Koichi Matsukaze Trio - 1978 - Earth Mother

Koichi Matsukaze Trio

1978 

Earth Mother

01. Images In Alone
02. Earth Mother
03. Zekatsuma Selbst
04. Round Midnight
05. Don’t Worry About Tenor Saxophone

Bass – Tamio Kawabata
Drums – Ryojiro Furusawa
ano – Toshiyuki Daitoku

Flute, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Koichi Matsukaze

Regarded as one of the most sought-after yet elusive albums from a pivotal era in Japanese jazz, Earth Mother was originally issued in 1978 on ALM, a private label home to some of the most innovative jazz, contemporary classical and free improvisational music released in Japan during the late 70s and early 80s. It was here that Earth Mother found a natural home among the experimental and transgressive, destined to remain in obscurity for decades until the album’s muscular, bass-driven title track was included as the opening cut on BBE’s acclaimed compilation J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan 1969-1984. It was a fitting way to start such a landmark collection and the track quickly became a favourite among DJs and jazz fans.

Earth Mother sees saxophonist Matsukaze team up once again with legendary drummer and band leader Furusawa Ryojiro; joined by Tamio Kawabata on bass to form the core trio which is augmented by Daitoku Toshiyuki on acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes.

This is a mythic album, seen and heard by very few; often among the top wants for even the most hard-core jazz collectors. The album ranges from heavyweight spiritual jazz and post-bop burners, to Dolphy-esque experimentation (Don’t Worry About Tenor Saxophone) and a singular take on the classic, Round Midnight.

Koichi Matsukaze Trio - 1976 - At The Room 427

Koichi Matsukaze Trio 

1976 

At The Room 427

01. Acoustic Chicken 20:02

02. Theme Of Seikatsu Kojyo Iinkai 7:44

03. Little Drummer 11:31

04. Lover Man 10:40

05. Theme Of Seikatsu Kojyo Iinkai 1:06

Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone – Koichi Matsukaze

Bass – Koichi Yamazaki

Drums – Ryojiro Furusawa

Live recorded at Chuo University Hakumonsai, 21 November 1975.

Koichi Matsukaze Trio Featuring Ryojiro Furusawa, a rarely heard exemplar of post-modal power bop and free jazz.

Delivered by a trio playing with an intensity and energy that draws on classic Eric Dolphy and mid-era Coltrane but definitely with its own particular vibe, At the Room 427 is an exemplar of febrile improvised jazz that could only come from Japan.

This deluxe reissue sees a welcome return to the J Jazz Masterclass series for saxophonist Koichi Matsukaze. Originally issued in 1976 on the cult ALM label, At the Room 427 is the debut album from one of the most exciting and forward-thinking instrumentalists to emerge in the mid 1970s. Matsukaze's distinctively angular, deconstructive style adds an unpredictable quality to the session that is balanced by the muscular bass of Koichi Yamazaki and the kinetic drumming of Ryojiro Furusawa, who provides a sound footing for Matuskaze’s fiery solos and free-form chemistry.

The album opens with the epic Acoustic Chicken, a 20-minute tour de force of dynamic and explosive interplay. Featured on J Jazz: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan volume 3 and written by Furusawa, Acoustic Chicken's strong melody lines and scorching sax finely mesh with the driving rhythm section. Furusawa’s Elvin Jones-like rolls and batteries of percussion are underpinned by Yamazaki’s driving and rounded bass.

At the Room 427 also includes a radical deconstruction of the Billie Holiday classic Lover Man and three more original compositions by Matsukaze. The album was recorded live in November 1975 before a small audience in – as the title states – Room 427, a classroom in Chuo University, the alma mater of both Matsukaze and Furusawa. However, despite the rudimentary surroundings, the recording by Yukio Kojima, founder of ALM, manages to give the listener the feeling of being in the room itself, up close to the band, bristling with an intense energy.

Fumio Itabashi - 1979 - Nature

Fumio Itabashi 

1979 

Nature

01. When You Smile 5:28

02. Up Into The Sky 9:56

03. Listen To My Story 4:26

04. Macumba 13:53

05. Ash 5:05

Bass – Hideaki Mochizuki, Koichi Yamazaki (2) (tracks: 4, 5)

Drums – Kenichi Kameyama, Ryojiro Furusawa (tracks: 4, 5)

Piano, Composed By – Fumio Itabashi

Soprano Saxophone – Yoshio Otomo (tracks: 4, 5)

Vibraphone – Hiroshi Hatsuyama (tracks: 4, 5)

Recorded at Nippon Columbia 1st Studio, Tokyo on March 13-15, 1979.

The legendary Japanese jazz pianist's first solo record ever, Nature was recorded at Nippon Columbia's first studio in Tokyo from March 13-15 in the year of its release. It features Itabashi making feverish love with the piano and he shares the studio with the great bass players Hideaki Mochizuki and Koichi Yamazaki, drummers Kenichi Kameyama and Ryojiro Furusawa, soprano saxophonist Yoshio Otomo, and vibraphone wizard Hiroshi Hatsuyama. They all joined him to perform his very own songs, composed by Itabashi himself and produced by Ryonosuke Honmura, who also produced Japanese jazz heroes, like saxophonist Keizo Inoue, during his career. Nature is fresh, propulsive, twitchy, and melodious from the first to the last tone. Sometimes the instrumentalists play a classic solo in an overall deep modal jazz atmosphere that seems to be made for cats that love the good old stars and inventors -- from John Coltrane to Miles Davis, from Thelonious Monk to Art Blakey. Nature also shows how deep Itabashi studied the history of the genre, while keeping his very own vision of jazz alive. The man that made his professional debut as a member of the Sadao Watanabe Quintet in 1971 and who was also a member of the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine world tour from 1985-1987, plays the piano in all tempos, from a nervous high-flying quickness to a deep blues-style slow. Besides the traditional jazz flavors, you get a feeling of mind-expanding spiritual jazz, that grand masters like Pharaoh Sanders or Gary Bartz, turned into a sacred music genre. A master-class record in ravishing big city jazz music, adventurous, sometimes meditative, sometimes faster than the speed of light, always grooving with a bright, pure-toned sensibility and deeply soulful melodic imaginations. It extends the jazz history with a fine balance between tradition and innovation. And it stays infectious all the time while sounding surprisingly fresh due to a lot of thrilling musical spontaneity that touches profoundly even though all notes have been written down by Itabashi before he and his combatants entered the studio. And maybe that's the mystery of these timeless five at times epic recordings: all notes written on paper, but each musician had the freedom to dance with them in his very own unique way.

Shigeharu Mukai - 1979 - Hip Cruiser

Shigeharu Mukai

1979 

Hip Cruiser

01. Nimuro Neina 5:31

02. Hip Cruiser 5:59

03. Coral Eyes 9:24

04. Once I Loved 4:20

05. The Way 5:38

06. V-1 Funk 4:47

07. Manipura 5:35

Clavinet – Toshiyuki Daitoku

Drums, Percussion – Ryojiroh Furusawa

Drums – Hideo Yamaki

Electric Bass – Shin-Ichi Manabe

Electric Guitar – Shinji Hashimoto

Electric Guitar, Soloist – Kazumi Watanabe

Electric Piano [Elepian] – Kazuhide Moto-Oka

Percussion – Kazuhiro Mishima, Kazuo Yoshida, Tatsuji Yokoyama

Tenor Saxophone – Takao Uematsu

Trombone – Shigeharu Mukai

Voice – Vera Maria

An excellent batch of lost Japanese fusion from the 70s -- headed up by trombonist Shigeharu Mukai, and featuring some great instrumentation that includes Brazilian percussion, tenor sax, and plenty of sweet electric keyboards! The sound here is totally great -- a soulful fusion groove to rival the best American work of the generation -- but quite possibly even better, as the whole thing has that impeccable production style that made so many of the Japanese fusion albums of the time so great. And while you might think that a trombone is an unlikely instrument to be leading a sweet electric set -- guess again, because Shige really makes the whole thing work!

Shigeharu Mukai - 1978 - Spacing Out

Shigeharu Mukai 

1978 

Spacing Out

01. Dawn ~ Turbulence 16:13

02. Just Smile 4:45

03. Cumulonimbus 8:50

04. Focus Express 3:54

05. Spacing Out 5:43

Bass – Tamio Kawabata

Clavinet – Toshiyuki Daitoku

Congas – Tatsuji Yokoyama

Drums – Ryojiroh Furusawa

Guitar – Kazumi Watanabe

Piano, Electric Piano – Kazuhide Motooka

Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Yasuaki Shimizu

Trombone – Shigeharu Mukai

Shigeharu Mukai's masterpiece has been released on CD. I'm happy to hear this good news after I was having trouble with the condition of the vinyl records. Anyway, the

Opening, a suite-like piece called "Dawn - Turbulence" that lasts for over 10 minutes, is a must-listen. Yasuaki Shimizu's sharp solo is also excellent. The image of the title pops up from the whirlpool of rhythms that Tatsuji Yokoyama beats out. All of the members credited (some of whom are deceased) were driving forces in Japanese jazz at the time and today.

As an aside, I'm happy that the jacket is also original. Mukai smiles as he holds the JJ Johnson model trombone he had just acquired at the time (although he was told it didn't sound good...). It's a masterpiece.

Shigeharu Mukai - 1976 - A Head Wind

Shigeharu Mukai 

1976

A Head Wind

01. Bird To Freedom

02. Eastern

03. A Head Wind

Bass – Hideaki Mochizuki

Drums – Ryojiro Furusawa

Piano – Kazuhide Motooka

Saxophone – Tomoki Takahashi

Trombone – Shigeharu Mukai

Shigeharu Mukai (向井 滋春, Mukai Shigeharu, born January 21, 1949 in Nagoya) is a Japanese jazz trombonist.

Mukai attended Doshisha University but left before obtaining his degree to become a professional musician. Early in his career he worked with Yoshio Otomo, Ryo Kawasaki, and Hiroshi Fukumura, then led his own ensemble, including a performance at the Shinjuku Jazz Festival. He went on to work with Terumasa Hino, Akira Sakata, Kazumi Watanabe, and Yosuke Yamashita, as well as the ensemble Spik and Span and international musicians such as João Bosco, Billy Hart, and Elvin Jones. In the 1990s and 2000s he taught jazz at Senzoku Gakuen school of music.

Takahashi Tomoki - 1979 - Tomoki

Takahashi Tomoki

1979

Tomoki

01. Trial Road 8:25

02. Origin 11:40

03. Open Mind 9:45

04. Polar Star 11:18

Bass – Haruo Ogoshi, Hideaki Mochizuki, Tamio Kawabata

Drums – Nobuo Fujii, Ryojiro Furusawa, Shota Koyama

Guitar – Kazumi Watanabe

Keyboards – Kazuhide Motooka

Soprano Saxophone – Tomoki Takahashi

Tenor Saxophone – Tomoki Takahashi

Trombone – Shigeharu Mukai

Tomoki Takahashi played in the Japanese jazz scene from the early 1970s , including with Shigeharu Mukai , with whom he made his first recordings in 1974 ( For My Little Bird ). He also played with Yosuke Yamashita , Takeo Moriyama , Ryōjirō Furusawa , Kazuhiko Tsumura and, in 1982, with Akira Sakata . In 1979 he recorded his debut album Tomoki (Better Days), with Shigeharu Mukai, Kazuhide Motooka , Kazumi Watanabe , Kawabata Tamio and Ryōjirō Furusawa . In June 1980, he began a musical collaboration with Elvin Jones , resulting in the album Another Soil , for the Denon record label (with Shigeharu Mukai, Kiyoshi Sugimoto , Junichiro Ohkuchi , and bassists Hideaki Mochizuki and Tamio Kawabata ). In jazz, he participated in 12 recording sessions between 1974 and 1997. He recorded a live album, Make Someone Happy , with Kazuhide Motooka ( piano ), Satoshi Kosugi (bass), and Fumio Watanabe ( drums ). [1] In later years, he worked with his own bands, including a group with Kazuhiko Tsumura, Nobuyuki Komatsu , and Tomoyuki Shima . [2] More recently, in 2016, he played with Sachiko Ikuta , Sho Kudo , and Ryo Saito .

Ryojiro Furusawa - 1977 - Racco

Ryojiro Furusawa

1977

Racco

01. Cum-Cum

02. Moki

03. Racco

04. La Zuguta-Ba

05. Wolf Fish

06. June Rain

07. Burning Cloud

Tomoki Takahasi - (tenor and soprano sax)

Hideaki Mochizuki - (bass)

Toshiyuki Daitoku - (keyboards)

Ryojiro Furusawa - (drums)

Deep deep sounds from this hip Japanese drummer – a set that features a fusion-styled mix of keyboards and sax, but one that comes across with a gentle feel that's light years from conventional fusion!

The balance is perfect throughout – kind of a spacey, soulful vibe – stretching out beautifully, yet never getting overindulgent – no jamming modes at all, and really a great ear for the space between the notes that keeps the whole thing on a open-handed level. One track goes slightly out, but in a way that balances the others nicely – and players include Tomoki Takahasi on tenor and soprano sax and Toshiyuki Daitoku on keyboards.

Ryojiro Furusawa - 1976 - You Wanna Rain

Ryojiro Furusawa

1976

You Wanna Rain

01. Acoustic Chicken 

02. Snake Walk 

03. Yellow Cherry 

04. You Wanna Rain? 

05. For Heavens Sake

Bass – Mochizuki Hideaki

Drums – Furusawa Ryojiro

Piano, Electric Piano – Daitoku Toshiyuki

Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Takahashi Tomoki

Trombone – Mukai Shigeharu

Searing, soulful energy from this overlooked Japanese combo of the 70s – a crack quartet led by drummer Ryojiro Furusawa, working here with some great guest work on trombone from Shigeharu Mukai! The tunes are often very simple, but with a groove that's totally great – a bit of a modal vibe at times, and some spiritual jazz undercurrents at others – really making the record feel like some lost Strata East album, thanks to electric piano lines from Toshiyuki Daitoku and some tenor and soprano sax from Tomoki Takahashi. Most tunes are long, and very openly grooving

A great release featuring exciting post-bop and modal explorations by a really skilled ensemble. The mellow and warm classic "For Heavens Sake" closes the album with a fitting homage and some truly smooth grooves. A must have for J Jazz lovers.