Masaru Imada - 1975 - Green Caterpillar

Masaru Imada Trio +2

1975

Green Caterpillar

01. A Green Caterpillar 11:24
02. Straight Flash 10:27
03. Blue Impulse 10:28
04. Spanish Flower 11:15

Bass – Isoo Fukui
Congas, Percussion – Yuji Imamura
Drums – Tetsujiro Obara
Guitar – Kazumi Watanabe
Piano – Masaru Imada

Recorded on January 20 and 22, 1975 at AOI Studio, Tokyo

One half of ‘Green Caterpillar’ is the sort of in your face smooth sexual funk Jazz was finding itself lovingly wrapped in by this time, nothing that could ever be criticised when it’s material like 'A Green Caterpillar’ and 'Straight Flash’ slithering up trouser legs with distorted electric piano riffs exiled from Blaxploitation flicks. Flick over, and it’s a settled conservative route, though not routine - 'Blue Impulse’ and 'Spanish Flower’ aren’t yet stuck to that 1930s colonial cocktail bar safety net act 1980’s 'Andalusian Breeze’ would demonstrate; here it is a solid musicianship that goes on semi-improvised personal forays until venturing back before nightfall, considerate but willing to have fun of its own for the heck of it. Not its genre’s most noteworthy example, its duo of dichotomies do present elements of both rough and smooth to keep you enthralled for long enough before biting on bigger fish…