YOSUKE YAMASHITA 山下洋輔 — Yosuke Yamashita Trio ‎: Dancing 古事記 (review)

YOSUKE YAMASHITA 山下洋輔 — Yosuke Yamashita Trio ‎: Dancing 古事記 album cover Live album · 1969 · Avant-Garde Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
snobb
"Dancing 古事記" is respected Japanese piano player Yosuke Yamashita's debut album, coming from the time he was a student of musical college in Tokyo. A bassless trio, coming from behind the barricades during the student occupation of Waseda University in July 1969.

The years 1968 and 1969 were both a breaking point in Western world, with counterculture peak, explosion and start of decline as well (ie Woodstock, barricades in Paris' Sorbonne, etc, etc). The world will never be the same again, and what is probably much less known, these events catalyzed the reaction in Japan as well.

Three tracks, of which first 50-seconds long one is not a music but recorded on barricades agitator's speech (on Japanese). It introduces the atmosphere of the moment and two upcoming long free jazz pieces perfectly.

What in a Western world of the time is a rock revolution of late 60s, on Japanese ground has it's equivalent in avant-garde jazz, extremely radical music for the time.

Yamashita plays with his early days trio, containing drummer Takeo Moriyama and sax player Seiichi Nakamura. Their music here still doesn't reach the level of aggression known from Peter Brötzmann's "Machine Gun", but despite of some tuneful inclusions, it sounds as perfect soundtrack to the actions in a student campus that's for sure.

Later same year Yamashita will release with same trio his first studio album "Mina's Second Theme" which bring him first success, still as underground jazz artist for the beginning.

Quite aptly titled "Dancing 古事記", this album represents both the spirit of era and a music of the short-lived but very creative moment of Japanese jazz history.

P.S. There is still available short filmed video from this concert on youtube which is very recommended for those interested in catching the spirit of the moment
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Dan Rosenboom, Joshua White, Billy Mohler, Shawn Baltazor : The Left Edge, Live at Vine Eclectic Fusion
DANIEL ROSENBOOM
Buy this album from MMA partners
12 Angry Mushrooms Fusion
BOSQUE / BOSQUE SOUND COMMUNITY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Here We Are RnB
SIERRA GREEN AND THE SOUL MACHINE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Embraceable Vocal Jazz
SUSIE ARIOLI
Buy this album from MMA partners
Stephen Gauci​/​Matt Hollenberg​/​Jeong Lim Yang​/​Patrick Golden : Live at Scholes Street Studio Avant-Garde Jazz
STEPHEN GAUCI
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Can You Get to That - Sierra Green & the Giants (Official Music Video 2024)
SIERRA GREEN AND THE SOUL MACHINE
js· 3 hours ago
Bosque Sound Community "San Francisco Waltz" A.MA Records A.MA Edizioni
BOSQUE / BOSQUE SOUND COMMUNITY
snobb· 22 hours ago
DRUG
EMMA WILSON
js· 1 day ago
No More X
SIMÓN WILLSON
js· 1 day ago
Dance of the Cranes
THE WATERCOLORS
js· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed