Hiro Yanagida ‎– Hirocosmos 1973 (Japan, Jazz Rock)

Hiro Yanagida ‎– Hirocosmos 1973 (Japan, Jazz Rock)

A fairly diverse range of styles of various fusion. The A-side and "Uncertain Trip" on B-side being my favorites. Tends to swing more than your usual album in this field which is quite nice. These days I'm getting pretty bored with the back-beat plodders that slog on for over 6-7 minutes. The only track that I hear being proggy is "Happy Cruise" that features some nice guitars, flute and a rare mellotron appearance and even here we have a swinging post-bop verse in the middle. The intro of the modal waltz("Uncertain Trip") before the solos sounds awfully similar to something I've heard before, but can't namedrop now, fantastic smooth tenor sax at the periphery of the track. The second track is a blazing odd-meter piece of tropical fusion while the first one features a mellow melody, an ocean in the background and a laid-back shuffle rhythm, before a neurotic bop section wakes us up for the drowsy comfort only to return to the beginning. It's a little close to smooth jazz, but the nuance in the phrasing of the electric piano is there to my ears. "Time for Reverie" glides in arhythmic ambience like early Weather Report or obscure Italian bands from the period used to, so I'll take it.

Sounds like a winner, but regrettably it does disappoint with the arrangements. Two words - ARP odyssey - on most of my favorite tracks manages to date this one HARD, and they've given it a lot of space in the meters as well, especially on "Uncertain Trip" which is a real shame.

Edit: The intro of the "Uncertain trip" is loaned obviously from Traffic's best track "Low Spark of the High Heeled Boys". How could I not remember that...King_Insano May 07 2016


Tracks:

01. The Sea Of Tempest — 0:00

02. Ode To Taurus — 5:37

03. Breaking Sound-Barrier — 9:55

04. Happy Cruise — 15:14

05. Rockomotion — 21:46

06. Uncertain Trip — 27:40

07. Time For Reverie — 34:20



Personnel:

Hiro Yanagida — piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, Arp synthesizer, mellotron
Masayoshi Takanaka — electric guitar
Tsugutoshi Goto — electric bass
Takeru Muraoka — tenor saxophone
Masami Kawahara — percussion
Robert Rosenstein — drums
Jynn Maeda — producer

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