Various Artists

Wamono Groove: Shakuhachi & Koto Jazz Funk '76 (180GWALP04)

Wamono Groove: Shakuhachi & Koto Jazz Funk '76 View larger

Wamono Groove: Shakuhachi & Koto Jazz Funk '76

Various Artists

180g

5050580774728

LPS 167318

180GWALP04

FUNK

1

LP 29,98 €

180 GRAM VINYL LP EDITION

Unlike previous instalments in the 180g label's Wamono series, this isn't a compilation in the strictest sense of the term, but rather a retrospective. It showcases a range of killer jazz-funk and rare groove tunes recorded at Nippon Columbia studios in the mid 1970s by arranger Kiyoshi Yamaya, koto legend Toshiko Yonekawa and shakahuchi master Kifu Mitsuhashi.

Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the mellow, slow-burn lusciousness of 'Nanbu Ushioi-Uta' and the up-beat, guitar solo-laden brilliance of 'Hohai-Bushi', to the all-time Japanese jazz-funk classic that is 'Saitaro-Bushi' and the solo-laden brilliance of 'Asadoya Yunti', whose dazzling Fender Rhodes solos are reminiscent of the early '70s work of the late, great Billy Preston.

PERSONNEL:

  • Kimio Koizumi; Kunimitsu Inaba (bass)
  • Kazuyoshi Okayama (drums)
  • Kiyoshi Sugimoto; Mitsuo Murakami (guitar)
  • Hiroo Umezawa; Osamu Nakajima (percussion)
  • Hiromu Hisatomi; Keisuke Egusa; Naoya Matsuoka (piano)
  • Jake Concepcion (tenor sax)
  • Tadataka Nakazawa, Yoshitsugu Nishimura (trombone)
  • Takehisa Suzuki; Tetsuo Fushimi (trumpet)
  • Isao Kanayama; Ryusei Matsuzaki (vibes)

All tracks recorder in May 1976 at Nippon Columbia Studio

TRACKS:

  • SIDE A
  • A1. Kifu Mitsuhashi - Nanbu Ushioi- Uta
  • A2. Toshiko Yonekawa - Isohama Bon-Uta
  • A3. Kifu Mitsuhashi - Hohai-Bushi
  • A4. Toshiko Yonekawa - Otemoyan
  • A5. Kifu Mitsuhashi - Aizu Bandaisan
  • SIDE B
  • B1. Toshiko Yonekawa - Saitaro-Bushi
  • B2. Kifu Mitsuhashi - Soma Nagareyama
  • B3. Toshiko Yonekawa - Yagi-Bushi
  • B4. Kifu Mitsuhashi - Asadoya Yunta
  • B5. Toshiko Yonekawa - Konpira Fune Fune