“Ita” is the third studio album from Polish trio Hinode Tapes. This time, Piotr Chęcki, Piotr Kaliński and Jacek Prościński are joined by Japanese double bassist Hiroki Chiba (who has collaborated with Jim O’Rourke, Eiko Ishibashi and Otomo Yoshihide, among others). Their joint album is titled “Ita” and features four new compositions at the intersection of ambient and free jazz.
This extraordinary collaboration came about thanks to Piotr Kaliński. “We were connected by a mutual colleague Albert Karch who understands the music of Hinode Tapes and Chiba quite well. He recommended that I go to one of his concerts and it just blew me away, because Hiroki explored the territories between jazz and ambient in a masterful fashion,” explains Kaliński. “From my perspective, Chiba’s presence adds a new color to Hinode Tapes’ music.”
At the beginning of 2025, Hinode Tapes played a short tour in Japan. “We played strongly improvised concerts with Japanese artists – Hiroki Chiba, Momose Yasunaga and Ko Ishikawa, a virtuoso playing the traditional Japanese instrument shō. It was an honor and a big challenge for us.”
“Ita” brings another change of aesthetics in the context of the Hinode Tapes discography. “Our previous album was quite dark, you could even say gloomy. On this one there is more sun, colors in a higher register, like bells, triangles, janissaries,” says the drummer. “During the recordings we used an old multi-track tape recorder. This required certainty of musical expression, as it does not allow much editing. This time I am not playing the guitar either, focusing on other instruments, but throughout the album in the background of the songs you can hear field recordings that I recorded during my trip to Japan in previous years,” explains Kaliński.
