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    V.A. : J-Jazz - Deep Modern Jazz from Japan 1969-1984 (3LP/with Obi)

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      V.A. : J-Jazz - Deep Modern Jazz from Japan 1969-1984 (3LP/with Obi)


      year/2018
      country/Import
      label/BBE (BBE434CLP)

      シティ・ポップからニューウェイヴ、ニューエイジに至る様々なジャンルで近年爆発的な盛り上がりを見せるメイド・イン・ジャパンのミュージック・ライブラリーにおいて、古くから海外で高い評価を得ている「和ジャズ」の激ディープなコンピレーションがUKの名門「BBE」から登場!!


      ずばり「J-JAZZ」と銘打たれた本作は、日本が誇るリイシュー・プロジェクト、「Deep Jazz Reality」の特濃再発群とは一線を画したラインナップが、さすがレア・グルーヴの母国であるUKの矜持とこだわりを感じさせる、それはそれはマニアック且つ激レアなセレクション !
      かつてジャイルス・ピーターソンのフェイバリットとして紹介された“Under Construction”でお馴染みのサキソフォニスト、松風紘一がに残した激レア盤からのタイトル曲“Earth Mother”、当時メンバー全員が大学生だったという相澤徹カルテットによる自主製作盤「TACHIBANA」から壮大且つ流麗なスピリチュアル・ジャズ・チューン“Dead Letter”、盛岡のジャズ喫茶「ジョニー」が手がける『ジョニーズ・ディスク』から北海道のベーシスト中山英二の78年作「Aya's Samba」からタイトル曲“Aya's Samba”、先日アナログ・リイシューでも話題となった植松孝夫「Straight Ahead」から“White Fire”、トランペットに大野俊三をフィーチャーした80年産の中村新太郎クインテットによる名盤「Evolution」から“A Blind Man”、『ジョニーズ・ディスク』の3枚目、ドラマー片山光明(現パイソン片山) が79年にリリースしたファースト・アルバム「First Flight」の“未知のポイント/Unknown Point”、ジョージ大塚、井野信義と組んだ辛島文雄によるピアノ・トリオ傑作「翔」からの“Little Island”、「Babylonia Wind」などでお馴染みのギタリスト、杉本喜代志による73年発のライヴ盤から“Long Neal”、森山威男が83年に『ヴァップ』からリリースした「East Plants」に収録された絶品モーダル・ワルツ「Kaze」という激烈ディープな内容 !
      選曲は長らく和ジャズのコレクターとしてその名を知られるトニー・ヒギンズとマイク・ぺデン !

      Side A
      Koichi Matsukaze Trio – Earth Mother
      Takeo Moriyama Quartet with Shigeharu Mukai – North Wind*

      Side B
      Tohru Aizawa Quartet – Dead Letter
      Eiji Nakayama – Aya’s Samba

      Side C
      Takao Uematsu – White Fire
      George Otsuka Quintet – Sea Breeze*

      Side D
      Shintaro Quintet – A Blind Man
      Mitsuaki Katayama – Unknown Point

      Side E
      Fumio Karashima – Little Island
      Kiyoshi Sugimoto – Long Neal

      Side F
      Takeo Moriyama – Kaze
      Terumasa Hino Meets Reggie Workman – Ode to Workman*

      *These tracks are vinyl only, not on CD.





      In the years following World War Two, Japan developed one of the most insatiable, dynamic and diverse markets for jazz. For a crucial period of little over a decade – from the late 1960s to the early 1980s – Japanese jazz culture progressed at an astonishing rate, producing an extraordinary array of artists, recordings and record labels that created some of the most forward thinking and impressive jazz to be committed to tape. This amazing journey is explored on ‘J Jazz’.
      This compilation from BBE uncovers some of the most sought after and rare material from this period and pulls together key artists who shaped the post-war modern jazz scene in Japan.

      ‘J Jazz’ includes obscure and sought after rarities like the bass-driven power jazz of Koichi Matsukaze’s ‘Earth Mother’, the holy grail rarity of Aizawa Tohru Quartet’s ‘Dead Letter’ and the loping majesty of Takeo Moriyama’s ‘North Wind’. This collection takes the listener into deep spiritual jazz, post-modal impressionism and fierce dance-floor fusion with material from artists and composers whose names are generally only known to committed collectors of Japanese jazz. Fumio Karashima, Mitsuaki Katayama, Takeo Moriyama and Kiyoshi Sugimoto are among the names featured on an album aiming to shed a little light on the shadowy world of Japanese jazz clubs, tucked away in the neon backstreets. This music demands a wider audience and BBE are excited to deliver a landmark compilation, lifting the veil on this wonderful and mysterious area of the global jazz catalogue.

      None of the tracks featured on ‘J Jazz’ have ever received an official release outside Japan before. The albums the tracks are taken from are extremely hard to find and often fetch huge sums on the collector’s circuit. Originally pressed in small numbers on independent and private labels such as Union, Johnny’s Disk, Whynot, ALM and VAP, these tracks are now available for everyone to enjoy.

      Compiled by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden, both long-time collectors of Japanese jazz, ’J Jazz’ brings together the very best in modern jazz from Japan, recorded during a critical period of musical and cultural transition that saw composers and musicians not only assert a new artistic identity but also create a lasting musical legacy.
      Record - Jazz | comments(0) | -

      Tohru Aizawa Quartet - 相澤徹 : Tachibana (2LP/with Obi/reissue)

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        Tohru Aizawa Quartet - 相澤徹 : Tachibana (2LP/with Obi/reissue)


        year/2018
        country/Import
        label/BBE (BBE469ALP)

        この瞬間をどれだけ待ったことでしょう・・・間違いなく本年度・和ジャズ復刻のトップクラス・トピック!!
        相澤徹『タチバナ』が遂に!!遂に!!アナログ・リイシュー決定です!!



        UKの名門レーベル"BBE"から2018年1月にリリースされたコンピレーション「J Jazz Deep Modern Jazz From Japan (1969-1984)」やUKきっての良質レーベルJazzmanから2018年3月にリリースされた人気コンピレーション「SPIRITUAL JAZZ 8 - JAPAN」にも本作から収録され、発売から40年以上経過した現在でも世界中のジャズ・ファン、音楽好きから熱い視線が注がれる1作。
        前記コンピレーションでも各1曲のみ収録というその全容を聴くとなると大変貴重なオリジナル盤を探すしかありませんでした。その色褪せるこのない存在感と魅力、後期コルトレーンのような爆発的な演奏が全編を貫く圧巻の内容を聴ける日がやって来るとは・・・。

        目を惹くジャケットは本作の出資者であり、熱烈なジャズ・ファンでもあった橘郁二郎(たちばな いくじろう)の家紋。相澤徹カルテットの演奏を聴いた橘がレコード制作を勧め出資までしたというので、この奇跡的な出逢いが無ければ聴かれることは無かったのかもしれないと考えると感慨深いものがあります。しかも販売用ではなく名刺代わりにレコードを作ったということなので、オリジナルの自主制作盤は一体何枚現存するのか・・・間違いなく本年度和ジャズ復刻のトップクラス・トピックをお見逃しなく!!

        A1. Philosopher's Stone
        B1. Sacrament
        C1. La Fiesta
        D1. Dead Letter
        D2. Samba De Orfeu





        以下引用
        How a Japanese medical student and local businessman made one of the most coveted records of all time

        Used as a business card by the man who funded the recording in his basement and after whom the album is named, Tohru Aizawa Quartet’s Tachibana is one of the rarest Japanese jazz records of all time. Featured on BBE’s new J-Jazz compilation, Tony Higgins tells the bizarre story behind this real-life holy grail.


        On 30th March 1975, four young college students gathered in the presence of a wealthy local businessman, Ikujiroh Tachibana, in the town of Numata, Gunma Prefecture, about 90 miles north of Tokyo. The four amateur musicians were there to record their first and only album, an album that would remain forgotten for the next forty years. After labouring in obscurity for decades, the record has become one of the most revered and sought after artefacts in the esoteric world of Japanese modern jazz, emblematic of the fanatical culture and desire for perfection that pervades it.


        It is a world that has been given a fresh take on new BBE compilation J-Jazz: Deep modern jazz from Japan 1969-1984, which features Tohru Aizawa Quarter’s track ‘Dead Letter’ from Tachibana. This album has all the necessary components of such cultish impulse: mysterious and vague details about its origin, brief existence, superb craftsmanship and skill, and scarcity of the object…


        But what is the story of this album, why is it so special, and how has it become a central totem in the wallet-bashing world of Japanese jazz collectors?

        Let’s go back to March 1975 and the grand house of Ikujiroh Tachibana in Numata, Japan. Tachibana was a successful businessman and member of a prestigious family who could trace its lineage back to seventh century Japan. The Tachibana clan were, for several centuries, a powerful aristocratic family with close links to the imperial court, and the clan emblem or mon 紋 is used on the cover to the album.

        Not only was Tachibana a respected and well-known local figure, he was also a big jazz fan. He would frequent local jazz clubs and bars and sometimes travel to nearby towns such as Maebashi and Isezaki – as well as Tokyo – to catch visiting American artists like trumpeter Charles Tolliver and pianist Mal Waldron, alongside home grown talent. One such band was the Tohru Aizawa Quartet, a group started in 1969 by two brothers, Kyochiro and Tetsuya Morimura.


        Kychiro was a saxophonist and music student who later became a teacher, and Tetsuya was a drummer and law student. A few years younger than pianist Tohru Aizawa, they joined forces after hearing Aizawa perform at a music festival held in the medical school in Maebashi. (Aizawa, born in 1950, had moved there from Tokyo to study medicine. He would eventually graduate top of his class). Suitably impressed by Aizawa’s skills on the keys, the Morimura bothers decided to form a group and were joined by bass player Konzoh Watanabe, a fellow law student of Tetsuya Morimura.

        They began gigging at local jazz spots, gaining something of a residency at Mokuba, a jazz spot in Maebashi owned by Kohichi Negishi. It was here that the group built a small but loyal following, among them local businessman and jazz fanatic, Ikujiroh Tachibana. He suggested that they make a record and he would finance it. Moreover, he would use the finished LP as a business card to promote himself and the band.

        Quite what the recipients made of this was not recorded, but a few quizzical looks were no doubt shared. According to Aizawa maybe as few as 150-200 copies were manufactured, although nobody really knows, and it’s probably safe to assume several copies were discarded straight after being received. Unsurprisingly, using an LP as a business card didn’t catch on.


        In the original album sleeve notes, reference is made to a handwritten note from Aizawa explaining the motivation for the group:

        “We just created music we wanted to create. We are aware that music takes a different shape dependent on the ear of the listener. There are people who can appreciate it and others for whom it’s just noise – just a load of notes clumped together. We know it’s not to everyone’s taste but decided to push on and create for it for ourselves.”


        The album opens with ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ written by drummer Tetsuya Morimura. For a teenage amateur player to compose and perform such an accomplished and impressive piece is a testament to the talent that the band contained. Testuya’s saxophonist brother Kiyoshiro describes the recording and the influences that went into the session:

        “We thought it would be a nice memento so we went to Mr. Tachibana’s hall to record the album. It was recorded by someone from Trio Kenwood Records. At this hall, there was a Steinway full concert grand piano, and Mr. Tachibana invited famous musicians such as Zoot Sims, Eiji Kitamura and others to do concerts there. It was not a recording studio so they had difficulty getting the balance right. Just like any other live show that we regularly did, we had fun doing it. I don’t remember doing re-takes, so I think it was mostly done in one take. It was not commercially sold. I think it was given out by Mr. Tachibana in place of a business card. I listened to a lot of John Coltrane, Sadao Watanabe, Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. My brother, Tetsuya, listened to a lot of Tony Williams and Elvin Jones.”




        ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ is followed by ‘Sacrament’, an epic modal composition by saxophonist Kiyochiro Morimura that fans of Pharaoh Sanders and late-era John Coltrane will appreciate. After an extended intro the band drop into a heavy, churning groove, Morimura’s saxophone scorching above the volcanic rhythm section. Aizawa’s own composition ‘Dead Letter’ is featured on the J-Jazz compilation. He says the track “just came out naturally, a spiritual outflow of myself.”




        Although he has many other compositions to his name, this is the only one ever recorded. Thus far, all but ‘Dead Letter’ remain unheard outside of the lucky few who saw the band perform 40 years agoas. ‘Dead Letter’ is a performance of great bravura, a propulsive attack of rhythmic power and textural depth, redolent of McCoy Tyner at his most impactful. Aizawa’s own influences range from Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk and Chick Corea (Corea’s ‘La Fiesta’ is one of the two covers on the album) to Japanese jazz piano master, the late Masabumi Kikuchi.




        The album finishes with a furious burn through the classic ‘Samba de Orfeu’, at such a speed it’s astonishing the band hold it together. An example of nascent talent, it’s hard not to ponder on the potential in a band that left just a single physical manifestation of their work.




        The artwork on the album was designed by Kohichi Negishi, owner of the Mokuba jazz spot in Maebashi where the band often played. A portrait of the band’s sponsor, the avuncular Tachibana himself, leaning with drink in hand, graces the inside of the gatefold sleeve. It is accompanied by a typically polite ‘thank you’ and a greeting in which he remarks at “how polished the record is for a band that rehearsed and played in between their studies”. He goes on to say that “they get better each time he hears them and is always moved by their performances”. Tantalisingly, he also states he “wants to create more records and find hidden gems” but no more recordings of the Tohru Aizawa Quartet were ever made. By the time the record was issued as Tachibana’s business card, Aizawa and the elder Morimura were hard at work with no time to devote to their music.


        In the case of Tohru Aizawa himself, he went on to work as a doctor at his family hospital in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, where he continues to work today specialising in diabetes. He still plays piano occasionally but never again recorded. The other members did continue in music to some degree, albeit for only a few more years. Kyoishiroh Morimura played with the groups Sing Out and the Kenji Yoshida Quintet; sibling Testuya released a solo live recording album called Akai Tori Concert (Red Bird Concert) which featured Japanese jazz icon Sadao Watanabe as a guest. But none of their projects ever matched the intensity or mystery of Tachibana.

        To Mr. Tachibana and the Tohru Aizawa Quartet, arigatou gozaimasu.
        Record - Jazz | comments(0) | -

        R+R=NOW : Collagically Speaking (2LP)

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          R+R=NOW : Collagically Speaking (2LP) ¥4580



          Blue Note/6755433

          ロバート・グラスパー、テラス・マーティン、クリスチャン・スコット・アトゥンデ・アジュアー、デリック・ホッジ、ジャスティン・タイソン、テイラー・マクファーリンという豪華6人から成る話題のスーパー・バンド、R+R=NOWのデビュー・アルバムがブルーノートから急遽リリース!!


          ロバート・グラスパー、テラス・マーティンら6名の才能が集まったオールスター・プロジェクト、R+R=NOW始動!
          現代ジャズ・シーンの革命児「ロバート・グラスパー」と、ケンドリック・ラマーのグラミー賞受賞作『To Pimp A Butterfly』を手がけ、リリースが待たれているハービー・ハンコックの新作にロバート・グラスパーと共に参加していることでも注目を集める「テラス・マーティン」をはじめ、ロバート・グラスパー・エクスペリメントのメンバーとして活躍し、マックスウェルの音楽監督もつとめる「デリック・ホッジ」、今年のロバート・グラスパー・エクスペリメントのツアーでドラムを務めたことも記憶に新しい「ジャスティン・タイソン」らに加え、近年はクリスチャン・スコット・アトゥンデ・アジュアーと名乗って活躍するカリスマ・トランペッターの「クリスチャン・スコット」、そしてグラミー賞受賞ジャズ・シンガーのボビー・マクファーリンを父に持ち、DJ、ビートボクサーからプロデューサー、シンガーと多彩な顔を持つ「テイラー・マクファーリン」という、豪華なラインナップ。

          R+R=NOWは「Reflect+Respond=NOW」を意味しており、「時代を反映させることはアーティストの責務である」というニーナ・シモンの有名な言葉にインスパイアされて生まれたグループ名。

          全てに通じるテーマは、歌詞で歌われる事もあり歌われずに暗示されているものもあるが、ロマンティックな愛、普遍的な愛、システマティックな偏見、女性運動、クワイエット・パワー、ワイルドなクリエイティヴィティ、個々の悲しみや成長など。

          このグループに関してグラスパーは、「メンバー全員のそれぞれのサウンドは違うが、俺たちは皆、同じコンクリート・ガーデンからやってきた。とても誠実で、流動的なサウンドになる。ヒップホップ、EDM、ジャズ、時にはレゲエも聞こえるような。お互いをとてもリスペクトしているから、俺たちは常に相手にパスを出すことができるんだ」とコンセプトを説明。

          今の時代を反映し、このメンバーにしか出来ない革新的な音楽を創りあげている。]

          フィーチャリング・ゲストも豪華!!!!オマリ・ハードウィック:俳優(世界的ミュージシャンの50セント製作総指揮が企画した米ドラマ『POWER/パワー』で主役)テリー・クルーズ:元NFLアメリカン・フットボール選手で現俳優(米ドラマ『ブルックリン・ナイン-ナイン』、映画『エクスペンダブルズ』などに出演)アマンダ・シールズ:女優/コメディアン/シンガー/ラッパー(米ドラマ『インセキュア』に出演)スターリー:ラッパー(リック・ロスに見いだされたラッパー)、ヤシーン・ベイ:ラッパー、俳優(モスデフ)、アンバー・ナヴラン:シンガー(ムーンチャイルドVo)、ゴアペレ:シンガーソングライター(ドレイクがサンプリングした“Closer”のヒットで知られる)など!

          Disc 1
          A1. Change Of Tone
          A2. Awake To You
          A3. By Design

          B1. Resting Warrior
          B2. Needed You Still feat. Omari Hardwick
          B3. Colors In The Dark

          Disc 2
          C1. The Night In Question feat. Terry Crews
          C2. Reflect Reprise feat. Stalley
          C3 HER=NOW feat. Amanda Seales

          D1. Respond
          D2. Been On My Mind feat. Amber Navran





           

           

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          Record - Jazz | comments(0) | -
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