Now's the Time Workshop, Vol. 2

(Fun House, 1991)

1- Movin' In (Masahiko Osaka) (4:19)
2- Mil Dew (Johnny Griffin) (3:07)
3- Firework (Tomonao Hara) (6:31)
4- Trail of Troy (Toshihiro Akamatsu) (4:28)
5- Triton (Toshihiro Akamatsu) (4:07)
6- Melancholic Grace (Toshihiro Akamatsu) (6:08)
7- I Think So (Yoichi Murata) (4:11)
8- Vain Mind (Yoichi Murata) (4:43)
9- Oh! Edo (Yoichi Murata) (3:42)
10- Beyond Zion (Yoshihiko Katori) (3:57)
11- Le Voyant (Yoshihiko Katori) (9:32)
12- Last Words (Yoshihide Otomo) (3:50)
13- Terminal-Zero 1 (Yoshihide Otomo/Eye Yamatsuka) (0:47)
14- Terminal-Zero 2 (Yoshihide Otomo/Eye Yamatsuka) (1:10)
15- Terminal-Zero 3 (Yoshihide Otomo/Eye Yamatsuka) (1:06)
16- Autumn Story (3:42)
17- Lam Cheng-Ying (3:53)

musicians :

Yutaka Shiina Quintet (1-3) :

Yutaka Shiina: piano
Joh Yamada: alto sax
Tomonao Hara: trumpet
Tomoyuki Shima: bass
Masahiko Osaka: drums
Toshihiro Akamatsu "A-Project" and Duet with Kazuhiko Michishita (4-6):
Toshihiro Akamatsu: vibraphone, keyboards
Yoshihiro Arita: banjo
Masaaki Imaizumi: piano
Yasushi Sugiyama: keyboards
Vagaboneds Suzuki: bass
Takemi Uemori: drums
Kazuhiko Michishita: guitar

Yoichi Murata Trad (7-9) :

Yoichi Murata: trombone
Eric Miyashiro: trumpet
Masakuni Takeno: tenor sax, soprano sax
Yoko Kanno: keyboards
Vagaboneds Suzuki: bass
Yasuo Sano: drums

Yoshihiko Katori Orchestra (10, 11) :

Yoshihiko Katori: vibraphone, piano
Akihiko Toyama: 1st trumpet
Yuji Osada: 2nd trumpet
Mike Price: 3rd trumpet
Tomonao Hara: 4th trumpet
Yoichi Murata: 1st trombone
Haruki Sato: 2nd trombone
Masahiko Kitahara: 3rd trombone
Kan Nishida: 4th trombone
Osamu Yoshida: 1st alto sax, flute, soprano sax
Tatsuya Sato: 2nd tenor sax, soprano sax
Seiji Tada: 3rd alto sax, flute
Eiji Otogawa: 4th tenor sax, flute
Atsushi Tsuzurano: 5th baritone sax
Toshiki Nunokawa: guitar
Koichi Osamu: bass
Masahiko Osaka: drums

Yoshihide Otomo Ground-O (12-17) :

Yoshihide Otomo: guitar, turntables
Hideki Kato: bass
Masahiro Uemura: drums
Syuichi Chino: keyboards
Junji Hirose: sax
Michiaki Tanaka: percussion
Eye Yamatsuka: vocal
Syu-Kei: narration

NOW

NB : THANX A LOT TO ROTKAPPCHEN FOR SHARING THIS VOLUME TWO (and sorry for the delay...)

John Zorn's Cobra : "Tokyo operations '94"

(Avant, 1995)

Cobra 1: Sensyo (6:07)
Cobra 2: Tomobiki (9:27)
Cobra 3: Senbu (8:08)
Cobra 4: Butsumetsu (8:54)
Cobra 5: Taian (8:05)
Cobra 6: Shakko (9:54)

musicians :

Koichi Makigami: prompter
Yukihiro Isso: dengaku-bue, nokan
Masahiro Uemura: percussion
Kazuhisa Uchihashi: guitar
Shinichi Kinoshita: shamisen
Kiyohiko Semba: percussion
Makoto Takei: shakuhachi
Yumiko Tanaka: gidayu-shamisen
Hitomi Nakamura: hichiriki
Miki Maruta: koto
Mekken: bass
Kyoko Yamamoto: vocal
Taeko Ito: ortin doo

(composed by John Zorn)

NOW

Excerpts from a conversation with John Zorn (THEAWL 03/17/2011) :

The Awl: When did you first travel to Japan? To what extent were you already aware of the depth of the avant-garde tradition there before you went? Or, put another way: how much was still left for you to discover once you arrived?

JZ: this is a long question. I was way into japanese art, literature, film, music and theatre from my teens—in the 60s. First I went there in 1985 or so I kept an apartment there in KOENJI (tokyo) til 1995. I played with SO MANY artists is hard to keep track. I remember seeing a trio of yoshida tatsuya, yamataka eye and null called I believe GEBA GEBA that really was amazing. I hooked up with EYE that very night and we have been tight ever since! The scene there was and still is incredibly diverse and creative. Amazing energy and imagination !!

The Awl: It's funny how some way-out recordings—such as Coltrane's "Live in Japan" box set—were first issued in Japan as though they were no big commercial risk. Maybe it's because music on the fringe feels as though it's so aggressively marginalized in the U.S., but I'm curious how you see Japan's relationship, as a country, to its own musical avant-garde.

JZ: its just as hard for the avant garde in Japan as it is for the avant garde here but the integrity, creativity and tenacity they have is inspiring. They do what they do with no compromise, and very little outside support.

The Awl: Can I ask you for your Top 10 list, regarding extreme/experimental/noise/improv albums by Japanese artists?

JZ: I can't do the top ten but here is a list of some of my favorite musicians !!!

asakawa maki
sato masaru
yamataka eye
yoshimi
haino keiji
makigami koichi
yoshida tatsuya
katsui yuji
seiichi yamamoto
takahashi yuji
ryuichi sakamoto
akiko yano
hosono haruomi
toshinori kondo
ohta hiromi
aoyama michi
kitajma saburo
takemitsu toru
otomo yoshihide

.......................................

Yukihiro Isso : "It's so isso"

(King, 1991)

1- Toh hyo-hyo
2- Bi-byohnn
3- Scarecrow and the red dragonfly
4- The fable of the elementary school for minnows
5- Just for fantasia
6- The pastoral village
7- Soku-ryu-teki-ha

musicians :

Yukihiro Isso : nohkan & shinobue flute
Natsuki Kido : guitar
Masahiro Uemura : percussion
Kiyoshi Yoshitani : shimedaiko (japanese drum)

guests :

Yosuke Yamashita : piano (2)
Akira Sakata : sax (7)
Kazumi Watanabe : guitar (1)
Kiyohiko Semba : percussion (1,2,5,7)

NOW

Novo Tono : "Panorama paradise"

(Alida, Creativeman, 1996)

1- Introduction (1:13)
2- Toku no Kassai (2:31)
3- Koko kara no Shuppatsu (4:14)
4- Owaranai Uzumaki (4:11)
5- Sasaekirenai Kurasa (4:07)
6- Dynamite Summer (3: 35)
7- Yume no Hanshu (3:56)
8- Robot Rondo (2:48)
9- Hakujitsumu (2:15)
10- Angel (1:46)
11- Yohaku no Uta (2:28)
12- Umi e Iko (4:07)
13- Moichido Nemuro (4:39)

Novo Tono :

Seiichi Yamamoto: guitar, acoustic guitar, vocal
Otomo Yoshihide: turntables, guitar, backing vocal
Phew: vocal
Naoko Etoh: piano, keyboards, backing vocal
Yusuke Nishimura: bass, acoustic guitar (9), backing vocal
Masahiro Uemura: drums, percussion, backing vocal

Guests :

Hiroaki Fujimura: banjo (2)
Yuji Katsui: violin (4, 6, 7)
Hiroyuki Nagashima: edit. (2, 11)

NOW

P.O.N.

(Double Trap, Creativeman, 1995)

1- Yumin #3 (5:43)
2- George Ni Sei #8 (5:01)
3- Petenshi #2 (1:15)
4- Yumin #5 (3:10)
5- Petenshi #4 (1:15)
6- '93. 8. 12 #1 (4:00)
7- Petenshi #5 (2:13)
8- George Ni Sei #6 (6:59)
9- Usotsuki #2 (7:02)
10- George #10 (8:26)

P.O.N. :

Masahiro Uemura: drums, percussion (1, 2, 4)
Juniji Hirose: sax (1, 3, 5-10), noise machine (2, 4, 7, 10)
Natsuki Kido: electric guitar, acoustic guitar (2, 4), percussion (1)
Masaki Shimizu: fretless bass (1-6, 8-10), freted bass (7)
Kumiko Takara: vibraphone, percussion (1)

+ Asuka Kaneko: electric violin (2), acoustic violin (9)

NOW

Bass Army - "Karada wa Oto o Dasu Mono"

(Trigram, 1994)

1- Crossfire (3:17)
2- Karada wa Oto o Dasu Mono (4:09)
3- Infliction (2:26)
4- Politics of Hate (4:06)
5- Sneak Attack (3:21)
6- Himitsu Keisatsu / Sorekara (4:30)
7- Skirmish (3:00)
8- Implosion (4:18)
9- Vanishing Point (0:14)
10- National Front (2:55)
11- Uwatte Inai Koto ga Aru (6:33)
12- Ashes to Ashes (2:49)

Bass Army :

Kato Hideki: bass, voice, noise
Kazuyoshi Kimoto: bass, voice
Masahiro Uemura: drums, voice, bass

+ Otomo Yoshihide: turntables (2, 6)

NOW