Arakawa Band

Apparently I listened to 1,018 different artists in 2023. Nearly all jazz in one shape or form. Some were artists I was already familiar with but I'd bet the majority were new to me. A favorite of mine I stumbled upon is what I'll cover today. Arakawa Band, lead by flautist and saxophonist Tatsuhiko Arakawa, absolutely blew me away when I listened to their limited catalog. 

Turns out, the group released two albums under the name The Great American Music Band before changing their name. Both albums were released in 1979 and I'm not 100% certain which album was released first. Based on sound alone, my guess is Over The Sky was the first release. It's a little more straight ahead and less funky than the remaining material which leads me to believe it was the group's debut. Quite the ensemble here: 

Saxophone, flute, clarinet: Tatsuhiko Arakawa
Saxophone, flute: Yasumasa Kikuchi
Trombone: Osamu Shiomura
Trumpet, Flugelhorn: Hitoshi Okano, Kenji Nakazawa, Toshio Araki
Keyboards: Ryozo Henmi, Tohru Miyahara, Kenji Sato
Electric guitar: Teiji Mihata
Electric bass: Koh Tsubota
Percussion: Eiji Narushima
Drums: Tsugio Ano

I can't find detailed notes on the album but we have 5 tracks here with personal favorites being "Sound Inn" and "A Lasamba". Tight instrumentation throughout. Arakawa's compositions and arrangements are bar none. I revisit this album the least and it's still a rock solid release. "A Lasamba" picks up the tempo and leads right into Scorpio quite well. 

Scor'pio comes in with a runtime of about 26 minutes and honestly I love every second of it. The opening tune (from Michael Brecker) "Night Flight" is the longest of the bunch at 7 minutes and sets the tone for the rest of the record. I could change my personal favorite after each listen but the opening track, the title track and the closing track, "Dream of Paradise" are all excellent. Again, tight instrumentation and stellar arrangements from Arakawa. Not a ton of drawn out improvisation, but rather quick hitting, uptempo tracks. This music is just flat out fun, in my opinion. Another sizeable ensemble: 

Saxophone, flute: Tatsuhiko Arakawa, Shoji Maeda
Trombone: Osamu Shiomura
Trumpet: Hitoshi Okano, Toshio Araki
Keyboards: Akihiro Miyaura, Kenji Sato, Yoshikazu Miyauchi
Electric guitar: Chuji Nagaoka, Teiji Mihata
Electric bass: Koh Tsubota
Percussion: Noboru Kimura
Drums: Shigeru Inoue

Next up, we have 1980's album with John Kaizan Neptune, Bamboo. Neptune is a renowned player of the shakuhachi, which is a Japanese bamboo flute. An American based in Japan, he has quite an extensive catalog, although this album is my only exposure to his music thus far. JKN fits in quite nicely with the group, although technically I believe this is his album featuring Arakawa Band. I also cannot find specific details regarding personnel. 

Five tracks here and they're all fantastic, in my opinion. I personally enjoy the final three the most, starting with the bouncy "Walk Downtown." The next two tunes, "Genji" and "Fun Key" both bring out the best of the ensemble. Can't stress enough how well Arakawa arranges and leads the group. Listen for yourself and enjoy. 

While the goal for the page has been to share music that isn't on streaming services, I enjoy this group too much to not include their other two albums here. Both are readily available digitally but for the sake of completeness, they'll be here too. 

First up is 1980's Lena, which was my first experience with the group. This was recommended to me by the algorithm and I decided to give it a chance based on the album artwork. Personnel appears to be the same as Scor'pio with the addition of another drummer, Kazuaki Misago and Yoshinori Nohmi on percussion. Vibraphonist Tatsuji Deguchi is also on board for the opening title track. 

More of the same great stuff here. 4 of the 6 tracks are originals with the exceptions being the excellent "Music For A Flowered Pig" from Roland Vasquez and the closing track, "Night Flight" which is the same Brecker tune from Scor'pio. All 6 songs are fantastic, in my opinion. Personal favorites is "Brass Magic" due to the synthesizer play but again this album is great stuff start to finish. 

The final release in the catalog is 1981's Hard Boiled featuring trumpeter Hitoshi Okano. With Okano being a mainstay in the group, I'm not sure why the featuring tag was added to the title. Perhaps he had a larger hand in the compositions, I'm not entirely sure. The album starts off with a fantastic tune "Shadow" and also features a couple excellent, slower tracks in "Ebb and Flow" and "In The Mellow." Personal favorite is the funky "Kick Down". Again, it appears that the personnel is essentially the same, although it looks like they may have used a few different percussionists. Another fantastic album to close out the catalog. 

The only complaint I have is I wish there were more albums to enjoy. Arakawa had a hand in arranging for a few other artists but I've only listened to a little bit so far. A lot of the band members seemed to have little other experience after this band. A shame really but at least we're lucky enough for the 5 albums we have here. 

BONUS TIME: I nearly forgot. While they're credited with only 2 tracks, I believe, Arakawa Band did have some sort of presence on a soundtrack for the film, "The Beast Must Die." Officially credited to Akihiko Takashima, the group is listed for the "Main Theme" and the second to last song, "Tokyo Machine." The soundtrack is worth a listen either way, and I've included it here, as well.

I hope anyone that comes across this enjoys this band as much as I have. Have a great weekend!