Akira Ishikawa
Back To Rhythm

Originally released in 1976Arranged by Kiyoshi YamayaFeaturing Shakuhachi master, Kifu MitsuhashiKifu Mitsuhashi studied with Soufu Sasaki of the Kinko-style shakuhachi in 1968. He became a member of Pro Musica Nipponia and participated in many concerts both in Japan and overseas after completing the NHK Hougaku Training Program in 1972. Mitsuhashi studied with Chikugai Okamoto of the shakuhachi fukesyu meian souryuukai in 1974. He was awarded as top soloist of the 1st Pan Music Festival in 1976.Kiyoshi Yamaya is a Japanese jazz composer, band leader born in Tokyo on March 29, 1932. As a musician commonly playing the alto or baritone saxophone, he had been a part of bands like Tetsurou Takahama and Eskyer Cats and Hiromichi Yamamoto and Champagne Serenade.Originally released in 1976, “Shakuhachi: Sato no uta” is a collaboration between these two artists. The album artfully combines each musicians respective genres of expertise, resulting in an incredible fusion of both jazz and traditional Japanese folk music.

2020 reissue - Hydeout Productions released Modal Soul in 2005, the second LP from the revered Japanese producer and instrumentalist Nujabes. Since its release Modal Soul has been enshrined in the canon of classic hip-hop, cherished by a dedicated following that is modest in number but unparalleled in passion. Nujabes is usually referenced as a hip-hop producer, but Modal Soul blends such disparate influences as to become a new, one-of-a-kind world music transcending all musical, physical or temporal boundaries. While each Nujabes project is a masterpiece in itself, Modal Soul is undoubtedly the producer's most dynamic and most popular effort.It’s not uplifting lyrical content or the producer’s technical virtuosity that distinguishes Modal Soul, though the album has both in spades. What distinguishes Modal Soul is its mood, its essence. Splicing together a beat and a piano sample is no longer revolutionary, though Nujabes, real name Seba Jun (February 7, 1974 – February 26, 2010), does so with a master’s grace. Flipping the samples and aligning the sound to make the listener feel with such great depth – that is the revelation of Modal Soul. If you don’t feel the music, that’s okay. But for those who do, it is healing sound. It is fuel for imagination, a foundation for dreams, no less important than any music ever made.

Life is Worth Living, officially a second LP from El Niño Andrés, comes 9 years after its debut LP "Más Dinero Más Problemas", but sound wise it's still walking on the borderline between house, jazz and soul. El Niño's usual combination of Rhodes and Moog improvisations on top of house and jazz-funk drum-lines is present on all album tracks, with live sax additions on "Come Closer" and "Mercy Mercy". Album is an uptempo affair, but as usual with Jackie Brown releases, not your straightforward 4x4 routine - poly-rhythms and percussion drive "Wasting Your Life" and "Soul", while "The Approach of Midnight" sounds like it could have been placed straight into a Tenet soundtrack LP.