snobb Yosuke Yamashita, who will celebrate his 80 birthday later this month, is one of Japanese avant-garde jazz piano key figures. His trio during the late 60s - mid 70s released a series of excellent high energy impressive technique albums, building a golden fund of the country's creative jazz (incl. cult "Chiasma" and bold, very special atmosphere "Frozen Days", which I really like more, among some others). Yosuke moved towards more mainstream post-bop during 90s, played with big bands and recorded some semi-classical works. "Quiet Memories" is his last to date studio album, a 78 year sold pianist's solo work.

Recorded in a studio in Tokyo, this album contains eleven compositions: three standards, one Corsican folk song and seven Yamashita originals. As one could expect, Yamashita plays his whole life's music from mature, seasoned artist position. Fortunately, the album isn't a collection of sentimental ballads. It builds a very specific atmosphere of lite sadness and understanding that a long-lasting artist's career (and life) is going into the final faze. Unusually (for Yamashita) emotionally colored, it contains some his best songs from his youth (as "Mina's 2nd theme" and "Chiasma"), played more emotionally, than in the original versions. "Thought of Beatrice" is a Corsican ballade of rare beauty. Standards anchoring the album's music, make a tighter connection of Yamashita's own compositions with jazz roots. All the time interchanging the music's tempos perfectly controls the whole album's mood, making it more Zen-balanced, rather than melancholic. And without surprise, Yamahita choses "On the Sunny Side of the Street" for the closer.

snobb "Dancing 古事記" is respected Japanese piano player Yosuke Yamashita's debut album, coming from the time he was a student of musical college in Tokyo. A bassless trio, coming from behind the barricades during the student occupation of Waseda University in July 1969.

The years 1968 and 1969 were both a breaking point in Western world, with counterculture peak, explosion and start of decline as well (ie Woodstock, barricades in Paris' Sorbonne, etc, etc). The world will never be the same again, and what is probably much less known, these events catalyzed the reaction in Japan as well.

Three tracks, of which first 50-seconds long one is not a music but recorded on barricades agitator's speech (on Japanese). It introduces the atmosphere of the moment and two upcoming long free jazz pieces perfectly.

What in a Western world of the time is a rock revolution of late 60s, on Japanese ground has it's equivalent in avant-garde jazz, extremely radical music for the time.

Yamashita plays with his early days trio, containing drummer Takeo Moriyama and sax player Seiichi Nakamura. Their music here still doesn't reach the level of aggression known from Peter Brötzmann's "Machine Gun", but despite of some tuneful inclusions, it sounds as perfect soundtrack to the actions in a student campus that's for sure.

Later same year Yamashita will release with same trio his first studio album "Mina's Second Theme" which bring him first success, still as underground jazz artist for the beginning.

Quite aptly titled "Dancing 古事記", this album represents both the spirit of era and a music of the short-lived but very creative moment of Japanese jazz history.

P.S. There is still available short filmed video from this concert on youtube which is very recommended for those interested in catching the spirit of the moment

snobb During early seventies, pianist Yosuke Yamashita trio were a front-line power of Japanese avant-garde jazz. Cecil Taylor-influenced high-energy percussive straight-in-your-face piano playing style in combination with Akira Sakata's free sax attacks and drummer's (Takeo Moriyama and later, Shota Koyama)rock-heavy artillery built complex,usually knotted aural constructions of surprisingly well-organized beauty. Their albums,released between 1970 and 1975 all are classics of Japanese avant-garde jazz.

On "Sunayama", Yamashita's work from second half of 70s, one can evidence quite unusual for him instrumentation. Credited to his regular trio, the album contains three pieces,recorded actually by septet/octet when Yamashita's trio is improved with brass section (and an electric guitarist on one track).

Being characteristic for his trio busy high energy free jazz under the skin, in many moments album's music sounds as avant-garde jazz big band with rich brass (and addition of soling electric guitar on "Usagi No Dance - Dedicated To Pepi"). It's interesting to mention, that intentionally or not the combo never sounds as one small orchestra - more like two groups of musicians, the trio and four-piece brass section improvising each their own way.

On paper it most probably sounds as a chaos, but surprisingly enough all album long Yamashita controls the situation well and final music has its own internal order. Not such explosive as on his earlier works, this album's attraction lays mostly in a rare possibility to hear the great master trying something different. Perfectly recorded (as many Japanese releases coming from seventies), "Sunayama" is an attractive release for Yamashita fans, still probably a bit risky try for newcomers.

Being for years an obscurity, in 2009 the album has been reissued in Japan on CD so there is a bigger chance to find it now.

snobb After some success of his early releases and strong following from underground scene fans,one among best Japanese jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita released series of very strong albums,which never received true fame. Mid-70s in Japan (and even more that - in Western world) were years of fusion fever and yesterday's free jazz stars were almost forgotten in one day.

"Frozen Days" released in 1975 is one of such Yamashita's album, and it's very special on its own manner.Cover photo is a piece of art itself - all three trio members are pictured in a rural environment, most probably a barn, in a very last autumn's day when sun is a rare guest,it's still no snow outside, but dry grass with first traces of frost on it shows that another short warm season is finished. Every time I look on this cover it recalls me Haruki Murokami's "A Wild Sheep Chase", excellent Japanese existentialist book about fragility and meaningless of life,which came seven years after "Frozen Days" has been released.

Yosuke,originally heavily influenced by Cecil Taylor, here plays lighter, less percussive and more expressionistic. Saxophonist Akira Sakata, regular Yamashita's trio member and future Japanese scene star, is not so noisy as often too. He is still full of explosive energy, but it's better controlled and his liquid soloing is touched by melancholy. As very often in Japanese jazz, here is enough space for silence, but somehow all music is extremely well framed on a manner of artistic miniature.

All three musicians still play as on any other of trio's album of that time - as if their lives depend on it, but it's a rare album where attentive listener can hear that they as well play as if there is no tomorrow. And surprisingly, there almost is no feel of drama, just understanding, accepting it as higher power and Buddhist reconciliation.

Being of the same highest technical level as some other Yamashita's works of that time, "Frozen Days" is different by that very unique not only for Yamashita's music, but for Japanese jazz in whole,colored with wide gamma of emotions.It is not "Samurai jazz" anymore, it's "Haruki Murakami jazz",find this album and probably you will be seriously surprised.

snobb Two decades away from his short-lived stardom of "Mina's Second Day" or "Clay",Japanese pianist Yosuke Yamashita is one of rare country's musician who didn't disappear from big jazz scenes after free jazz revolution in Japan just fade away in late 70s.

With newly formed (in 1988) so-called New York trio (with Americans bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Pheeroan akLaff),Yosuke returned back on European festivals scenes (incl. Montreux in 1993)and appeared regularly at Sweet Basil in New York becoming most popular Japanese jazz pianist in States at that time.

"Kurdish Dance", released in Japan in 1992 and re-released by Antilles in US the year after,is New York trio's best known and in whole best ever work. Differently from his earlier works, Yosuke's material for this trio is mostly pre-written,not fully improvised, and evidences him as great composer(all songs are Yosuke's originals here). Album's opener "Kurdish Dance" is excellent song, true jazz standard.Trio's line-up for this album is improved with addition of tenor Joe Lovano, who steals the show on many compositions.

Big part of album's songs have strong tunes, sometimes based on Oriental or Mediterranean folklore. More important, all compositions are deeply based on post-bop roots,what in combination with catchy melodies and strong control on improvisation builds quite accessible music. Still one doesn't need to be afraid that Yosuke went commercial - known for decades as "Japanese Cecil Taylor" for his techniques,Yamashita demonstrates free and impressive piano soloing almost on every composition.

The main difference from Yamashita's earlier music is here he isn't uncontrolled leader/dictator any more: quartet's main target is collective musicianship producing complex and well-executed compositions with strong improvisational element but totally framed and generally sounding as attractive and easy accessible listening. All four musicians really succeeded in it - the album has been received positively not only by freer jazz fans (and won Jazz Prize of The Year in Japan),same line-up recorded "Dazzling Days" next year(more relaxed and somehow better polished work).

Being quite easy accessible for purchase,"Kurdish Dance" is one great example of best Japanese jazz coming from 90s - time period far not all that well known in Western world.