Thursday, December 31, 2020

MASAHIKO TOGASHI & MASAYUKI TAKAYANAGI – Pulsation (LP-1983)




Label: Paddle Wheel ‎– K28P 6244
Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Japan / Released: 1983
Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
A live performance: Masahiko Togashi Zojoji Concert No.13.
Recorded May 27, 1983 at Zojoji Hall, Tokyo.
Artwork – Masahiko Togashi
Photography By – Mieko Togashi, Tatsuo Minami, Toshihiro Asakura
Engineer – Hatsuro Takanami
Engineer [Assistant] – Seiji Kaneko
Mastered By – Akira Makino
Liner Notes [in Japanese] – Toshihiko Shimizu
Producer – Motohiko Takawa
Composed By – Masahiko Togashi
Manufactured By – King Record Co. Ltd
Matrix / Runout (Side A label): K28P 6244 A
Matrix / Runout (Side B label): K28P 6244 B

side 1:
A - Inner Pulsation ................................................................................................... 22:05

side 2:
B - Outer Pulsation .................................................................................................. 22:47

Personnel:
Masahiko Togashi – percussion, pearl drums 
Masayuki Takayanagi – guitar, Ren Hayashi's sound effecters


Virtually unnoticed in the West, the Japanese free jazz scene in the 1970s was bursting with creativity. The musicians shared a strong sense of adventure, as they welcomed the developments of creative music and free improvisation from USA and Europe while trying to find their own voice with a completely personal approach to improvised music. One of the main protagonists of that season was Masayuki Takayanagi, a strikingly original guitarist and musical thinker with a strong passion for both mainstream jazz and extreme noise. A generation younger but equally important was Masahiko Togashi, a drummer that, also due to an accident that forced him on a wheelchair after 1970, developed a unique approach to drums and percussions, using silence as an integral part of music making.

Originally released by Paddle Wheel in 1983, Pulsation documents a live concert at Zojoji Hall in Tokyo, and is the first record Togashi and Takayanagi made as a duo, even if they had worked together since the 1960s. The record is divided in two tracks ("Inner Pulsation" and "Outer Pulsation"), each one about 22 minutes in length, mirroring the original LP sides. The performance can be regarded as a single piece though, with a clearly symmetrical structure, even if the musicians cover much musical ground over the course of the album. The opening and closing sections are reserved to Togashi, that alternates between deeply resonating gongs and a relentless activity on the toms. Takayanagi enters the picture with sparse scratching sounds, slowly building an intense dialogue with the drummer, moving through a series of sections characterized by different approaches to both acoustic and electric guitars, with bowed strings, fast arpeggios, rumbling drones or heavily filtered electronic sounds, often opting to treat the guitar as an object to be manipulated more than a proper musical instrument. Throughout the performance Togashi tries different colors on the drum kit, adding bells, chains, shakers and tin cans, always returning to the toms in a mostly arhythmic percussive activity that maintains an intriguing, almost ritualistic dimension.




The extreme abstractness of the music guarantees many possibilities, but the main themes here are pure sound and space, investigated through a massive use of silence, ever-changing dynamics and slow structural developments unfolding with a mysterious musical logic. The improvisational process is always on full display, with the musicians constantly listening and responding to each other, and when the music opens up to more readable materials the effect is powerful: a few seconds of melodic statements from the guitar have the impact of a fully formed solo; a couple of minutes of insisting patterns on the drums achieves an almost hypnotic effect.

(Review By Nicola Negri, AAJ) 



If you find it, buy this album!

30 comments:

  1. MASAHIKO TOGASHI & MASAYUKI TAKAYANAGI – Pulsation (LP-1983)
    Vinyl Rip/FLAC-176+Artwork (602.49 MB )


    You can get the download link exclusively through:
    differentper@gmail.com


    Regards.

    HAPPY NEW YEAR...!!!

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  2. whoa.... looks amazing. New Year's Soundtrack!

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  3. Great Music. Many thanks, Vitko!

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  4. Masahiko Togashi and Masayuki Takayanagi in a fascinating edition. This kind of connection among musicians can only be dreamed of.
    Thank you very much, Vitko. The beginning of the year began excitingly.

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  5. GREAT MUSIC Vitko!!!

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  6. This is bound to be really good - thank-you!

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  7. A wonderful sound world to dive into. Greatly appreciated!
    Dave H

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  8. BEAUTIFUL!...LOVE THIS!...
    HUGE THX!...

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  9. haven't heard this one yet! can't wait... cheers!

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  10. Another great record! I was hoping for a bit more noise guitar, this is quite restrained, but that doesn't detract from the LP.

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  11. Listened to this while walking to work this morning. A very refreshing way to start the day. Thanks!

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  12. Thank you very much for sharing these rare treasures

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  13. Thanks for sharing this and all the others. Your choices have sent me on searches far and wide but everything has been worth the pursuit. Though my accountant may not agree. Thanks again!

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  14. More Togashi, excellent!

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  15. yet another fine upgrade of a classic Japanese free jazz lp

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  16. Thanks for sharing this great music.

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  17. Brilliant album by two of jjazz's greats.

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  18. Absolutely wonderful music. Thank you so much for sharing this!

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  19. mille mercis pour les trésors que vous mettez à notre disposition !

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  20. mille mercis pour les trésors que vous mettez à notre disposition!

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  21. Another great from Vitko!

    Thank You!!!

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  22. Thank you very much!

    Sincerely

    JRAC

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  23. Thanks Vitko for this wonderful record

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