25.12.07

Christmas


MASAO NAKAJIMA QUARTET - KEMO SABE (1979)

kemo sabe
beloved diane
tell me a bedtime story
third plane
moments notice
my love

masao nakajima (p)
toshiyuki honda (fl, as, ss)
osamu kawakami (b)
donald bailey (d)

12 comments:

vesper said...

http://lix.in/758bae

Jazz-Nekko said...

vesper,

cheers for this intriguing number. . .

i, of course, have heard the name masao nakajima, but it is usually connected with animation soundtracks conducting, arrangements or such.

i am unable to locate any particular information about this set. could you enlighten me a bit? which recording label? where was it recorded? my 'googling' produced nothing - and believe me, i tried a number of variations!

i can see that at this time there were a number of "cowboy/western" genre albums being produced. is there some connection to this set?


cheers,

jn

Burningbluesoul said...

Merry Christmas to you Vesper, and many thanks for this wonderful gift. Your fine blog has been a constant source of joy this past year.

vesper said...

JN, as far as I see and read from my copy, there is no connection with animation or western/cowboy stuff. What I can tell you is that it was recorded by Musical Publications of Aoyama, and issued on Yupitero (?).The recording location is Teshiku Suginami studio (no city is mentioned). The producer is Tadao Shimo. Beyond the specific recording material (you know how Japanese do), there is no more detail... And no liner notes. Hope it rings a bell to you, though.

steve.d said...

merry christmas pharoah,peace be with you.

Jazz-Nekko said...

vesper,

Cheers for the clarifications -and I will add a couple of more, if you do not mind. . .

In those days (boy, do i sound old!), English transliterations of Japanese names, locations, etc. were done very poorly. So, I can tell you that the set was most likely recorded at Teichiku Suginami Studio, Suginami-ku, Tokyo [this company still exists, but has since morphed once or twice]. Teichiku is still a very productive film ,arts and media production company, to frame this better, they are comparable in terms of specialisation, areas of expertise, etc. (not output or income!) to any major Hollywood productions studio.

The set producer, Tadao Shimo [志茂忠男], is or was very well-known, having worked with such Japanese jazz giants as Aki Takase, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Kikiuchi Masabumi, Sadao Watanabe and others.

Again, the transliteration problem we Japanese used to have - this time with the recording company name. The name should read, Yupiteru Records. It was an affiliate of the electronics manufacturer, Yupiteru Industry Co., Ltd.

I placed a telephone call enquiry yesterday with Teichiku to locate Shimo-san because his current address & telephone number are out-dated. Perhaps he may sbe able to give me a better idea of this set's concepts.

Lastly, perhaps unknown to you but here in Japan at at the time of this recording, there was a kind of 'boom'/trend for all things, "cowboy & Westerns". Hence, the title plays on the word, "kemo sabe" (trusted friend), which most may know from The Lone Ranger Series'; those reruns were aired here and were considered very popular.

from your 'anal' (self-described)Okinawan Devil,

JN

Burningbluesoul said...

Vesper: Email me privately for the links to the Masabumi Kikuchi Matrix LP I promised you.

Unknown said...

i just want to thank you for all the music you have been sharing. it's wonderful to listen to artists i have never heard of.

Anonymous said...

I like this direction - very interesting unheard of Japanese releases ?

I am looking for Mashiko Togashi's "We Now Create" and Stomu Yamshita & The Horizon "Sunrise From West Sea Live" if anyone has these as rapidshare links please post ...

Anonymous said...

Very nice record. INteresting period the late 70s, a lot of jazzers returned to acoustic piano...

About the cowboy thing, there was also a record in the UK charts around 1979 by Rupert Hines band (forget the name, but the title was something really long and stupid) with "cowboys and indians" connotations..

Lemoncat,, said...

i just stumbled upon your blog tonight,, gulp looks like i got some catching up to do.. fantastic

Belan Richárd said...

Great many thanks for it, cheers from PnF blog

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