From 2017 to 2022, Square Enix produced five albums in a dedicated Square Enix Jazz series (six if you include a live album). The final album in this set is the one we’re looking at today: a full jazz album solely for the classic SNES RPG Chrono Trigger.
This album series was the brainchild of arranging/producing duo Eijiro Nakagawa and Ryu Kawamura. I have enjoyed every single album in this series (with my favorite hands-down being Square Enix Jazz -SaGa-), but they definitely had something special in mind when they recorded this Chrono Trigger album. With this instrumental setup—piano, guitar, bass, drums, flute, sax, trombone—the jazz group had just the right amount of versatility and agility to provide an ideal soundscape for Yasunori Mitsuda’s classic tunes.
What surprised me most, however, was that I found myself falling in love with arrangements for tunes that I typically ignore, and was only mildly impressed with arrangements where I tend to celebrate the source material. Let me give a few examples of each.
In the “only mildly impressed” category, let’s start with “Schala’s Theme.” I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: you’d have to make an intentional effort to sabotage this piece to make it sound bad. “Schala’s Theme” is so utterly perfect that any presentation of it is going to sound good. Sure enough, that’s what we get here. And the soprano sax solo is definitely enjoyable. But there wasn’t anything here that wowed me. Not in the same way that many other tracks here did. I think this was a safe arrangement. I still like it! After all, this is “Schala’s Theme!” It’s beautiful! But… I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be.
On the other end of the spectrum, let’s look at “Brink of Time.” No, not the old jazz/fusion 1995 record Chrono Trigger Arranged Version: The Brink of Time. Just the actual song that plays in the area of the same name (well… “End of Time” would be the official localization). In my mind, the original is a relatively inoffensive, if borderline forgettable piece of music compared to the rest of Chrono Trigger‘s unforgettable OST. Well, hold on to your butts, people, because Ryu Kawamura’s arrangement of “Brink of Time” is wild, shocking, and absolutely worth celebrating.
The time changes alone are incredible and hard for a first-time listener to keep up with. What better song than “Brink of Time” to play with time signatures? Add a beat here, drop a beat there, play in six, then switch to seven for just one measure to surprise the listener. Then try to put flute and acoustic guitar trading solos atop all that? To quote Carl Weathers in Arrested Development: “Baby, you’ve got a stew going!”
Another surprise stand-out? Eijiro Nakagawa’s arrangement of “Peaceful Days.” This early track from the OST is a simple, mundane affair, isn’t it? Well, tell the drummer to go double-time with the tempo and keep that bass walking, and let me assure you, mundane it is not. This was just the right call for “Peaceful Days,” and the exact kind of meaningful transformation that jazz allows for. And seriously, among all the great solos featured on this track, I think the drummer (Ken Higeshiro) is the star of this track. His steady backing makes the whole thing work beautifully.
With those “unexpecteds” out of the way, let me assure the reader that there are also some widely-celebrated tracks that kept me pleasantly surprised and/or entertained throughout. The jazz/rock fusion approach to “World Revolution” is wild and catchy. The appropriately fun and upbeat “Robo’s Theme” will make you wish they had Rick Astley behind the mic (if you know, you know).
Speaking of microphones, while this is a purely instrumental album, I keep going back to hearing the vocalists from the To Far Away Times album in my head for two particular songs: “Far Off Promise” and the titular “To Far Away Times.” Both of these pieces are featured on Square Enix Jazz -Chrono Trigger- as arranged by Eijiro Nakagawa. Both make great use of piano, and both are as dulcet and lovely as you would hope for. Now if only, standing in front of that grand piano, at the chill jazz club/lounge in my head, we had Laura Shigihara and Sarah Àlainn on hand again to sing along. That would take these already solid tracks to peak musical quality.
Any specific track I haven’t cited, just know that those are all generally enjoyable as well. The biggest surprise left among them is that “Lavos’ Theme” is strangely soft and understated. But let me assure you: it works.
The digital version of Square Enix Jazz -Chrono Trigger- is available on multiple platforms for streaming or purchase. Unfortunately, only four years out from the CD release, the physical artifact is already becoming hard to find, though at time of writing this review it does appear to be in stock at CDJapan. If you can dig the jazzy vibes, and you like what you hear when streaming, consider a purchase! Maybe someday we’ll get a second wave of these great jazz albums from Nakagawa and Kawamura.
