Native Son Part 1

Excited to share the next band with anyone who may be unfamiliar. They're relatively new to me but I instantly fell in love with some of their tracks. My favorite band is Herbie Hancock's Headhunters so my era of choice is 70s jazz-funk and fusion. I re-fell in love with jazz some 20 years ago when I dove into Miles and Herbie's electric years. 

Fortunately for me, a lot of musicians were influenced by the Headhunters. There's a ton of albums from 1974 and after that try to capture a similar sound. In the latter part of the 70s and into the 80s, a lot of that fusion starts to get a little too soft/smooth for me. Within that same time frame, Native Son released a few albums in a row that were absolutely fantastic. By the mid-80s they began to drift into the too smooth for me category but not without some nice tracks here and there. 

For the sake of completeness, I'll share the full catalog and anyone that stumbles across these next few posts can decide for themselves. For now, we'll focus on the first 3 studio albums - all of which are excellent, in my opinion. 

First, if we take a look at the group, we'll see some familiar names mentioned previously. We have Takehiro Honda on various keyboards, Kohsuke Mine on tenor and soprano saxophones, Motonobu Ohde on guitar, Tamio Kawabata on bass with Hiroshi Murakami on drums.

What I originally thought to be their second album, Savanna Hot-Line is actually the group's debut album, released in 1979. I love the way this album starts off and the first 3 tracks are my favorite. It tapers off a bit for me after that but a solid overall release, no doubt. 

Up next, and recorded the same year, is their second album, Native Son. Again, 3 tracks in particular stick out to me. The opening track "Bump Cruising" along with "Whispering Eyes" and "Super Safari" are doing the heavy lifting here. Honda, Ohde and Kawabata make the group, in my opinion. Mine and Murakami are also excellent players but the keys, guitar and bass shine the brightest on these early albums. 

Their 3rd album, 1982's Shining, is the group's strongest effort, in my opinion. All of the tunes here are rock solid. I especially enjoy the opening and title track, along with "Go For It" and the exceptional Ohde tune, "Red Eye Express." A new bassist is on board in Romy Kinoshita and trombonist Hiroshi Fukumura is also along for the ride. 

These 3 albums, along with a pair of live albums we'll visit later, are far and away the best material from the group. As I mentioned before, there are high points in each of the next albums but none parallel the strength and consistency of these first 3 releases. Enjoy!