YOSUKE YAMASHITA TRIO – Umbrella Dance (LP-1977)

Label: Frasco – FS-7022

Format: Vinyl, LP / Country: Japan / Released: 1977

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

Recorded June 16, 1977 at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, West Germany.

Design [Album Design] – Hideomi Ishikawa

Producer – Horst Weber

Assistant producer by – Roppei Iwagami

Engineer [Recording Engineering] – Miyasaka Tsuyoshi

Composed by – Yosuke Yamashita

A1 - Umbrella Dance Part I ........................................................ 4:59

A2 - Umbrella Dance Part II a .................................................. 15:36

B1 - Umbrella Dance Part II b .................................................... 6:30

B2 - Umbrella Dance Part III ..................................................... 12:51

Yosuke Yamashita – piano

Akira Sakata – alto saxophone, alto clarinet

Shohta Koyama – drums, percussion

Yosuke Yamashita Trio - Umbrella Dance, original Japanese press from 1977 on the Frasco label (Frasco FS-7022). One of the best my acquisitions in recent years, completely preserved vinyl, does not have a single scratch. A beautiful design. Yamashita Trio with Shohta Koyama on drums, this one. Just about to spin it!

Japanese pianist Yosuke Yamashita (1942) formed a bass-less trio in 1969 with drummer Takeo Moriyama and tenorist Seiichi Nakamura, documented by the live albums Dancing Kojiki (july 1969), Jazz In Tokyo '69 (august 1969) and Concert In New Jazz (september 1969), and by the studio albums Mina's Second Theme(october 1969) and Mokujiki (january 1970), by the live albums Trio By Trio + One (may 1970), '70 Jazz Festival In Nemu (july 1970) and Summer Jazz In Tokyo (august 1970), and finally by the studio album April Fool/ Coming Muhammad Ali (november 1971).

Alto saxophonist Akira Sakata took Nakamura's place in 1973. The jams of the trio (and the pianist's stormy style) were captured on Live 1973 (july 1973), that contained a 19-minute version of Yamashita's Ballad for Takeo (19:01) and a 22-minute version of Akira Sakata's Zubo (22:22), Yosuke Yamashita Trio(november 1973), Clay (june 1974), with his signature theme Clay, Frozen Days(september 1974), Chiasma (june 1975),Banslikana (july 1976), Arashi (september 1976). 

Shohta Koyama replaced Moriyama on Umbrella Dance (june 1977)...

...

A great moment of Japanese free jazz, one of my favorite albums. Enjoy, and if you can, necessarily to purchase this trio. The magic is intoxicating, is waiting for you.

If you find it, buy this album!