First Single - Hummingbird Dances

Daiki Nakajima wrote Hummingbird Dances with the express purpose of crafting a lighthearted song. Despite this whimsical intent, it secured Daiki the very serious ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer award in 2024. Inspired by 70s singer-songwriter folk music like Yasashisa Ni Tsutsumatreta Nara by Yumi Arai and Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell, Daiki adapted these influences into a uniquely LOBE sound through shifting time signatures and polyrhythmic layers. LOBE deftly brings these ideas to life in ecstatic through-composed and improvisational segments, featuring a folk-inspired acoustic guitar solo over modal harmony (Mark Rau), a playful flute solo weaving through the central 11/8 theme (Daiki Nakajima), and a climactic drum solo soaring over a disco vamp (Michael Hayes). Hummingbird Dances brings the listener on a journey through time and texture, gradually morphing from an acoustic folk atmosphere to an electric disco feel with pulsing synths and driving bass lines.