(08.27.06) A little more than a decade ago, a compilation came out of Japan
entitled Kyoto Jazz Massive and it was a collection of the acid
jazz percolating in and around the Kyoto environs. Spearheaded by the
Okino brothers (Shuya and Yoshihiro), the compilation was smuggled
West by forward-thinking DJs and was the origin of the sound by which
the brothers have become known. Compost Records celebrates a decade of
Kyoto Jazz Massive’s indelible imprint upon the nu-jazz scene with the
release of 10th Anniversary, a double CD collection of remixes,
reinterpretations and straight-up original tracks.
Most of the actual Kyoto Jazz Massive contributions spin up on the
first disc (one original track entitled “Endless Flight,” three
remixes of KJM material and one remix of an Incognito song). Disc One
sticks to the nu-soul/house grove, overflowing with siren song and
groovy jazz rhythms. Quantic reimagines “The Brightness of These
Days” into a summer-slick downtempo opus; while the Okino Brothers
offer the seductively rhythmic “Endless Flight” with a deliciously
capricious piano breakdown in the middle. While Rasiyah offers sultry
vocals in “Time to Fly,” it is the rolling funk bass of Restless Soul
that brings the real boogie into the house. Keeny Dope’s remix of
“Shine” buffs up the house vibe, making a warm dance-floor number that
slinks about a lemon-colored floor; while Afronaught’s “Now or Never,”
with Alison David on vocals, is filled with shifting polyrhythms and
fuzzed synth work like a fire-lit South Seas seasonal celebration.
While the majority of the second disc is given over to reinterpretations
of Kyoto Jazz Massive tracks (mostly from the 2002 full-length
Spirit of the Sun), it opens with Da Lata’s sizzling version of
“Ronco Da Cuica,” an organically breathless limbo-stick rumba. Louie
Vega’s version of “Aphrodite” with the EOL Band trips along the edge
of vanilla lounge jazz while doing a Lionel Hampton improvisation. The
Sleepwalker remix of “Eclipse” is propelled by a duelling piano and
drum kit while a saxophone soloist darts around the stage like a
brightly feathered bird. The Toshio Matsuura Group delivers a
melancholic rendering of “Behind The Shadow” with sweeping harp,
distant horns and haunted vocals. This distaff emotion rubs off on
Electric Sheep whose remix of “The Brightness of These Days” (with
vocalist UA) swings more like a elegy than a celebratory siren song.
With the final acoustic whisper of Aurora’s vision of “Nacer Do Sol,”
the sun sets, the party finishes and the beat expires.
While the double CD collection is a bit overlong for a single sitting
(unless it is powering your dance floor or setting the mood for your
cocktail party, in which case your soundtrack has all the juice you
need), 10th Anniversary is a massive testament to the efforts
of the Okino Brothers and their fervent and inextinguishable love for
nu-jazz.
10th Anniversary is out now on Compost. Buy it at Amazon.com.
