Japanese Jazz Revisited

[clifford_thornton]

Mirage and Paris Days are both awesome LPs for sure!

[T.D.]

This showed up at DG. Hadn't heard of it, but I liked the Youtube I auditioned and Kikuchi is on (electric) piano, so preordered.

[mjazzg]

1 hour ago, T.D. said:

This showed up at DG. Hadn't heard of it, but I liked the Youtube I auditioned and Kikuchi is on (electric) piano, so preordered.

It's very good, I'm sure you'll enjoy it

[clifford_thornton]

I am a fan.

[Niko]

Me, too 

[Д.Д.]

On 3/29/2024 at 5:50 PM, T.D. said:

This showed up at DG. Hadn't heard of it, but I liked the Youtube I auditioned and Kikuchi is on (electric) piano, so preordered.

It's on Spotify: 

 

[Late]

 

Do not let this one slip past you. Especially if you're already a Takayanagi fan.

[Late]

This one is still confounding me...in a good way.

[clifford_thornton]

On 1/2/2026 at 5:11 PM, Late said:

 

Do not let this one slip past you. Especially if you're already a Takayanagi fan.

missed it, apparently, when Da Bastids had it. Hopefully they get it back (especially given the vagaries of shipping to the US right now).

[Late]

2 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

Missed it, apparently, when Da Bastids had it. Hopefully they get it back (especially given the vagaries of shipping to the US right now).

I missed it the first time around (from DG) too. Put it on my watch list (never a guarantee, but still), and was able to purchase it the second time it became available. You will not be disappointed! This page offers a 48-second sound sample (but I know you know Takayanagi). Having two basses and no drums changes the vibe...in a good way.

[T.D.]

DG recently had a few including that one, but they sold out.

I have several Takayanagi recordings on my DG watch list, but I held off on the recent batch. I've bought several of his recordings and experience has been mixed. Favorite so far by far is the Angry Waves 850113 on Aketa's Disk. Like the Tristano-ish Cool Jojo, most of Ginparis Session and one tune on Axis/Another Revolvable Thing. Free Form Suite and Lonely Woman were misfires that I may sell.

I've been cutting down on purchases and the most likely would include Kaoru Abe, but I'm sceptical about adding more in the "noise" genre.

BTW, "coming soon" (Jan. 21 ETA) to DG are a whole boatload of Japanese import J-jazz reissues, straight-ahead through avant-garde. Including a bunch of Aketa's Disk and even one Johnny's Disk. Good chance to pick up some you might have missed.

Edited Sunday at 12:44 PM by T.D.

[clifford_thornton]

10 hours ago, Late said:

I missed it the first time around (from DG) too. Put it on my watch list (never a guarantee, but still), and was able to purchase it the second time it became available. You will not be disappointed! This page offers a 48-second sound sample (but I know you know Takayanagi). Having two basses and no drums changes the vibe...in a good way.

yeah, I would blind buy it for sure, no need to preview (here, anyway). Hopefully another one pops up.

I think I've said it elsewhere, probably in this thread, but while it took a bit of chipping away at Takayanagi and trying things out a few times, once I fell in love with his music it really stuck. None of them are easy listens, but the utter commitment and reinvention of group interplay across many of his records are really striking. Angry Waves is a great record, and I can't really think of anything else like it. Lonely Woman is stark and a bit icy, but very special. I think he figured out something with density, speed, and combining seemingly unrelated pathways that doesn't have too many parallels; Tristano and Billy Bauer were the spark (and all of his music can be tied back to the Tristano school), but he went full force in another direction.

 

[T.D.]

The Takayanagi trio/duo disc on No Business (w. Kikuchi on the trios and Ino throughout) is something I've considered buying, but so far have just listened on the bandcamp site.

Hoping that Lonely Woman turns out to be one of those recordings that belatedly clicks.

Edited Sunday at 06:01 PM by T.D.

[Late]

7 hours ago, T.D. said:

I've bought several of his recordings and experience has been mixed. Favorite so far by far is the Angry Waves 850113 on Aketa's Disk. Like the Tristano-ish Cool Jojo...

I've been cutting down on purchases and the most likely would include Kaoru Abe, but I'm sceptical about adding more in the "noise" genre.

👍

850113 is one of Takayanagi's finest recordings in my opinion. A person could own that one and perhaps "be done" with Takayanagi if the music fed that noise genre "itch" sufficiently. The only other title I'd say is indispensable is April Is The Cruelest Month. I freely admit that his music can be exhausting. It's easy to not connect with it (happens to me all the time) if the context isn't right.

Have you heard Flower Girl? It's the total opposite of the two records mentioned above. That's one of the things I love about Takayanagi. He could legitimately (while idiosyncratically) play standards and bossa while, later in the day, wreak complete and utter sonic chaos. 😁

Oh, dang it, I really love the No Business record as well. After listening to Mass Hysterism, the No Business record feels like lounge music to play for the in-laws.🫠

3 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

I think I've said it elsewhere, probably in this thread, but while it took a bit of chipping away at Takayanagi and trying things out a few times, once I fell in love with his music it really stuck. None of them are easy listens, but the utter commitment and reinvention of group interplay across many of his records are really striking. Angry Waves is a great record, and I can't really think of anything else like it.

👍 Bam.

[clifford_thornton]

Flower Girl is a neat one. I have the Craftman reissue, as well as their reissue of the Victor LP (A Jazzy Profile of Jojo). I connect more with the avant-garde recordings but these are certainly worth hearing. Takayanagi could, it seems, play just about anything with characteristic rigor.