J-Jazz - Deep Modern Jazz from Japan 1969-1984

by Various Artists

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Cas Castle (The Modernist, PBS 106.7FM) thumbnail

Cas Castle (The Modernist, PBS 106.7FM) Fine collection, looking forward to Vol 2. Favorite track: Earth Mother.

tOm Some pearls to be found here. Favorite track: Aya's Samba.

justin pardy Amazing document & music.Japan! Favorite track: Dead Letter.

David Chatenay This is a stellar selection of bebop and modern jazz from Japan. Great performers and solid jams all around, and the recordings are excellent. Highly recommended!

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
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 postwar modern jazz scene in Japan.

Includes unlimited streaming of J-Jazz - Deep Modern Jazz from Japan 1969-1984 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

€8 EUR or more
3LP Vinyl Album
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
3LP with OBI strip 180gram gatefold vinyl.

Tracklist 3LP Vinyl Album:

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*

*This tracks are vinyl only, not on CD.

Includes unlimited streaming of J-Jazz - Deep Modern Jazz from Japan 1969-1984 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

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1.	Koichi Matsukaze Trio - Earth Mother 11:22	info	buy track
2.	Tohru Aizawa Quartet - Dead Letter 10:11	info	buy track
3.	Eiji Nakayama - Aya's Samba 06:33	info	buy track
4.	Takao Uematsu - White Fire 07:48	info	buy track
5.	Shintaro Quintet - A Blind Man 10:55	info	buy track
6.	Mitsuaki Katayama - Unknown Point 06:33	info	buy track
7.	Takeo Moriyama - Kaze 05:09	info	buy track
8.	Terumasa Hino - Ode to Workman 15:19	info	buy track
9.	Fumio Karashima - Little Island 09:04	info	buy track
10.	Kiyoshi Sugimoto - Long Neal 08:26	info	buy track

about

In the years following the 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 postwar 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.

For Fans Of:
Gilles Peterson, Wax Poetics, Cinematic Orchestra

credits

released February 23, 2018

2018, BBE

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about

BBE London, UK

Sometime after the Universal Robot Band and sometime before where we are now, a pair of DJ/promoter/whatevers, Pete Adarkwah and Ben Jolly, ran a successful club night named after our eponymous song, playing a joyful mix of all they considered good. 'Wouldn't it be fun,' they mused, 'To release some of these tunes?' And so BBE (Barely Breaking Even) was born. ... more

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