Huh this makes sense now
Oh I love this one. It introduced me to Casiopea and they're a PHENOMENAL band. Which sent me into a hole of finding more stuff like that, and now I love J-Jazz.
Recommendations? Not even limited to J-jazz — I used to do a lot more active music searching and I'm trying to get back into that, part of which involves asking random people who like different music than I do for recs
I'm not a huge Japanese jazz aficionado, but this is some stuff I've found over the years and enjoyed:
- Himiko Kikuchi - Flying Beagle
- Masayoshi Takanaka - All Of Me
- Jiro Inagaki - ファンキー・スタッフ (Funky Stuff)
If you like jazzy stuff in general, maybe you'd like:
- Lund Quartet - Lund Quartet
- Portico Quartet - Memory Streams
- Colin Stetson - All This I Do For Glory
- BADBADNOTGOOD - IV
- Snarky Puppy - Lingus
If you want something a bit different, Gypsy Jazz is really fun. Kinda a jazzy swing sound with a touch of bluegrass/americana mixed in.
My dad's super big into it but the band I always remember is Harmonious Wail
https://everynoise.com/engenremap-japanesejazzfusion.html
Everynoise is the website for exploring genres. Warning: Time will fly.
Give Takanaka a try.
I haven’t bought a record in a while but I used to buy a ton and buying used from Japan was always my favorite. It wasn’t like this if you bought from corporate stores obviously but almost every time I bought from just some dude on yahoo auctions or discogs or ebay or whatever I would have a similar experience. Handwritten note, candy, good luck charm from a shrine, etc. almost made up for the astronomical shipping
One time my friend ordered a book from Russia and got similar treatment except they got tea. We made it and it was the most horrible tea we had ever tried in our lives. It came with a sweet letter though so the sentiment was nice
Now I'm curious which tea they got
I'm curious if they left a positive review
Oh man thank you for reminding me of casiopea. Haven't listened to them since like early high-school I think. Back into weekly rotation now!
Yes this Greentext introduced me to Casiopea and jazz fusion, Mint Jams is still my favorite album of theirs. Other notable works of the genre include Miles Davis’s In a Silent Way, Masayoshi Takanaka’s On Guitar, and ISSEI NORO INSPIRITS’ BEAUTY.
I watched a great Japanese animated film last year about a jazz musician: Blue Giant. Can definitely recommend.
Huh, that’s actually pretty cool music.
A lot of the people doing video game music in the 80s were Casiopea fans, so there is a big overlap between their stuff and game music.
Their track "Countdown" being a very cleae example.
Listening to Dolphin while playing Wave Racer 64
Good ad; didn't get me into Japanese stuff because I'm already into anime and manga and underage looking girls and excessively gross porn and whatnot (could do without the pixelated junk, though), but it got me to listen to some Mint Jams.
Not exactly my thing (too much like elevator muzak for my taste, read Japanese jazz, expected something more like the Seatbelts 🤷♂️), but not bad, very eighties, could put it in the background while doing something else.
If you’re looking for something more pop-like, with heavy jazz influences, consider checking out Zutomayo. It’s a rotating cast of masked musicians, (the vocalist is the only permanent member), with some heavy big band and jazz underscoring it. The instrumentation is actually phenomenal, especially for a group that has the pop so front and center. For instance, the bass line from this (especially the solo around the 1:30 mark) could put many bass players to shame the first time they try it.
Little too much energy for elevator music IMO, when I think elevator music I think something like Aisha Duo
I ran into a live performance they did in 1985 the other day while i was doing yard work. It was really good, they're all phenomenal musicians. The crowd response was nutty, it was cool to see/hear that many people loving the hell out of the music and the band.
They remind me of Gran Turismo
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