10.12.24

The last few years have seen the Michigan-born producer lean into his jazz heritage. On Cherry Blossom Baby, Shigeto fully embodies the role of bandleader – to remarkable effect

In the world of electronic music, a decade is a very long time. Technology advances rapidly, and tastes evolve even faster, leaving artists scrambling to chase trends in a bid to stay relevant – or else risk being left behind. Longtime Ghostly International artist Zachary Shigeto Saginaw has avoided those temptations with his latest project, Cherry Blossom Baby. The album – his first full-length since 2017 – presents, fully formed, the ideas that have peppered his work since moving to Detroit in 2013, and sees the respected beatmaker embracing his jazz heritage by stepping up as a songwriter and bandleader.

With family roots in Hiroshima, the use of cherry blossoms has a personal resonance: long serving as a symbol for hope and rebirth, they’re also a neat metaphor for this one-time jazz school dropout’s career of new beginnings. The last decade has seen Shigeto reconnect with his mentor, alto-saxophonist Vincent York, whose influence can be felt in 2019’s Versions EP and the formation of the Shigeto Live Ensemble. And for those paying attention, the jazz fusion Hotel San Claudio project with keyboardist Mark de Clive-Lowe and vocalist and flautist Melanie Charles in 2023 was another signpost for a new direction away from the early 2000s beat scene with which he was associated.

Collaboration, inherent in jazz, is at the heart of this record. Since returning to Michigan – Shigeto is originally from Ann Arbor – he and his brother Ben have created a dual music and ceramics studio, the Portage Garage Studios, and many of the featured artists found on this new album use the space to practise and meet up. Cherry Blossom Baby, then, is a natural product of community participation, tuning into an exciting new wave of Detroit talent. Multidisciplinary artist KESSWA contributes vocals on half of the songs, and her ever-growing rapport with Shigeto brings out some of the best work from both. On The Punch!, her sultry vocals accompany a fresh take on heady jazz funk. Elsewhere, harpist, singer and artist Ahya Simone elevates every track she appears on, giving us a strain of self-identified “ambient R&B” that feels like Dorothy Ashby raised on hip-hop and techno. The core members of the Versions band (Marcus Elliot on alto sax, funk master Ian Fink on keys and the legendary Dez Andrés on congas) all make appearances, as do childhood friend and fellow Vincent York apprentice Josef Deas, who plays bass and synth. This is undoubtedly a family affair, made up of kindred spirits who also prefer to colour outside the lines when it comes to genre and discipline.

Rap looms large from the off: Ready. Set. Flex. features rapper Zelooperz, formerly part of Danny Brown’s Bruiser Brigade, spitting over drummer Ian Maciak’s intense rhythms, resulting in a distinctly Michigan-flavoured take on jungle. Nothing Simple sees local rapper Cleveland Thrasher dip into R&B territory with Tammy Lakkis assisting on a haunting duet. Usually known for catchy basslines and infectious grooves as a DJ and producer, Lebanese-born Lakkis returns to her singer-songwriter roots. It’s moments like these, where artists step outside of their comfort zone, which makes Cherry Blossom Baby feel special. 

Shigeto began working on Cherry Blossom Baby in 2018, and the slow-burn creative process – making room for connections to bond and musical relationships to form – is clear in this record’s overall sense of exploration and experimentation. The result is a rich document of a thriving, exciting, living moment in a city with no shortage of musical history. By providing space – both physically and in a creative sense – for others, Shigeto has created a fresh, vital album. Like the flowers referenced in the title, Cherry Blossom Baby is a testament to new growth.

Tajh Morris