Paul Murphy
Strictly VINYL ONLY release especially chosen by the Legendary UK DJ Colin Curtis of the heaviest & funkiest cuts by Cult Japanese Defiant Jazz outfit indigo jam unit. Don't sleep on this one! Available now through Bandcamp! Released end July 2023.
"My passion for Japanese jazz started way back in the 1970s and was fueled even more as the decade went on with the evolution of jazz dance in the UK's burgeoning jazz funk scene. As jazz breaks emerged in the jazz rooms, the demand for danceable jazz music in the UK kept growing. Through scouring the record shops in Manchester, Birmingham, and London, the emergence of great Japanese jazz added another dimension to this genre. My love for Japanese jazz continued until the turn of the century when the names changed from Sadao Watanabe, Mikio Masuda, Casiopea, Toshiyuki Honda, Shigeharu Mukai, and the like to the new emerging nu-jazz bands like Sleep Walker, Quasimode, Kyoto Jazz Massive, Jabberloop, and in 2006, the powerful force that was the indigo jam unit!
The four musicians who came together in Osaka, Japan - Isao Wasano (Drums Percussion), Katsuhiko Sasai (Bass Double Bass), Takehiro Shimizu (Drums), and Yoshichika Tarue (Piano) - took no prisoners with their uncompromising style! Power, passion, drive, and incredible playing - they were like a lethal force. The combination of two drummers, keys, and bass was both mesmerizing and melodic, pinning your ears and dancing feet against the wall. From 2006 to 2016, they had a prolific output of albums with single-minded titles: Demonstration, Realism, Collectivity, Pirates, Roots, Independent Rebel, Milestone, Lights, and more - over 17 projects. They were all these things and more, and then in 2016, it ended when they disbanded.
For me, indigo jam unit embodied the same energy as those jazz dance greats like Art Blakey, Dom Um Romao, Stone Alliance, and the like - just uncompromising raw passion! When Gilles Peterson asked me to start my own radio show for him on Worldwide FM called (naturally enough) Jazz Dance Fusion at the beginning of the pandemic in May 2020, it meant I could introduce underexposed music that I loved. Indigo jam unit was a natural fit. Following a conversation with my long-time Jazz Ally Paul Murphy of Jazz Room Records, we quickly decided that now was the time to unleash some of their best tracks to the world on an exclusive vinyl-only release.
Jazz Room Records are proud to present to you the incredible musical power of indigo jam unit, one of Japan's greatest bands and now available for the first time outside of Japan! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do."
「私の日本のジャズへの情熱は、1970年代に始まり、イギリスのジャズファンクシーンの成長とともにさらに高まりました。ジャズブレイクがジャズルームで登場するにつれて、イギリスでのダンサブルなジャズ音楽への需要が増え続けました。マンチェスターやバーミンガム、ロンドンのレコードショップをくまなく探し回る中で、素晴らしい日本のジャズがこのジャンルに新たな次元を加えました。私の日本のジャズへの愛は、20世紀の転換点まで続きました。その時期には、渡辺貞夫、増田幹生、カシオペア、本田俊之、向井滋春などの名前が、Sleep WalkerやQuasimode、Kyoto Jazz Massive、Jabberloopなどの新進のヌージャズバンドに変わっていきました。そして、2006年には、強力な力となったindigo jam unitが現れました。
私にとって、indigo jam unitは、アート・ブレイキーやドム・ウム・ロマオ、ストーン・アライアンスなどのジャズダンスの偉大な人たちと同じエネルギーを持っていました。妥協しない純粋な情熱！パンデミックの初めである2020年5月、Gilles Petersonが私にWorldwide FMで自分のラジオショー「Jazz Dance Fusion」を始めるように頼んでくれたことは、私が愛する未公開音楽を紹介できる機会を意味していました。indigo jam unitは自然な選択でした。長い間のジャズの仲間である Paul Murphy (Jazz Room Records）との会話を経て、今が彼らの最高のトラックを世界に独占的にビニール盤でリリースするタイミングだとすぐに決定しました。
Jazz Room Recordsは、日本を代表する最高のバンドの一つであるindigo jam unitの信じられない音楽パワーを紹介することを誇りに思っています。これは初めて日本国外で入手可能なリリースです！私は皆さんが彼らを私と同じくらい楽しんでいただけることを願っています。」
Formed in 2005. An instrumental unit consisting of Yoshiya Tarue (P), Katsuhiko Sasai (B) , Isao Wasano (D & P) , and Yuhiro
Shimizu (D) .
indigo jam unit always recorded their material live in the studio with little post processing and as few effects as possible. No edits or overdubs are made to their recordings. Jazz Room are releasing them on vinyl for the first time outside of Japan!...more
