
Takeshi Inomata & Sound L.t.d. for King Records Japan from 1971.
Takeshi Inomata(drums)Shunzou Ohno (trumpet/flugelhorn) Shigehito Ohhara (elec.piano/ Hammond Organ /piano)J.F.Conception(sop.alt.ten.sax/flute)Jun Suzuki (elec.base/pianica/whistle solo)Takehisa Suzuki (trumpet/piccolo trumpet/flugelhorn)Shigemichi Dohmoto (trombone/vib.)Osamu Nakajima (percussion)Kimio MIzitani (elec.guitar/fork guitar/sitar)Toshiaki Yokota (flute/bass/alto flute/blockflute/piccolo)Noriaki Kanoh (narration)
This one's been on heavy rotation at Bacoso's Big Top for weeks a mad mix of psyche jazz fusion and whistling(!)...totally bonkers stuff from Inomata and his Sound of Sound crew.
Here's a review lifted from a thread on Japanese progressive rock over at ProgArchives.com put together by DamoX(Jap.Psych Specialist) which really captures the essence of the album:
A borderless creation by borderless musicians.
One of the matchlessly eccentric sound kaleidoscopes - even in Japan every reviewer called him as a musician with a warped soundscape. Yes, he might be a confuser (in a good sense). Amazingly, Takeshi promoted Noriaki KANOH, a young and promising photographer, to a narrator (free talker?) in this album. Such a strategy we could not find in another one in 1971. Anyway, 1971 was a golden year for Japanese progressive rock scene, as I've mentioned again and again ... and the credit of Kimio MIZUTANI can be found on lots of album sleeves in that year. Even in 'Innocent Canon', Kimio's aggressive guitar solo can lead all instruments and all listeners. And yeah, Takeshi's strict drumming absolutely can support this 'air' and 'ground'. The narration by Noriaki (currently he's called 'Tenmei' though) is sometimes lazy, sometimes unique, and sometimes ardent. Mysteriously, for me his talk was boring previously, but to listen to this stuffs again and again has interested me in his fuzzy fascination for music.
This album cannot be discussed only under the category of jazz-rock, though Takeshi was (and is) a renowned Japanese jazz drummer indeed. Kimio's heavy guitar and ethnic sitar, Toshiaki YOKOTA's mind-altering flute, and especially Noriaki's flat narration - all elements can make these songs more psychedelic and more avantgarde. Listen to the first track Introduction directly ... heavy, headaching, hypnotic riffs and enthusiastic but level narrations are very typical upon Japanese psychedelic progressive rock scene in the early 70s. In the next The Death Of Janis (dedicated to Janis Joplin) Toshiaki's flute solo is very mind-blowing, in spite of Noriaki's sensitive talk. The third Go For Nothing has violent 'NO!' voices and at the same time a delightful, pleasant jazz ensemble ... this contrast is wonderful. Alone, the sixth, is very impressive with Oriental fragile mood by Kimio's sitar. We feel impulsive tension even in the last song Epilog, where Jun SUZUKI's whistle be very comfortable indeed.
Highly recommended as a very strange footprint on Japanese music scene.
ALL KILLER NO FILLER!!!

33 comments made-how about you?:
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Great stuff. Thanks Bacoso.
Thank you very much for this very good album and for your wonderful work!
dear bacoso,
you are fantastic! thank you very much!
Okay, I'll give it a spin! :-)
Many thanks for this forgotten record.
Fegos,
sweet, thanks Bacoso
Thank you mate , very good
1 Introduction 5:57
2 The Death Of Janis 4:00
3 Go For Nothing 7:28
4 Child&I 4:03
5 Blue 5:11
6 Alone 7:15
7 Epilog
well, how could i walk away from a description like that! downloading now!
thanks, friend.
loving the new opening image, by the way.
Wow ! Looking forward to listen to it. But let me thank you before ! Your blog is just part of TOP 3 in the smooth world of fusion jazz
If I may, I would like to encourage you all to check every LPs featuring Shunzo (or Shunzoh) Ohno. This trumpet player is always part of groovy experiment though his LPs are not 100% funky to me
Here are my favorite LP/tracks over 4 LPs available in the blogosphere
- Quarter Moon (1979). Of course. With crazy line-up but...only 2 really crazy tracks. "Jeff and "Fatback"
- Something's Coming (1975) is only excellent for one track ! "But It's Not So (11mn !)"
- Bubbles (1976) has a nice cover but definitly not reaching my type of groove. You can listen to "Song For My Kid" but not a tremendous one
- Antares (1980). Too soft for me. You can try "You First". But the groove is not there
Cheers gentlemen
This is fantastic!
Really cool! I would suggest new music from Jeff Lorber. Here is a free track off his new record Now Is The Time
http://www.headsup.com/ecards/32029/Sumatra.mp3
The description is indeed captivating so I got this album and ofcourse was beautiful! The voice sits wonderfully on the mix and everything sounds fresh and imaginitive. Very nice upload, thank you very much, once again!
Looks mad interesting. Thanks Bacoso!
Just stumbled across your blog this evening, there is some wonderful stuff on here, thank you so much!!!
Thanks for the great shares Bacoso :)
many thanks m8 for a cracking drop!
Japanese prog rock? I'm not very knowledgeable about prog rock, or jazz rock for that matter, but a very interesting record indeed. Thanks!
And,
for anyone interested, i've got two offerings:
- Don Cunningham Quartet
- Kako's New York After Hour Orchestra
Feel free to visit my blog. blogdigginmystics.
Ciao
Ditto the thanks - I have always been a fan of jazz whistling.
can never go wrong with a bit of whistling...
Bacoso, each time I happen on this blog, it's a bliss!!!
Really thank you for what you're doin', giving new light to such forgotten masterpieces ( and letting us listen'em ) is something that makes a life worth living :D
Carlos
this is a great album,
thank you Bacoso
Thank you.
Terrific
Thank you
Many thanks Bacoso; I had no idea this even existed.
just the way we like it - even my kids get this! thanks for finding and big thanks for posting.
Once again, you've shared overlooked fantasticality. Thank you!
As you say: totally bonkers. But surely a classic!
You excelled even your high standards with this share, Bacoso!!
Second cut sounds like "Drunk Samurai Fusion From Hell".Drummer is the Shit!You can pick 'em B
Makes want to get a pint and write B-Western Haiku!
Thanks
Chazz
Really something off the beaten path - thank you.
As an unusual example of j-jazz or j-fusion or j-weirdness, it'd be wonderful to have Jazz-Nekko's take on this - brother, where art thou?
J-Jazz seems to be very appreciated... Thank you Bacoso
this is awesome!!
this stuff is growing on me
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