Jiro Inagaki - 1972 - Woman Robinson Crusoe - Rock Steady

Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media 

1972

Woman Robinson Crusoe - Rock Steady

01. Woman, Robinson Crusoe 3:15

02. Wanderer's Lullaby 2:44

03. So High 2:47

04. Memories Of The Guy 4:03

05. The In-And-Outer-Stomp-And-Shouter 3:20

06. Rock Steady 3:09

07. Day Dreaming 3:54

08. Nobody Loves Me 2:33

09. My Sweet Dols 2:43

10. Lonely Night 4:26

Jiro Inagaki: tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone, flute

Tsunehide Matsuki: guitar

Kimio Mizutani: guitar

Hiro Yanagida: organ

Hideaki Takebe: bass

Kiyoshi Tanaka: drums

Masahiko Sato: moog synthesiser

Yasushi Sawada: Vocals

Sammy: Vocals

Nagaki Jirō born October 3, 1933 is a Japanese jazz saxophonist, bandleader, and producer. He plays tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, and occasionally alto saxophone. Inagaki played tenor saxophone with Frankie Sakai's from 1954 to 1955, before joining Hajime Hana and the Crazy Cats. He performed with various Japanese jazz artists and band leaders such as George Kawaguchi and Hideo Shiraki during the 1950s and 60s.[1][2]

Inagaki formed the jazz-rock band "Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media" in 1969, which was active throughout the 1970s and included Shunzo Ohno, Tetsuo Fushimi, and ; Ryo Kawasaki (guitar); Masahiko Satoh (piano, arranger); (keyboards, arranger); (bass); and Takeshi Inomata and (drums) in its varying lineups. The band's albums Head Rock, In The Groove, and Funky Stuff have been reissued several times.

Sammy, a legendary female singer who was active for a short time in the early 1970s and suddenly disappeared from the scene. The powerful and soulful singing voice loved by jazz rock legends such as Akira Ishikawa and Jiro Inagaki has always numbed listeners. The three masterpieces are finally revived in analog.

This swell. This dynamism. An encounter with the soul media unleashed Sammy's soul. A dreadnought masterpiece containing the transcendental groovy "Rock Steady". A rare female singer, Sammy. Once you hear that soulful and powerful singing voice, you will never forget it. Jiro Inagaki, who heard the demo sound source for the first time, thought, "This is amazing. It's like Aretha Franklin." Not only the newly written original, but also old blues and hit songs of the same era are immediately dyed in "Sammy color". Fully backed up by Jiro Inagaki and Soul Media, who played a part in the development of jazz rock, this work has become a monster album with an extraordinary groove. "Rock Steady", which is often called the worst version, "Day Dreaming" like a breeze, groovy and emotional "Nobody Loves Me" and "Long Night" with Japanese lyrics are good. The songs are lined up. text by Yusuke Ogawa (UNIVERSOUND / DEEP JAZZ REALITY)

Long awaited releasing as CD of a secret masterpeice of soul music. Remarkable is the collaboration of Sammy and Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media. A Japanese rare groove masterpiece album, including the covers of -ROCK STEADY- and -WOMAN,

Jiro Inagaki - 1972 - Dosojin

Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media 

1972

Dosojin

01. Inanome (4:57)

02. Kigishi (4:57)

03. Susomi (4:10)

04. Kusakai (5:31)

05. Arisobe (1:20)

06. Tabute (4:56)

07. Sasara (3:54)

08. Yabunirami no Isan (8:24)

Jiro Inagaki: tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone, flute

Tsunehide Matsuki: guitar

Kimio Mizutani: guitar

Hiro Yanagida: organ

Hideaki Takebe: bass

Kiyoshi Tanaka: drums

Masahiko Sato: moog synthesiser

Yasushi Sawada: Vocals

Yasuhiro Koyama (Composer, Arranger)

The songs, arranged by composer Yasuhiro Koyama (who also penned one side of Toshiyuki Miyama's "Tsuchi No Ne", another of Columbia's "Adventure In Sound" albums), are all actually variations and elaborations on traditional Japanese "minyou", old folk songs known to people all across Japan for countless generations. The whole album flows very nicely, running seamlessly from solemn folky songs to fuzz-guitar and piano led progressive pieces and back again, always maintaining a deeply Japanese atmosphere.

Extremely rare as an original. In fact, I didn't find one even for a price check, so I'm sure an original is a small fortune. Fortunately for the rest of us, Columbia has come through with a fine CD, housed in a sturdy and beautiful mini LP reproduction, with great sound. This was released through their Deep Jazz Reality series, even though this particular album isn't jazz based at all.

Vocalist Yasuhsi Sawada joins Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media group this time around – but in a way that seems to create a whole new sound from both artists! The album's got a deeper, more sophisticated style than some of Inagaki's other records – not just funky soul, but a richer suite of tracks that still has plenty of soulful currents, but which also reaches towards some more ambitious emotional territory too – never in a way that's clunky or snoozy, but which takes all the best elements of the Soul Media groove, and pushes them a bit farther too! Sawada's vocals are all in Japanese, and have this very powerful approach – never dominating the music, but moving through the instrumentation in this evocative way that almost feels instrumental to our ears, given our lack of understanding of the language. The whole thing's almost got a spiritual undercurrent, althought the presentation is still more in the groovy mode of other Soul Media sets.

I love this, one of the best albums by Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media IMO. Psychedelic jazz covers of Japanese folk songs, mostly instrumental with some spoken word sections. The band doesn't shy away from moments of quiet contemplation, which make the intense parts when they do come more interesting. Kimio Mizutani plays on this, whatever the man touches seems to instantly become much better.

Jiro Inagaki - 1972 - Dock of My Mind (with Yasushi Sawada)

Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media with Yasushi Sawada

1972

Dock of My Mind

01. Dock of My Mind (4:16)

02. Afternoon (4:26)

03. Barefoot Girl (3:43)

04. Colourful Winds (3:27)

05. Send Me Love (3:17)

06. If You Should Go Away (2:59)

07. Lane of Memories (3:09)

08. One Last Word (2:53)

09. Lonely Night (2:45)

10. Down by the Corner (2:48)

11. Rainy Night in Georgia (3:50)

12. Georgia on My Mind (4:38)

13. Orange no Hitokakera (2:59)

14. Hito ha Dare Mo (3:28)

Jiro Inagaki_tenor & soprano saxophone, flute

Tsunehide Matsuki & Kimio Mizutani _guitar

Hiro Yanagida_organ

Hideaki Takebe_bass

Kiyoshi Tanaka_drums

Masahiko Sato_moog synthesizer

Sawada Yasushi_vocals

Originally released as LP(JDX-7006) Oct 25, 1972.

Track 13, 14 : originally released as single (P-226) Jul 1, 1973.

The funky group of Jiro Inagaki gets a vocal treatment this time around – lead lyrics from Yasushi Sawada, whose a raspy-voiced singer with a surprisingly soulful edge! Much of the music follows in the same territory of Inagaki's instrumental records – with his group turning in a cool tripped-out blend of soul, funk, and jazz – often with some slight psych elements in the guitars and keyboards – as Sawada's Japanese lyrics bring a very unusual flavor to the record, and make the whole thing feel like some dream-like remake of an American funky soul album!