01. Alone Together 3:15 02. Blues In C Minor 6:02 03. River Dry 13:01 04. Round Midnight 9:10 05. Yellow Carcass In The Blue 7:39 06. Be Still My Soul 7:30
A record that's far more beautiful than you'd guess from the "carcass" in the title – a strong set of vocal work from singer Kimiko Kasai – easily one of the hippest Japanese singers of the 70s! Although Kasai's sometimes straight on the album, she also stretches out in freer, more expressive modes – at a level that's quite similar to some of the more experimental modes used by Karin Krog during the same period – although with a slightly unique feel as well. Backings are from the quartet of reedman Kosuke Mine – whose lines on soprano and alto sax are almost worth the price of the album alone.
Yellow Carcass in the Blue is considered an important album by talented singer Kimiko Kasai in which she really began to show her original qualities. At the same time, as the "double bill" credit suggests, it was also a showcase for the Kosuke Mine Quartet, which plays two tunes on their own.
Kasai's slightly husky, soulful voice swings in the surprisingly fast opener, "Alone Together." She also wrote the lyrics on two songs: "Blues in C Minor" and "Yellow Carcass in the Blue." The latter was an instrumental composition by Masabumi Kikuchi, the talented, free-leaning pianist, to which Kasai wrote Japanese lyrics. They were ultimately translated into English and that was the version Kasai sang here.
On the two instrumental numbers, Kosuke Mine and his young cohorts (virtual all-stars) take off to great heights and challenge the listener, showing that they had digested everything from bop, modal playing and free jazz.
Recorded live on 28-29 August 1970 at Hibiya Park, Tokyo. Released November 1970.
Ultra rare album that changes hands for over 700 euros these days, and that was gracefully ripped and sent to us by one of the usual visitors of our old blog.
This was a summer concert held in Hibiya Park in 1970 to celebrate the birth of the Japanese Jazz Association. Representatives were basically present. In 1970, in the summer evening, I heard such a high level of jazz in the parks of my city. Tokyo was an Asian pioneer. If it is said that when jazz music first emerged in Japan, there were obvious traces of exoticism, this concert is impressive.
Recorded at Onkio Haus, Tokyo on February 9, 10, 1976.
If you like the electric 70s jazz/rock sound, there's a lot of great releases from the 70s and into the 80s from the Japanese jazz scene that is well worth investigating. This one is very reminiscent of late period Mwandishi / early period Headhunters Herbie, with some great grooves, great playing, and a touch 'o' da funk!
Live Recorded October 29, 1975 ay Yamaha Hall Tokyo
Mine (Mee-neh) is a living legend who started young, releasing his first album in 1970 to immediate acclaim. He cut his jazz teeth with many well-known musicians, including Joe Henderson, Mal Waldron, Sadao Watanabe, Terumasa Hino… the list is long. For a period, he was a long-time member of the fusion jazz group Native Son, after which he returned to leading his own straight-ahead groups, touring, recording, and lighting up the jazz scene in Japan and abroad.
A1 and B recorded on July 30, 1974 at Studio A, Tokyo. A2 recorded on July 15, 1974 at Iino Hall, Tokyo.
Fine flowing modal music from Mine and his crew (a crack team of the usual j-jazz suspects) from back in '74. This was one of Mine's first outings after switching from alto to tenor and definitely one of his best ever. Also one of the first albums on the very righteous East Wind label. The stately lyrical second track (by Kikuchi) is a standout here, sandwiched between the two high-power numbers penned by Mine.
The concept for the cover art is questionable (red gloop as a representation of chaos? Or maybe the art director used this image because s/he was clean out of chaos?). But when it comes to the music, there's nothing lacking here whatsoever!
Recorded June 21 & 25, 1973 at Victor Studio, Tokyo.
An absolute monster of a session from Kohsuke Mine and his quintet who are on fire from the furious opener "Thirsty" through to the closing modal whirlwind "Spin Drift".Although all 5 cuts are penned by K.Mine "Expectation" has echoes of what Itabashi was to record some years later as "Watarase".
The very finest in Japanese jazz and without a shadow of a doubt.All Killer No Filler.
This album is the first album released on the label Three Blind Mice - TBM-1 / 1970 (my Kosuke Mine is a second pressing, reissue of the 1972, LP / TBM - 15PJ-1021), Japanese label whose ambition was to illustrate the creativity and excitement of Japanese jazzmen at the time. Under the leadership of passionate Takeshi "Tee" Fujii, TBM has quickly established a catalog of some 130 publications, ranging from the sharp cutting edge to the more traditional bop. The logo for the little mouse decked out in dark glasses has been well adorn the first discs of artists also essential that Masabumi Kikuchi, Masaru Imada, George Otsuka, Terumasa Hino, Honda Takehiro, Hideto Kanai, George Kawaguchi, Isao Suzuki, Shuko Mizuno, Nobuo Hara, and so on. Apart attention paid to the extreme in the bill of his vinyls (design attention, thick cardboard covers, pressings with very good behavior, inserts - some albums, as both Jazz Orchestra Shuko Mizuno going so far include fac simile partitions in a booklet, ...), TBM has built a reputation for its audiophile quality sound recordings (incidentally, the equipment used and the disposal of musicians in sessions are precisely documented on inserts), like his compatriots Audio Lab, East Wind, Flying Disk, Why Not, Denon, etc. Part of the catalog is republished today and Hybrid CD (SACD). If in addition, we have the chance of getting an edition still wearing her obi (colored paper strip serving as a kind of "belt" vertical disk), it then has a very unique purpose for which it will take all. The same often put their hands in the pocket ...
Mine "Morningtide" opens with a beautiful piece modal waves introduced by the Fender Rhodes and a steady beat on bass. Then the sweeping melody saxophone / trombone while the battery marks the rhythm rimshot. The theme is particularly successful, and swelling in waves, combined with the Fender Rhodes rightly evokes the atmosphere of the title (the morning tide). The end of the theme, which reminds me Julien Lourau. Soon enough, things get removed with the chorus Kosuke Mine that grows every sentence in a very fluid style to the extreme. When comes the turn of Ichikawa, things calm down while the battery plays nuance, power amount, before getting back down again, with a nifty work to cymbals. Murakami then muscle his game in a breakbeat on the edge of funky. Fender Rhodes whose new theme emerges again with confidence. Then it happens a weird thing: the song crashes (at first I thought there was a crash in the pressing level, but the same thing happens to the copy of Mr V.) before returning to zero. End in fade out (fully justified).
"Isotope" composed by Joe Henderson, slice in a hard bop style with a spiritual touch brought by Fender Rhodes. Kosuke Mine says its rather personal style, having digested his duly Parker and Coltrane: quite muscular, virtuoso, with phrases that seek, bypassing and eventually find. Very articulate, very readable, it also offers enough soulful moments and throughout the chorus flat shadow of the theme, demonstrating a good understanding of the game. What is incredible here is that what I said just before the solo Mine applies exactly the chorus Ichikawa, which takes also part of his instrument "funkisant" a little all by agreements in syncope. Chorus very energetic drums, toms favoring. Towards the end, just when one believes discern the theme again, everyone moves on ... the theme, precisely!
The two pieces of side B are in tune with the previous one, with a feeling that would not deny an Art Blakey.
"Dream Eyes", Kosuke Mine's alto sax is more striking while retaining its specificity and complementarity with Ichikawa, the composer, is perhaps even more evident if possible. Then the rhythmic generously indents to make room for a paperclip that is struggling a bit to convince despite some nice stunts. The transition to the chorus of Fender Rhodes is also rendered a tad laborious, but quickly, Ichikawa gets over volubly and a delicacy that's good to hear, when the battery starts to join shortly before his solo. Many skin again, and relatively little bronze. To finish, the theme is dissected, disjointed, broken and recomposed very pleasing way.
Small parkerienne flavor for "Work 1", very melodious theme and nested together played sax and trombone. The latter is more inspired on the chorus that follows, although it is still entitled to a few parasites trial and error, and other phrases cul-de-sac. The real wealth is the Mine's soprano with this amazing syncretism mentioned above and many agility. It's really the anti-pop, it never quite took off, but frustrating to me, Mine delights me. Chorus of Imperial Fender Rhodes again. Mizuhashi agrees to take for the first time in front of the stage time to a good organic chorus which proceeds in small steps and creeping reptile and opens to the final reprise of the theme.
It will be understood, Kosuke Mine and his quintet won a well deserved 10, with an album that, while proposing a kind of synthesis, also opens new perspectives. As such, opt for a Fender Rhodes rather than an acoustic piano is proving a real good idea. The three different composers are heard very distinct universe, but I still remember a uniformity in the interpretation. Other times I have listened Mine were really overwhelmed me, and it is regrettable that the records of guy who always so impressively blows in his saxophone, are so difficult to find, and so expensive (at this time, his First album with Philips with Masabumi Kikuchi is trading at 300 US $ on eBay!).
01. Morning Tide 10:45 02. Love Talken 6:00 03. Straight No Chaser 7:38 04. Mcphee 9:29 05. Little Abbi 10:09 06. Bar' L' Len 5:52
Alto Saxophone – Kohsuke Mine Bass – Larry Ridley Drums – Lenny McBrowne Electric Piano – Masabumi Kikuchi
Recorded at Victor Studio, June 17 & 18th. 1970
峰厚介（Mine Kosuke): Japanese jazz and jazz-fusion saxophonist. Born on February 6, 1944 in Tokyo. Released his debut leader album in 1970 on Japanese jazz label Three Blind Mice (also TBM first release).
He left the clarinet program at his high school to turn pro in 1962 with the Blue Seven. In 1969 he earned accolades as a member of Masabumi Kikuchi's quintet; a year later he released his first record, Morning Tide. He studied in the US for a time in the seventies, and returned to Japan in 1975 with an interest in fusion, recording Sunshower and other records as a founding member of Native Son. He worked with many jazz musicians, including Masabumi Kikuchi, Mal Waldron, Gil Evans, and Sadao Watanabe. He has more recently recorded with a standard quintet and with Masahiko TogashI's J.J. Spirits.
07. The Incredible Journey of Timothy Chase (3:17)
08. Auntie Mary's Dress Shop (2:44)
09. Strawberry Fields Forever (3:58)
10. Three Jolly Little Dwarfs (2:26)
11. Now Your Time Has Come (4:51)
12. Hallucinations (2:37)
- Keith West / lead vocals
- Steve Howe / guitars
- John "Junior" Wood / bass
- John "Twink" Adler / drums, percussion
With:
- Mark P. Wirtz / keyboards
Tomorrow is a 1968 album by the English psychedelic rock band Tomorrow. It was originally released by EMI Parlophone in the U.K. in a black and white sleeve. A slightly different version of the album was also released in the U.S. in 1968 as Sire Records SES 97012, one of the first releases on that label. Although it was not a success when first released it is now widely regarded as one of the best psychedelic rock albums ever made.
The lack of commercial success can be explained by the long delay between initial recording sessions in spring 1967 and final release in February 1968. By the time the album arrived in record stores the psychedelic trend had already started to die out. EMI provided a very small recording budget and would not allow prints of a colour album cover to be made, although some later re-issues were printed with a modified colour cover.
In the early days of British psychedelia, three bands were consistently cited as first-generation figureheads of the London-based underground sound: PINK FLOYD, the SOFT MACHINE, and TOMORROW. PINK FLOYD became superstars and the SOFT MACHINE influential cult legends, but TOMORROW is mostly remembered (if at all) for featuring Steve HOWE as their lead guitarist in his pre-YES days.
Actually, TOMORROW was nearly the equal of the two more celebrated outfits. Along with the early FLOYD and SOFT MACHINE, they shared a propensity for flower-power whimsy. Though they were less recklessly innovative and imaginative, their songwriting was accomplished, with adroit harmonies, psychedelic guitar work, and adventurous structures and tempo changes. They never succumbed to mindless indulgence or jamming; indeed, their tracks were rather short and tightly woven in comparison with most psychedelic bands. A couple singles (especially "My White Bicycle") were underground favorites, but the group only managed to record one album before breaking up in 1968. Lead singer Keith West, even before the breakup, had a number two British hit with "Excerpt From A Teenage Opera," which helped inspire Pete Townshend's + Tommy. Drummer Twink joined the PRETTY THINGS and, later, the PINK FAIRIES.
When I first heard this album I thought I had heard all songs before and just started to sing-a-long. I love the production of this album. It reminds of kinks, beatles, pink floyd, soft machine, the who and bands from that time. Steve Howe does some amazing guitar, Keith West has a nice tender strong voice, John Wood plays magical on bass and John Alder is wild on drums.
And I just wanted to say I like their version of Strawberry fields forever even more than the original.
Second and final album by the Buffalo, NY band Birthright from 1976, once again a private press release on Freelance Records, and apparently I'm not the only one who wants this.
Quite a different album two years on from the previously-posted "Free Spirits" - with not so many free excursions, this is more of a band, with Greg Millar's guitar adding a new layer. Although we're still floating on the spiritual cloud, there's a greater concentration on song structures and overall textures this time around, with vocals from Beverly Simms on some tracks.
Highlight for me is the track "Love", Strata-East-goes-samba with Kenny Barron-ish rhodes from Tom Schuman, with Simms sounding like she's on her first E with her lyrical celebration of nature and happiness. Many other great tracks here too - the communication between saxophonists Joe Ford and Paul Gresham's saxaphones is as strong as ever.
Where are they now ? I talked about Paul Gresham, Joe Ford and Nasar Abadey in the "Free Spirits" post. Of the new people here, keyboardist Tom Schuman and guitarist Greg Millar both sadly moved on to smooth-jazz "pioneers" Spyro Gyra; and vocalist Beverly Simms seemingly vanished into thin air.
Bassist Gerry Eastman released his first solo album "Songbook" in 1996, which featured Birthright members Joe Ford and Nasar Abadey alongside Andy Bey on vocals. Eastman is also a member of Abadey and Ford's "Supernova" band, and Ford appeared on his second solo album "Brown Skin Gal" last year. Hope you enjoy this one!
04. Jowcol (To The Life, Memory And Spirit Of John Coltrane)' (11:02)
05. Free Spirits' (10:33)
Joe Ford - alto and soprano saxophone; electric piano on Tr. 5.
Paul Gresham - tenor saxaphone
Nasar Abadey - drums, percussion
Jim Kurzdorfer - electric and acoustic bass
Onaje Allen Gumbs - electric piano; acoustic piano Tr.4
Jimmy Manuel - acoustic piano Tr 1-3
This is a fantastic private-press spiritual jazz album coming from Buffalo, New York in 1974 on the Freelance Records imprint. Having absorbed electric Miles, Coltrane and Sanders; saxaphonists Joe Ford (alto, soprano) and Paul Gresham (tenor) came up with an organic interplay between their instruments that makes for a great album.
Joe Ford had aleady played with Ken McIntyre and the Mingus band, and went on after Birthright to play on McCoy Tyner albums like "Focal Point" and "The Greeting". Both Paul Gresham and drummer/percussionist Nasara Abadey had played with the Buffalo Philharmonic and Black Jazz's Doug Carn. After the two Birthright albums on Freelance Records, Gresham went on to release a solo album called "Every Sound We Make" as the label's third and seemingly final release, then seemed to disappear off the map. Adabey went to to a wide variety of session and live work, and has more recently formed a band called Supernova with Joe Ford, who has also established a solo career.
Keyboardist Onaje Allan Gumbs is already well known at this blog. Bassist Jim Kurzdorfer went off to more commercial pop-jazz pastures with Spyro Gyra; and pianist Jimmy Manuel is also difficult to track down after this, though he may have passed away last year.
Bass – Pekka Sarmanto (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to B4, B6)
Drums – Esko Rosnell (tracks: A2, B2, B3), Pekka Sarmanto (tracks: A3, B5)
Flute – Vesa-Matti Loiri (tracks: A1 to B1, B3 to B6)
Guitar – Hasse Walli
Kazoo – Eero Koivistoinen (tracks: A2), Esa Pethman (tracks: A2)
Organ – Tuomo Tanska (tracks: A3, B3)
Percussion – Alf Forsman (tracks: A1), Esa Pethman (tracks: B1), Mikko Kuoppamäki (tracks: A1, A2, A4 to B6), Reino Laine (tracks: A4 to B3, B5), Vesa-Matti Loiri (tracks: A1, A2, B4, B6)
Piano – Tuomo Tanska (tracks: A3, A4, B3)
Recorder – Vesa-Matti Loiri (tracks: A4, B1)
Soprano Saxophone – Eero Koivistoinen (tracks: A2 to A4, B2, B3)
Tenor Saxophone – Esa Pethman (tracks: A3, B2)
Vocals – Erkki Pälli (tracks: A3), Pertti Melasniemi (tracks: A3), Vesa-Matti Loiri (tracks: A1, A3, B2, B4 to B6)
Even in our so-called information age, where everything is up for grabs on a global level, and international boundaries of culture have -- at least theoretically -- become blurred, it can be surprising to realize how little we often know of other nations' artistic history. How many Americans, for instance, are familiar with the name of Vesa-Matti Loiri? In Finland, Loiri is an iconic, multi-talented artist who has an eclectic, multi-Platinum musical discography and has racked up the Finnish equivalent of Grammys and Emmys for his acting work over the decades. The U.S. release of Loiri's 1971 album 4+20 might go some way toward spreading the word outside of Finland. It finds Loiri functioning primarily as a flautist, though he makes a couple of casual vocal contributions over the course of the album. Though it's a mostly instrumental outing, 4+20 isn't exactly a jazz album. True to Loiri's many-sided musical personality, it mixes jazz, folk, and rock freely. The result is a cross between the groove-conscious, flute-centric post-bop work of Herbie Mann (Loiri covers a number of tunes from the Mann songbook here) and the flights of flautist fancy essayed by the likes of Traffic's Chris Wood or even early Jethro Tull. The album's title track is an instrumental excursion that uses the Crosby, Stills & Nash tune as its starting point, and is cut into three pieces that bookend and bisect the record. The comic side of Loiri's acting work comes out in "Mummon Kaappikello," in which his singing is sped up to achieve a Woody Woodpecker-like effect. Over the course of the album, a loose, fun, slightly stoned feeling prevails, one that's very much in keeping with the era, and is exemplified by Loiri's original liner notes, which proclaim "This record was made spontaneously, without any great preparations. It is not meant to serve commercial purposes."
"4 + 20", recorded during several sessions in March 1971, was the debut album released by Finnish flautist / singer / actor Vesa-Matti Loiri. Born January 4, 1945 Loiri was already a "familiar face" on the modern Finnish Jazz scene at the time.
Of course it is hard to believe that any of the album's participants, including Loiri himself, could have possibly imagined that 40 years later he would be considered as one of the central pillars of the Finnish Culture. A true Renaissance man, Loiri developed over the years a spectacular career, both as a musician and as an actor / comedian. He recorded dozens of albums, many of which were immensely popular in his native country. He even represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980, singing a song dedicated to his beloved flute. He also starred in dozens of movies, many of which are considered absolute classics.
Loiri's musical career is quite diverse, but the most important aspect of it is dedicated to his performances of songs with the lyrics written by the great Finnish poet Eino Leino (1878-1926), the great pioneer of Finnish poetry. Loiri recorded several albums dedicated to Leino's poetry, all of which are quite extraordinary, both musically and lyrically. Although Loiri was never a Jazz musician per se, he always cooperated on his albums with many Finnish Jazz musicians and many of these albums can be considered as Jazz albums, in a broader sense. The Eino Leino albums, therefore, should be considered as part of the Jazz & Poetry movement, which was quite popular in Europe since the 1960s.
The passionate love affair between Jazz and Poetry originated during the Beat movement in the 1950s, when US writers and poets discovered that the freedom and improvisational character of modern Jazz could be also utilized in modern writing. The spiritual proximity between the various disciplines of Modern Art & Literature created many cross-media encounters, with Jazz musicians and poets often performing together.
In the early 1960s Jazz & Poetry crossed over to Europe, first into UK and then spreading quickly all over the Continent. Jazz musicians and poets created passionate collaborations in France, Germany, Poland and the Scandinavian countries. But in a similar way as to what happened to American Jazz, when it was absorbed by the Europeans, who amalgamated it with their European musical heritage, Jazz & Poetry also changed, when music was being composed by the Europeans not only to accompany contemporary literary works, but also Classic literature and poetry, as far back as Shakespeare's sonnets.
European Jazz musicians / composers often created music to accompany literary works from their National heritage, similar in a way to the inspirations of the European Romantic Classical composers earlier on. In Finland the Jazz & Poetry movement produced some extraordinary achievements and many of the country's most illustrious musicians were involved with it at least at some stage of their career. Vesa-Matti Loiri's contributions to the movement are surely amongst the most important ones.
On the gatefold cover of the "4 + 20" LP Vesa-Matti Loiri writes as follows: "This record was made spontaneously, without any great preparations. It is not meant to serve commercial purposes. This music has risen from friendship." This is in fact a concise and completely truthful description of this album.
The album features Loiri the flute player. His vocal contributions here are mostly accidental and humorous (his comedian nature), except for one track, where he actually sings. For the recording he invited a group of friends, which in retrospect reads like the who's who of Finnish Jazz at the time: saxophonist / flautist Esa Pethman (who plays piccolo flute here), saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen, organist Tuomo Tanska, guitarist Hasse Walli (who also helped Loiri with most of the arrangements), bassist Pekka Sarmanto and drummer Esko Rosnell. Several other players contribute percussion and vocal tidbits.
The music is very versatile and ranges from Jazz via Folklore to Rock and even Classical. A couple of Herbie Mann's tunes – an obvious choice by a flautist, some folklore, both international and Finnish, some Rock and some "serious" music (see below), all arranged in a Jazzy fashion and performed joyously yet somewhat informally, as indicated by Loiri's quote. Nevertheless there are plenty of great solos here and the overall level of performance is definitely outstanding.
The album's title is of course the Stephen Stills' tune, first heard on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young legendary "Déjà Vu" album. It is used here as a repeated "theme", appearing repeatedly between the tracks.
The album's most interesting track, which is the song "Itkevä Huilu", featuring Loiri's vocals, is a clear precursor of his future Jazz & Poetry work. The song's lyrics were written by the Finnish poet Larin Kyösti and the music by the great Finnish Classical composer Oskar Merikanto.
Overall the music on this album is conserved, as in a time capsule, losing nothing of its joy and playfulness, good nature and musical friendship. Such qualities should definitely be preserved!
4 + 20, recorded in March 1971, was the debut album by Finnish flautist/singer/actor Vesa-Matti Loiri. Loiri was already a "familiar face" on the modern Finnish jazz scene at the time. 40 years later he would be considered one of the central pillars of Finnish culture. For the recording he invited a group of friends, which in retrospect reads like the who's who of Finnish Jazz at the time: saxophonist / flautist Esa Pethman, saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen, organist Tuomo Tanska, guitarist Hasse Walli, bassist Pekka Sarmanto and drummer Esko Rosnell. The music is very versatile and ranges from jazz via folklore to rock and even classical, all arranged in a jazzy fashion and performed joyously yet somewhat informally. The overall level of performance is outstanding and one of a kind.
Here is a driving, soul-jazz tour de force from a mysterious Northampton, MA quartet circa 1969. The original rarity limited to five hundred copies, the repress comes courtesy of Paris-based reissue label Le Très Jazz Club, whose catalogue includes sought after Japanese jazz releases from the likes of Kosuke Mine and Masaru Imada Trio +2’s essential Green Caterpillar.
Kicking off with a singular take on Chico Hamilton’s “Blue Sands”, Glass Flowers is a mostly all original offering. A four piece, Elysian Spring’s unwieldy approach bends the traditions of a lineup bass/drums/sax/flute/piano, with the label describing the record as unclassifiable. This is slightly misleading, though the record touches on a heady dose of spiritual jazz in experiments like the coda of eight-minute groover “Lotus”. On the whole, it’s rooted in the modal jazz tradition in the most creative ways. Innovative spontaneity is to be found throughout Glass Flowers, such as the recording technique of a fading bout of ambient background noise of a social gathering that opens flute-laced centerpiece “Drinkthink” (unsurprisingly, the brilliant track was sampled by digger maestro Madlib).
Perhaps Le Trè’s “unclassifiable” description is more apt to the sheer understated quality of the beast. In today’s constant reissue climate, if you happen to find yourself skeptical of the quality of yet another private press rediscovery (that was apparently originally funded by student friends of the quartet), let one spin quell any trepidations. With the drum patterns and touches of vibraphone and flute, Elysian Spring at times recalls the spontaneity and rolling, jazz fusion edge of Dave Pike Set’s Infra-Red or the unmistakable Stark Reality. This is a no-nonsense triumph not to be missed.
Vocals, Narrator, Written-By [Narratives] – Peter Barrett
Concertmaster [Section]:
Trumpet, Horn, Flugelhorn - Alan Rubin
Violin - David Nadien
Saxophone- Lou Del Gatto
By all means Orchestra Luna was a unique Rock band, featuring the talents of keyboardist Rick Berlin, then performing under his birth name Richard Kinscherf.The band was formed in 1973 and hailed from Boston, the original core included also female singers Lisa Kinscherf and Liz Gallagher, guitarist Randy Roos, bassist Scott Chambers, drummer Don Mulvaney with Peter Barrett providing vocals and spoken parts in the band's self-titled debut.An album recorded during the summer of 1974, released on Epic.
Stylistically Orchestra Luna combined the values of Musical with Art and Prog Rock arrangements, passing also through orchestral segments and poppy sensibilities.They could be compared to QUEEN and FRANK ZAPPA at some point, but they sounded even more artistic and theatrical.The music though is not easy-listening at all, although the album sounds very pleasant and optimistic.The compositions are carefully structured till the last detail and the vocal harmonies are extremely professional and genuine.The music is basically very symphonic with some GENESIS and STEVE HACKETT overtones in the instrumental lines, albeit with a light American flavor, so expect lots of melodic guitar solos, piano and harsichord preludes and interludes and alternating keyboard and guitar sections, there are even some Mellotron strings added for good measure.These progressive textures are often interrupted by a Cabaret-like atmosphere with multi-vocal sections, fairy-tale tunes and even some horns.The instrumental passages are simply great, the same goes for the original vocal parts, though I expect some people to find them a bit excessive.''Doris dreams'', the 12-min. closer, finds the band at its highest peak.Classical influences meet with jazzy Prog Rock, Theater Music and Opera in a beautiful composition, passing through bombastic horns, complex keyboards and symphonic nuances, supported by a vocal stage show, preparing the ground for a superb long outro, highlighted by Roos' majestic guitar soloing and a background hidden sensibility.
In 1975 a temporary break occured for Orchestra Luna, the band returned the following year with a second, expanded formation with only Richard Kinscherf, Liz Gallagher and Peter Barrett from the original line-up.They were renamed to Luna around 1977, releasing a single for Epic, before disbanding permanently around 1979.
Boston based Berklee graduate guitarist Randy Roos was originally in a band called Orchestra Luna, an album that used to turn up quite a bit in my crate digging days. This album is quite a bit different from that, and is a guitar fronted instrumental jazz fusion - a style that was quite popular back in those days, especially from Masters level grad students like Roos. It's the rougher edge that Roos brings forth that I find appealing, and thus scores an extra point from me. Roos is clearly a master of his instrument of choice, and overall Mistral will occasionally call out Al Di Meola circa Elegant Gypsy or Casino. I was also reminded of the German group Syncrisis, in the more fiery moments. Essential for fans of guitar fronted fusion.
The CD label describes the music as: "Masterfully playing a variety of fretted and fretless guitars, Roos demonstrates why its time for this overlooked gem to be revisited. Mistral is pure high energy fusion that will appeal to fans of Jeff Beck and Return To Forever."
Piano, Keyboards, Percussion, Recorder – A. Martelli
Drums – Tullio De Piscopo
Electric Bass – P. Presti
Electric Guitar – M. Verardi
Percussion – L. Liguori
Soprano Saxophone, Flute – G. C. Barigozzi
Tenor Saxophone, Flute – G. Baiocco
An amazing, top-notch recording from 1972 that also includes stellar players like Tullio De Piscopo's rolling drums, sleazy flute by Giancarlo Barigozzi and dope basslines by Pino Presti. For sure the pinnacle of Augusto Martelli's music and the best album from his long career as composer, conductor, arranger and TV presenter. "Black Sound From White People" delivers a plenty of groovy euro Funk tracks played with a clear black music influence, from swirling Jazz-Funk to Fusion, percussive jams with more Samba and Latin beats, funky Latin Jazz chock-full of Psychedelic flutes. A really essential piece from the Italian Funk music production.
The Yoruba Dun Dun Orchestra: - Lamidi Ayankunle / bata drum, vocals - Muraina Oyelami / dun dun drum, lead vocals - Adeleke Sangoyoyin / dun dun drum - Jimmy Solanka / dun dun drum, vocals
The Karnataka College of Percussion is an Indian school where you can be taught the Indian art of drumming. It is a highly sophisticated art, and it is all the more difficult to play live. Embryo prove that they have learned their lessons well, and Charlie Mariano was trained in Indian music too, so he definitely is an asset. It is, however, NOT an album of traditional Indian music, played by a jazz rock band plus extension, it is a collaboration and definitely a fusion of Western and Indian music. One of the tracks on the album even is in 6/8, a meter Indian musicians don't play in at all.
Christian Burchard's world music fusion band Embryo has long been a running project of nearly inconceivable depth and breadth. This 1979 live album brings together recordings from an Asian and Indian tour featuring the Embryo sextet with saxophonist Edgar Hofmann, guitarist Jay Zier, bassist Uwe Mullrich, Friedemann Josch on flutes, Michael Wehemeyer on harmonium, and Burchard on marimbas, along with special guest and Embryo alumnus Charlie Mariano on soprano saxophone. What made this tour special was the addition of the Karnataka College of Percussion, a 12-piece Indian percussion ensemble, to the proceedings led by T.A.S. Mani. The result is nothing less than the total synthesis of Embryo's otherworldly sound, crashing, loping, and improvising around set rhythmic and harmonic patters, augmented by the sophistication of this brilliant percussion ensemble who never, ever, overplays. There are four pieces here, the most satisfying of which is the opener, "Cello, Cello" -- and that could be because it is just such a surprise, as everything here rocks! The level of improvisation here is so intimate, so symbiotic as to be literally almost scary that this kind of communication can take place between musicians -- many of whom have never played together before. Literally, these four selections will astonish you at the very least, and perhaps even take your breath away.
The Karnataka College of Percussion is an Indian school where you can be taught the Indian art of drumming. It is a highly sophisticated art, and it is all the more difficult to play live. Embryo prove that they have learned their lessons well, and Charlie Mariano was trained in Indian music too, so he definitely is an asset. It is, however, NOT an album of traditional Indian music, played by a jazz rock band plus extension, it is a collaboration and definitely a fusion of Western and Indian music. One of the tracks on the album even is in 6/8, a meter Indian musicians don't play in at all.
01. Road to Asia (part 1) (5:01) 02. Road to Asia (part 2) (3:22) 03. Muhldorf (6:07) 04. Old days, old violinos (4:35) 05. Sunsinging (3:08) 06. Back from Africa (part 1-2) (3:51) 07. Empty pocked blueeyed voices (4:40) 08. Every day is okay (5:11) 09. Dawai, Dawai (2:46) 10. TV story (1:30) 11. Political prisoners (4:41)
- Maria Archer / vocals (7) - Roman Bunka / acoustic guitar (5-11), electric guitar (3-8), saz (4-5), bass (6-8), vocals (5-6-7) - Christian Burchard / vocals (1-2), drums (1-2-4 to 8, 10-11), synthi-vibes (1-2), percussion (1-2-6-7), electric vibes (3), marimbas (5), keyboards (6-8), clavine (7), vocals (3-5 to 8, 11) - Remigius Drexler / electric guitar (1-2) - Hansi Fischer / flute (10) - Ralf Fischer / bass (10) - Edgar Hofmann / violins (1-2-4), Soprano saxophone (1-2-10), flute (1-2) - Alfred Jones / acoustic guitar (10) - Dave King / bass (5) - Charlie Mariano / Alto saxophone (8) - Dieter Miekautsch / percussion, vocals (7) - Uve Müllrich / bass (1 to 4, 7-11), electric saz (1-2) - Burkard Schmiedl / synthesizer (11) - Michael Wehmeyer / organ(1-2-3), piano (1-2-11), harmonium (1-2)
Contrary to what the title implies, this is a collection of rare and previously unreleased tracks by this excellent German prog band. The time frame runs from 1970 through '79, and should be considered essential by all fans. In my opinion, all but one track are winners, and this represents a fine cross section of their typical variety of styles. The original German press was on Schneeball, but this Italian issue seems to have sold far better. I guess their jazz/rock fusion seems to be the most generously featured style offered here, but their version of world music also gets plenty of exposure. Recommended.
101. Strasse nach Asien (12:50) 102. Paki funk (2:00) 103. Lost scooters (3:55) 104. Anar, Anar (3:20) 105. Es ist, wie's ist (6:30) 106. Kurdistan (4:40) 107. Far East (6:35) 108. Chan Delawar Khan (3:30)
- Roman Bunka / guitar, vocals, bass, piano, guitar synth, drums, oud (1.7/3, 2.1/4/5/6) - Christian Burchard / vocals, drums, synth-vibes, percussion, tamtam, marimbaphone, pianet (all) - Remigius Drexler / acoustic & electric guitars (1.1/6) - Edgar Hoffmann / violin, Soprano saxophone, shinai, dilruba, flute, harmo - Uve Müllrich / bass, electric guitar, oud, rhubab, electric saz, vocals, percussion (1.1/2/5/6, 2.1/5) - Michael Wehmayer / organ, piano, harmonium (1.1/2/5/6, 2.5/6)
+ Abdul Jabar / tula (1.4/8, 2.3) - Friedemann Josh / flute (2.6) - Abdul Madjid / tambur (1.4/8, 2.3) - Schamsdin Masrur / dotar (1.4/8, 2.3) - Mrs. Ramamani / vocals (1.3) - Mr. Chandramouli / kanjira (1.3) - Mr. Chandrasekhar / khol (1.3) - Mr. Gopalakrishna / tabla (1.3) - Mr. Rajagopal / dhol (1.3) - Mr. Ramesh / ghatam (1.3) - Mr. Ramesh Shotam / tavil (1.3, 2.6) - Mr. Ravi / dolki (1.3) - Mr. Sashikumar / mridangam, top pitch (1.3) - Mr. Sampath Kumar / morsing (1.3) - Mr. Satyakumar / dholak (1.3) - Mr. TS Mani / mridangam (1.3) - Malang Negrabi / zerbagali (1.4/8, 2.3) - Ustad Mohamed Omar / rubab (1.4/8, 2.3) - Machin Abdul Raschid / saranda (1.4/8, 2.3) - Ashok Roy / sarod (2.4) - Ustad Salim / dilruba (1.4/8, 2.3) - Ubekannter Zirkusansager / vocals (2) - Unknown musician / tabla (2.4) - Bahul Jazz Group of Calcutta / tam-tam, flute, violin, vocals (2.6)
This double album is certainly one of the best attempts to fuse progressive-type rock with ethnic/world music and few have succeeded as well as Embryo's Reise (voyage). Indeed around the departure of the ever-important Roman Bunka from the group, plans had been made to travel from Istanbul to Pakistan and Nepal, while recording their musical encounters with the indigenes found on their paths. The album is not just that, there are also tracks coming from left, right & centre, but overall, that's a fair description of the album's content. Among Embryo's latest recruits were guitarist Drexler (ex-Out Of Focus) and wind player Josch (ex-Missus Beastly) whom were part of the trip. The gatefold vinyl comes with a deliciously illustrated booklet detailing their trip in both German and English texts. I hear the Cd version has that too, but I doubt of the legibility of the format.
Where this album is an important one for progheads is that the track list is abounding of jams between the Embryo members and the local musicians, sometimes resulting to some absolutely stunning jams. Difficult to start describing these jams, but most had a structure for conventional entendre (no free form or voluntarily dissonant). The group was giving improvised multimedia concerts along the way, some including stunning live performance paintings. In either case, I'm sure they brought back hundreds of hours of jams and gave us a small selection here. Some of these jams are actually really successful, mixing perfectly the European (often electric) rock musicians and the often-acoustic local musicians (such as the opening Road To Asia), while others are more ethnic players playing their stuff while Europeans are waiting for a chance to hop on boards. On the other hand there are some openly and wildly saturated guitar rock pieces.
Symbolic of the 70's hippy dream, this road is now highly unlikely to all western or eastern youth as international conflicts have long rendered the road impossible to accomplish safely nowadays. A real must and not only in Embryo's discography.
01. Bamboo Railways (5:06) 02. You Can Turn Me On (13:13) 03. Tiflis (5:58) 04. Roadsong (3:35) 05. After The Rain (3:25) 06. Bambule (3:50) 07. No More Love (4:35) 08. Ho Do Ima (1:19) 09. The Orange Man (7:09)
Maria Archer / vocals, percussion Roman Bunka / guitar, vocals, oud, percussion Christian Burkhard / vocals, drums, marimba, vibes Charlie Mariano / Alto & Soprano saxes, flute, nagasuram Dieter Miekautsch / electric piano Uve Müllrich / bass, dilruba, percussion
guest musicians: Edgar Hofmann / flute (6) Geoffrey / percussion (7) Joseph / percussion (7)
I dont know if its a necessary album in a prog collection, but its a wonderful album, with an ugly cover. for me one of the best embryo albums ever, although not at all typically. especially not if you compare it with the ones before. i like the funky jazzy swingy world music mixture of it. but it has not alot to do with sth. like progressive rock. i would say buy it if you see it anywhere. its not too hard to find
Really fine set from Embryo, recorded in a town near Munich sometime in February, 1976. Very much a product of their jazz rock phase, Live will appeal to fans of We Keep On, Surfin', Bad Heads and Bad Cats, Apo-Calypso, and their contributions to the Umsonst and Draussen festivals. It's a bit more laid back than their intense Krautrock workouts of the early 70s, while pointing toward the earnest world fusion music that was to follow (Bambule in particular). Roman Bunka once again lights it up with his Eastern tinged psychedelic guitar, whereas Charlie Mariano burns on the saxophone and nagasuram, and Dieter Miekautsch gives us a splendid performance on the Fender Rhodes. Uve Mullrich and Christian Burchard lay down the energetic backbone. Maria Archer provides her usual sultry blues based female vocals on selected tracks, while Bunka brings his unique voice to the fore on occasion. Only 3 tracks will be recognized from their studio albums: Roadsong and After the Rain from Bad Heads (in truncated form), along with an extended version of You Can Turn Me On from Surfin'. The CD adds the 16 minute Just Arrived, from a concert a few weeks later. As you might imagine, given the length, Embryo stretch out a bit more here. A fine album, that improves with age.
Personal collection
LP: 1977 April
CD: 2015 Garden of Delights
The album is housed in a single sleeve cover from the April kollektiv created by Embryo, Missus Beastly and others. The album isn't particularly rare or expensive, and the quality isn't of the highest either. The strange thing is, while all the other Embryo albums have been on CD since the 1990s, Live just received its very first press here in 2015 from the ever reliable Garden of Delights. Great reissue with full liner notes, photos, and a 16 minute bonus track. And the sound is as good as it will ever be according to the below update. I think the most surprising tidbit out of these liners, for me at least, is the 1999 LP repress. Supposedly 1000 more (legit) copies spilled into the open market from a record dealer in Frankfurt. But I don't recall ever seeing Live available back then for new purchase? Must have been a Germany-only thing. Discogs corroborates this evidence.
August 14, 2016 update: So reader Eric had noticed on Discogs that Alan Freeman has just provided us with more data regarding this reissue, which explains the discrepancy of this title verse the others. Copying directly from the site: "The reason this LP remained un-reissued and un-issued on CD for so long is multi-fold. Firstly, the original mixed and edited tapes had been lost and/or damaged ("unusable" I was told). Also, the original LP had been mastered wrongly, with thin (narrow bandwidth) sound, which isn't what was intended. So, when it came down to Garden Of Delights doing a reissue they had to resort to transcribing from vinyl. During the course of doing that I was contacted as they were having problems with some noises in the vinyl (they were using the Nexus pressed issue from 1999). I sent them a copy of my remaster which I'd de-clicked from the original issue suggesting they re-EQ as per my clean-up due to the original vinyl mastering error. So, although the release doesn't so much as say it remastered, it is, and considerably so! How much they used of their remaster and mine it's hard to say, although it does sound rather good, with some frequency range detail added by some trickery I hadn't been able to do. The bonus is nice too, taken from the same tour of Italy as the Era Ora LP."
This one is really underrated! Some of the best Embryo compositions are on this album, especially all time classic "Amnesty Total" aka "Political Prisoners". I can understand why it seems boring on the first listen but like many Embryo albums it improves over time. This is maybe not the album i revisit the most - but the one i remember the most.
Apo-Calypso was the first Embryo album I heard. And it was an amazing introduction to a band - or better to say to a family of extraordinary musicians coming from different parts of the world - which has made one the finest contributions in fusing jazz-rock with a variety of ethnic elements, from Western and Central Africa to India and China. With Apo-Calypso Embryo was still in the framework of jazz and rock, with notable hippy atmoshere, offering music for pleasure of a unique kind. But the last song, the 14 minutes long Getalongwithasong, clearly announces the upcoming shift to more expressed Eastern influences and affinities, which would become so delightfully dominant in their 1979. masterpiece - Reise. The song is a nice piece of work, flavoured by echanting presence of great collaborators Shoba and Trilok Gurtu, years before their very good independent effort 'Usfret'. The rest of the album expresses the mastership of Christian, Roman, Uwe, Michael and Butze, the most stabile Embryo line-up in the seventies, resulting in five great songs, mostly instrumental, like Knast-Funk, Amnesty Total and Together. Knast-Funk contains a freakish hammond organ solo of Michael Wehmeyer - probably the most exciting part of the album.
01. Layed Back (5:32) 02. Nina Kupenda (12:06) 03. Bad Heads (4:02) 04. Road Song (6:10) 05. After The Rain (6:14) 06. Klondyke-Netti (6:25) 07. Tag X (1:36) 08. Human Contact* (16:56)
* bonus track on Disconforme re-release
Maria Archer / vocals, percussion Roman Bunka / vocals, guitar Christian Burchard / drums, vibes, marimba, vocals Edgar Hofmann / Soprano saxophone, flute Charlie Mariano / Alto & Soprano saxes, flute Dieter Miekautsch / keyboards Uve Müllrich / bass
This one turns into a very jazzy direction, however some experimental creepy approach is still there. In the 70's I saw Embryo live several times - each time it was surprising, amazing, turned into a differnt direction musically. Even some studio albums can catch this terrific live atmosphere. 'Bad Heads And Bad Cats' counts among them in my opinion. 'Nina Kupenda' and 'Klondyke Netti' are the highlights. A funky bass - keyboards sometimes similar to Wheater Report - the great Charlie Mariano on sax and flute.
The digital Disconforme re-release adds one extended bonus track Human Contact which absolutely enriches this album. A very surprising song - it looks like this jam was recorded during the same sessions, but rejected for the album release finally because of the restricted vinyl length, I assume. Yes - I'm quite sure because the end of the song is corresponding to Tag X fitting much better here by the way. The EMBRYO's are acting which much joy of playing here - stimulating each other, far away from aimless noodling - open-minded jazz rock stuff. The Garden Of Delights label has issued a new version in 2012 which showcases another bonus track, recorded live at 'Umsonst & Draußen' festival 1975 in Germany.
01. You can turn on me (5:11) 02. Music of today (4:12) 03. Secret (6:23) 04. Surfin' (3:22) 05. New ridin' (3:44) 06. In my lunamatic (1:28) 07. Dance of some broken glasses (9:01) 08. Sidetrack (6:03)
Roman Bunka / guitar, bass, ring modulator, clavinet, sitar, saxophone, percussion, vocals
Two years after their masterpiece "We Keep On", "Surfin" is Embryo's second release for BASF. It's a much more accessible album, focusing on songwriting and funky grooves rather then the experimental jams of old. Still, it can hardly be called commercial, and due to the lack of success, BASF would soon drop them after this release.
The album isn't as remarkable as the preceding releases but still it deserves more love then what it garnered here so far. Actually, I can think of only one negative point about this album, Embryo was quite late to jump on the funk-fusion bandwagon and in doing so, the band gave up some of their originality and uniqueness. But the world fusion element is still strongly integrated in the sound and they remained recognizably German. Above all, it's still a very fine album, not dissimilar to concurrent releases from Can, Passport and Kraan. Especially Kraan's album "Let It Out" from the same year comes to mind, as it also sounds slightly proto-new wave in places, which might explain some of the dislike Prog fans might feel towards it.
With the shorter pieces and more frequent use of vocals, "Surfin" brings back the fun rocking songwriting of the debut and of "Father Son and Holy Ghosts", be it in a funkier and more mainstream format. It's a different Embryo but still a very good one.
01. A Place To Go (4:25) 02. Entrances (15:35) 03. Warm Canto (10:07) 04. Dirge (9:35)
- Christian Burchard / drums - Jorg Evers / bass - Edgar Hofmann / saxophone and violin - Jimmy Jackson / organ - Dave King / bass - Siegfried Schwab / guitar - Mal Waldron / electric piano
Rock session is another album consisting of material they recorded during sessions between 1971 and 1972. Actually the band was planning to release this stuff already in 1972. But their record company UA was not pleased by it, so they recorded first Father, Son & Holy Ghosts and the songs from these sessions have been used for this album here and Steig aus. The line-up is almost identical on these two albums, with the difference that Sigi Schwab was replacing Roman Bunka on guitar. But it's anything else than a bad album and rather a very interesting one who is deeply into typical jazz-rock in the Krautrock vein.
The opener A place to go is a very orientally influenced piece with marimbas, keys, electric guitar, percussion and very "kraut-ish" sounding vocals. Really great stuff and anyone loving this sub-genre will be fascinated by it. Entrances, the longest track is dominated by Schwab's excellent jazzy guitar before Hammond is taking over. The work of the rhythm section is as well just awesome. It's a highly jazzy piece on an album that is probably the most jazzy one of their three session records, no wonder since jazz pianist Mal Waldron was involved in three of the four tracks as a composer. In the last third of the track there is an excellent sax solo by Hofmann. This one is for sure the highlight of the album.
Second side of the record is the more relaxing and soaring one starting with Warm canto, a very soft and mellow track played on vibes, keys, violin and percussion plus electric guitar and piano by Waldron in its second half. Although being a rather quiet song in the beginning it's revealing a fascinating development in its course. Last one Dirge is starting as well with a highly soaring atmosphere with vibes, guitar and then violin and e-piano. As on the whole album the bass and drum work is again excellent. Also this song is developing after a while to a fascinating one.
As a SUMMARY this album might be in a way different from their excellent other ones like Father,Son... or Embryo's Rache, but nevertheless I would say it's an essential one by them and recommended to any lover of jazzy Krautrock.
