Various Artists - J Jazz Vol. 4: Deep Modern Jazz From Japan:The Nippon..

180-gram triple LP set

With J Jazz Volume 4, the BBE J Jazz Bullet Train continues its journey traversing the expansive landscape of modern Japanese jazz. Volume 4 is the latest in the universally praised compilation series exploring the best, rarest and most innovative jazz to emerge from the Far East. Please take your seats for a first-class ticket to J Jazz central. This latest station stop off is with the famed Nippon Columbia label, one of the biggest labels in Japan, whose jazz output embraces every possible style imaginable.

Focusing on the key years 1968-1981, J Jazz Volume 4 sees compilers Tony Higgins and Mike Peden dig even deeper into their record collections and pull-out tracks that span styles ranging from solo to big band, jazz classical interpretations and heavy jazz rock, to febrile post-bop, white hot samba fusion, and modal psychedelic wig-outs. J Jazz Volume 4 features icons such as drum master Takeo Moriyama, keyboard magi Hiromasa Suzuki, Fumio Itabashi, and Masahiko Satoh, and guitar wizards Kazumi Watanabe and Kiyoshi Sugimoto, alongside big band maestros and innovators Nobuo Hara and his Sharps and Flats, and Toshiyuki Miyama's New Herd. Thunderous basslines nestle alongside glistening runs of electric piano, bubbling synths and air-tight drumming as the heavy psychedelic modal blues of Jiro Inagaki flows with the infectious samba grooves of Takashi Mizuhashi featuring Herbie Hancock; Shigeharu Mukai's fusion funk epics take the music to another level and Mikio Masuda's driving keyboard rhythms brings the heat to an incendiary dancefloor zone.

With 7,000 words of extensive sleeve notes, J Jazz Volume 4 comes in a triple 180-gram vinyl set inside a deluxe gatefold sleeve with obi strip plus a 4-page insert. The double CD features two bonus tracks not on the vinyl edition. Mastered at the Grammy-nominated Carvery Studio by Frank Merritt, this latest collection is a worthy successor to the preceding three volumes that have set the bar so high. J Jazz is curated for BBE Music by Tony Higgins and Mike Peden.

Features:

A deep dive into the modern jazz catalogue of one of Japan's leading major labels, Nippon Columbia covering a crucial period of musical creativity and innovation between 1968 - 1981.

Features tracks from a diverse pantheon of J Jazz icons including; Takeo Moriyama, Fumio Itabashi, Shigeharu Mukai, Nobuo Hara Sharps and Flats, Jiro Inagaki and many more.

Extensive sleeve notes and artists biographies written by co-curators Tony Higgins and Mike Peden.

All music sourced from the master tapes and mastered by the Grammy-nominated Carvery Studio.

Disc 1

Exchange – Takeo Moriyama

The Ground for Peace – Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media

Chakkiri-Bushi – Nobuo Hara and his Sharps & Flats, Hozan Yamamoto

Trial Road – Tomoki Takahashi

A Muddy Muffin – Masahiko Satoh

Disc 2

Samba de Negrito – Takashi Mizuhashi & Herbie Hancock

Scramble – Hiromasa Suzuki

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun – Nobuo Hara and His Sharps & Flats

Toppu – Shigeharu Mukai

Disc 3

Ougi Denju-shiki – Toshiyuki Miyama and His New Herd

Jones Street – Kiyoshi Sugimoto

Mickey's Samba – Mikio Masuda

By the Red Stream – Hiromasa Suzuki, Jiro Inagaki & Big Soul Media

Kaleidoscope (Edit) – Mickie Yoshino & Kazumi Watanabe

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