MIHO KEI & JAZZ ELEVEN "KOKEZARU KUMIKYOKU" (MCA, 1971)

Here's what mvns about this LP: "Arranged and composed by Keitaro Miho (he didn't perform in this album), this is a spiritual adventure to a world where traditional Japanese music clashes and melts with contemporary jazz improvisations. The result is a monster of an album, with soaring vocals, searing saxophone and shakuhachi solos, mad electric piano action, uplifting koto strummings, as well as grooves so hard it feels you got punched in the gut."
  [There is a CD version (out-of-print) which is a disaster, sound quality-wise - crude needle-drop. There's also a vinyl reissue but it's out-of-print as well]




Takeru Muraoka, soprano & tenor saxophone, indian flute
Takehisa Suzuki, trumpet
Minoru Muraoka, shakuhachi
Suma No Arashi (Hideakira Sakurai, Kazuo Kojima, Nozomu Nakatani), koto
Ryo Kawasaki, electric guitar
Masahiko Satoh, electric piano, harpsichord
Yasuo Arakawa, electric bass
Kikutada Katada, tsuzumi (japanese hour-glass shaped drum)
Akira Ishikawa, drums
Takeshi Inomata, drums


A1. Mizaru   6:33
A2. Kikazaru 4:38
A3. Iwazaru  6:59
B1. Kine     7:16
B2. Nomen    7:39


MCA Records JMC-5026 (promo LP, 1971)

(vinyl rip)

MASAOMI KONDO - 植物誌 ひとりぼっちの部屋 (CANYON, 1971)

Here we have another high quality rip by mvns - my thanks goes to him.


Kondo Masaomi is a well know Japanese actor who made this one-off LP in 1971. He raps away on 6 tracks about various plant species such as the Mandragora, breathing out an endangered atmosphere that borders at times on sheer anarchy and agitation.



Takeru Muraoka, soprano saxophone
Hiroshi Suzuki, trombone
Kiyoshi Sugimoto, guitar
Masahiko Satoh, piano, electric piano, music
Masaoki Terakawa, electric bass
Akira Ishikawa, drums
Masaomi Kondo, voice
Michio Yamagami, lyrics

A1. ツタ             9:55 A2. オリーブ     9:36 A3. キャベツ     2:03 B1. サボテン     8:26 B2. マンドラゴラ     7:03 B3. バイバブ     4:45
Transliterations (titles): A1. Ivy A2. Olive A3. Cabbage B1. Cactus B2. Mandragora B3. Baobab
Canyon CAL-3002 (vinyl rip)