 5-note 2-hand jazz voicings. I’ve notated some of them for your consideration below:

Sorsornet comping practice

And here’s a short explanation of how each one of the 12 notated voicings relates to its corresponding chord symbol:

  1. C#mi7: inversion of generic “So What”/quartal voicing for minor chords;
  2. F#13: generic voicing for dominant chords (right hand plays a 3-note quartal voicing from the 5th down while left hand plays guide tones);
  3. D#mi7: generic “So What” voicing for minor chords with 5th as top note;
  4. E6: inversion of generic quartal voicing for major chords down from the root “E”; can also be considered a generic quartal voicing down from the 5th “B” with the root instead of the 7th in the bottom;
  5. F#9sus: inversion of “So What”/quartal voicing for sus chords;
  6. F#/G#: ditto;
  7. G/A: ditto;
  8. F#2/A#: upper structure triad (UST II) from C# melodic minor; the parent chord scale to this F#2/A# chord is A# locrian #2 (VIth mode of C# melodic minor);
  9. Ama7/B: inversion of “So What”/quartal voicing for sus chords;
  10. Ama7(#11): “So What” voicing with #11th as top note;
  11. F#mi9: generic “So What” voicing for minor chords with 5th as top note;
  12. C#: upper structure triad (UST II) from F# melodic minor; the parent chord scale to this C# triad is C# mixolydian b6 (Vth mode of F# melodic minor).

NB: the very cool djembe part (with additional foot shakers/rattles) in the video was performed by courtesy of wonderfully grooving percussionist Akiko Horii!


Visit http://funnelljazz.eu/lessons/ for detailed information about lessons or click on the image below to book your lesson today:
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