YOSUKE YAMASHITA TRIO + GERALD OSHITA + DAIRAKUDAKAN – Arashi (2LP-1977)

                                                                                                          Back cover - detail

Label : Frasco – FS-7019/20

Format : 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: Japan - Releazed: 1977

Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation

(reissue 2007, Super Fuji Discs, FJSP-38/39, 2-CD set)

Recorded live at Nihon Seinenkan Hall, September 29, 1976

Engineered by – Tsuyoshi Miyasaka

Produced by – Yosuke Yamashita

Original design by – Koga Hirano

Photos by – Haruhisa Yamaguchi and Takumi Uchida

Ingenious Japanese Avant-Free Jazz rarity, double vinyl, Yosuke Yamashita Trio: "Arashi" (Storm), recorded live in 1977.

A1 - Moonlight Desert  (11:57)

A2 - Flower Corpse  (6:06)

A3 - Prelude by Gong and Human Voices  (3:28)

A4 - Ghosts Part I  (2:14)

B1 - Ghosts Part II  (4:20)

B2 - Golden Veins of a Leaf  (4:03)

B3 - Nihility Mobs: Interlude by Footsteps  (1:47)

B4 - An Age Is a Sunlight Coming through the Foliage of the Woods  (10:21)

B5 - Theme for Arashi  (2:58)

C1 - Great Nihility Conference: Part I-V  (21:07)

C2 - A Hairstic and a Liliputian Part I  (0:51)

D1 - A Hairstic and a Liliputian Part II  (0:17)

D2 - A Fan and a Doll  (0:49)

D3 - The Future War  (0:46)

D4 - Forest in Forest Shade  (1:01)

D5 - Theme for Arashi  (18:43)

D6 - Moonlight Desert  (2:55)

Yosuke Yamashita Trio:

Yosuke Yamashita: piano, percussion

Akira Sakata: alto saxophone, clarinet, percussion

Shohta Koyama: drums, percussion

Gerald Oshita: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, percussion

Dairakudakan (Maro Akaji, Ushio Amagatsu, Ko Murobushi, Tetsuro Tamura, Man Uno, Naohiko Torii, Kosei Inao, Nanten Harada, Junpei Sakai, Yosuke Matsuzawa, Mutsuko Tanaka, Anzu Furukawa, and Keiko Katsumata): Butoh dance

And finally, a masterpiece. So what does that free jazz of Albert Ayler have in common with Japanese trio, discover themselves.

Yosuke Yamashita Trio with Gerald Oshita and Dairakudakan, Recorded live at Nihon Seinenkan Hall, September 29, 1976.

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

YOSUKE YAMASHITA TRIO – Frozen Days (LP-1975)

Label: Crown – JAW 1001

Series: Crown Golden Series – SL-2936

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: Japan - Released: 1975

(Reissue CD is 1995, Panam ‎– CRCP-164)

Style: Free Jazz, Avant-garde Jazz

Recorded on 25th to 28th September, 1974 at Crown Record No.1 Studio.

Manufactured By – Crown Record Co., Ltd.

Record Company – Crown Record Co., Ltd.

In front of you is another Japanese challenge, Yosuke Yamashita Trio, fascinating music making, you'll enjoy every single note.

A1 - Prophase . . . 3:30

A2 - Double Helix . . . 4:45

A3 - Chiasma . . . 9:46

B1 - Interphase . . . 9:15

B2 - Mitochondria . . . 9:49

YOSUKE YAMASHITA – piano

AKIRA SAKATA – alto saxophone

TAKEO MORIYAMA – drums

YOSUKE YAMASHITA

Born in 26 February 1942, Tokyo, Japan. Although he had played professionally at the age of 17, pianist Yamashita went on to study at the Kunitachi College of Music (1962-67). He established himself playing in the quartets of Masahiko Togashi and Sadao Watanabe. The earliest influence of Bill Evans soon gave way to the influence of Cecil Taylor. When Yamashita formed his own trio with Akira Sakata (alto saxophone) and Takeo Moriyama (drums) and toured Europe (1974) the music was so wild the group was known as the Kamikaze Trio. For inspiration Yamashita looked back to ‘the beginning of jazz - Europe had the system but Africa had all the feeling. All the material I use belongs to the system, but as long as I can stand on the outside and approach things from the outside, I will never be suffocated’. He kept a trio going throughout the 70s and continued to play as a sideman with the bands of Kazumi Takeda (tenor saxophone) and Seuchi Nakamura (tenor saxophone). From 1974 he made regular trips to Europe with the trio in Germany as well as playing with Manfred Schoof (1975), then as a soloist and in 1977 in a duo with bass player Adellard Roidinger. He disbanded the trio in 1983 when he felt that he had achieved as much as he could in that format. Yamashita formed a big band with an eclectic style and performed in many varied situations including solo performances of his own versions of classical pieces, playing with Kodo, a Japanese drum choir, and having pieces performed by the Ozaka Philharmonic Orchestra. During the 90s he was again playing and touring with a trio, comprising Cecil McBee and Pheeroan Ak Laff. Yamashita also composes for films including Fazâfakkâ (UK title: The Girl Of Silence) (1995), Kanzo Sensei (UK title: Dr. Akagi) (1998) and Sukedachi-ya Sukeroku (UK title: Vengeance For Sale) (2001). From 2004 he was visiting professor at Tokyo’s Kunitachi College of Music.

If you find it, buy this album!

ITARU OKI TRIO – Satsujin-Kyoshitsu (LP-1970) - ( 沖至トリオ - 殺人教室 )

Label: Jazz Creaters – JC-1

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: Japan - Released: 1970

Style: Free Jazz

Recorded in Tokyo, February 1970.

(Album title is read as "Satsujin Kyoshitsu"; usually translated as "Homicide Classroom".

English translations for the title "Homicide Classroom" and for track B2 - "Eternal Lyric" were given on the obi of this release, but not on this LP.)

Recording Engineer by – Kinji Hayashi

Produced, Liner Notes by – Teruto Soejima (see note)

Photography by – Katsuyuki Oda

Design by – Nobuo Umemori

A1 - 水との会話 "Aporia" . . . 12:09

A2 - 図形的発展 "Spectral" . . . 7:04

B1 - 空間の飛翔 "Papilio" . . . 11:13

B2 - 永遠の詩 "Eternal Lyric" . . . 5:20

ITARU OKI – trumpet, fluegelhorn, cowbell, triangle, bells, Indian bells, wood block, backet trumpet

KEIKI MIDORIKAWA – bass, piano, gong

HOZUMI TANAKA – drums, gongs, timpani

This album is now almost impossible to obtain, so it is my pleasure to present it here. Enjoy!

Note:

Teruto Soejima, Tokyo, Japan

Jazz critic, producer, film artist, at DUG in Shinjuku

Probably the one person who introduced Japanese Free Jazz to European audiences.

As Producer - Outside Japan:

Since 1979, has produced and organized overseas performances by over 30 Japanese performing arts groups (jazz, Japanese traditional music, avant-garde theater, etc.). These include three European tours (in 1998, 2000, and 2002) by the jazz orchestra Shibusashirazu; a concert in Germany (in 1995) by the shakuhachi player Hozan Yamamoto; and a tour of Russia and Lithuania (in 1992) by the improvisational music trio Ton Klami.

2006 - Served as art director of the five-day festival "Jazz in Japan 2006" in Paris, France.

In Japan:

Has organized such events as the 14-day free jazz festival Inspiration and Power (in 1974 and 1976), the Pan Music Festival '82, and the Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra Japan Tour (in 1996).

I recommend his books:

Gendai Jazz no Choryu [Currents in Contemporary Jazz] (1994)

Nihon Free Jazz-shi [The History of Japanese Free Jazz] (2002)

If you find it, buy this album!

TERUMASA HINO – Hogiuta (LP-1976)

Label: East Wind – EW-8041

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album; Country: Japan - Released: 1976

Style: Free Improvisation, Fusion

Studio recording, Japanese Original & East Wind, 1976

Promotional Director By – Yukio Morisaki

Photography By – Tadayuki Naitoh 

Producer By – Yasohachi "88" Itoh

Engineers By – Yoshiro Suzuki, David Baker

Executive Producer By – Toshinari Koinuma

Note: Japanese Original & East Wind JPN Spiritual Jazz !

A1 - Gyohkoh . . . 4:17

A2 - Hohjoh . . . 5:11

A3 - Yuhwa . . . 4:13

A4 - Hogiuta . . . 4:23

A5 - Yuhkyu . . . 1:40

B1 - The Good People . . . 15:08

B2 - Conclusion . . . 6:46

TERUMASA HINO – Trumpet, Fluegelhorn, Percussion, Composer, Voices

CECIL McBEE – Bass (Acoustic), Voice

MOTOHIKO HINO – Drums, Percussion, Voices

MTUME – Percussion, Conga, Voices

A fine trumpeter influenced by Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis, Terumasa Hino has long been one of Japan's best jazz musicians. A professional since 1955, Hino has mostly become known to Americans since the 1970s due to his Enja recordings, although some of his albums were made available domestically by Catalyst, Inner City, and Blue Note. He moved to the U.S. in 1975, where he worked with Gil Evans, Jackie McLean, Dave Liebman, and Elvin Jones. Hino spent more of his time in Japan after the early '80s, and recorded in several different styles ranging from straight-ahead to fusion.

Very rare album and exceptionally beautiful recording.

Enjoy!

If you find it, buy this album!

CHARLES LLOYD QUARTET – The Flowering (LP-1971)

Label: Atlantic – SD 1586

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: US - Released: 1971

Style: Free Improvisation
Recorded in concert at Aulean Hall, Oslo, Norway, 1971

Artwork [Cover Painting] – Jacques Richez

Design [Front Cover] – Haig Adishian

Design [Rear Cover] – Alyse Koylan

Engineer – Meny Bloch

Producer, Liner Notes – George Avakian

A1 - Speak Low . . . 8:26

A2 - Love-In / Island Blues . . . 6:19

A3 - Wilpan's . . . 6:39

B1 - Gypsy '66 . . . 14:11

B2 - Goin' To Memphis / Island Blues . . . 7:04

CHARLES LLOYD – Flute, Saxophone

KEITH JARRETT – Piano

CECIL McBEE – Bass

JACK DeJOHNETTE – Drums

A great title for this one – as the set really features reedman Charles Lloyd flowering strongly – blooming into a richer expression of his talents than any one might have expected a few short years before! The album features Lloyd working with his groundbreaking quartet of Keith Jarrett on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – players who have a perfect rhythmic conception to take Charles to the place he wants to go with his reeds! Titles include "Speak Low", "Goin' To Memphis/Island Blues", "Gypsy 66", "Wilpan's", and "Love-In/Island Blues".

If you find it, buy this album!

CECIL McBEE – Alternate Spaces (LP-1979)

Label: India Navigation – IN 1043

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: US- Released: 1979

Style: Contemporary Jazz, Modal

India Navigation Studio Recording, 1978

All Compositions By – Cecil McBee

Cover Photo By – Lucia McBee

Produced by India Navigation Company 1979

A1 - Alternate Space . . . 9:05

A2 - Consequence . . . 8:15

B1 - Come Sunrise . . . 6:43

B2 - Sorta, Kinda Blue . . . 6:35

B3 - Expression . . . 7:13

CECIL McBEE – Bass

CHICO FREEMAN – Tenor & Soprano Saxes, Flute  

JOE GARDNER – Trumpet

DON PULLEN – Piano

ALLEN NELSON – Drums

FAMOUDOU DON MOYE – Percussion

Bassist Cecil McBee and Chico Freeman (who triples on tenor, soprano and flute) teamed up many times during the late 1970s and '80s. Their collaborations found them playing music that was a spiritual extension on hard bop, adventurous while moving forward. On this LP, they perform five of McBee's originals in a sextet that also includes trumpeter Joe Gardner, the percussive pianist Don Pullen (a major asset to the date), drummer Allen Nelson and percussionist Don Moye. The often melodic but unpredictable music definitely holds one's interest.

_ By SCOTT YANOW

If you find it, buy this album!

CECIL McBEE SEXTET – Music From The Source (LP-1978)

Label: Enja Records – enja 3019

Format: Vinyl, LP; Country: Germany - Released: 1978

Style: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Recorded "live" at Sweet Basils, N.Y.C. Date: August 2, 1977.

E. Producer: Horst Weber

Producer: Cecil McBee

Engineer : Bob Cummins

Mastering: David Baker

Cover Design: Weber/Winckelmann

Cover Photo: Gerd Chesi

A - Agnez (with respect to Roy Haynes) (Cecil McBee) . . . 19:14

B1 - God Spirit (Cecil McBee) . . . 8:15
B2 - First Song in the Day (Hal Galper) . . . 17:20

CECIL McBEE – Bass
CHICO FREEMAN – Flute, Tenor Sax
JOE GARDNER – Trumpet, Flugelhorn
DENNIS MOORMAN – Piano
STEVE McCALL – Drums
DON MOYE – Percussion

Other than a 1974 set for Strata-East, this post-bop effort was bassist Cecil McBee's earliest recording as a leader. With Chico Freeman (heard on tenor and flute) as the most impressive soloist, McBee performs two originals and a piece by Hal Galper in a sextet that also includes trumpeter Joe Gardner, pianist Dennis Moorman, drummer Steve McCall and Don Moye on conga. The music is spiritual in nature, sometimes quite modal and in the adventurous genre of John Coltrane without being derivative. A fine live set, one of two recorded within a two-day period at New York's Sweet Basil.
_ By SCOTT YANOW

If you find it, buy this album!