Ryojiro Furusawa

Happy Friday. Today, I'd like to take a quick look at drummer Ryojiro Furusawa. We'll hear a variety of sounds as we progress and each album is stellar in its own way, in my opinion.

From 1976, You Wanna Rain is a relatively straightforward release and features a great group of players. Joining Ryojiro we have pianist Toshiyuki Daitoku, bassist Mochizuki Hideaki, saxophonist Tomoki Takahashi and excellent trombonist Shigeharu Mukai. 

Talent level is demonstrated quickly as the record opens with the 12-minute tune "Acoustic Chicken" with saxophonist Takahashi playing wonderfully. "Snake Walk" sounds exactly how you'd expect it to and Mukai makes his presence felt on another excellent tune in "Yellow Cherry." All originals here as far as I can tell with the exception of the closing tune, ballad "For Heaven's Sake." Overall, a fantastic album. 

The following year, 1977, brought another superb album in Racco. We have the same group here with the exception of trombonist Mukai. Another relatively straightforward release. One thing that stands out to me is Daitoku's use of the Rhodes versus the acoustic piano. A sound I pretty much always prefer. I really enjoy this one through and through. "Wolf Fish" is a short tune that highlights Furusawa's drumming and "Burning Cloud" is also an excellent composition. All originals here and great stuff all around. 

Up next in 1978, we have Spicy Islands and we start to venture into some different sounds. Daitoku returns on keys along with Mochizuki on bass and Takahashi on tenor saxophone. We have an additional saxophonist on sopranino in Toshiyuki Honda and 2 guitarists. Native Son guitarist Motonobu Ohde is here with Kohichi Hiroki. The album starts off with a great tempo and Latin vibe in "You'll Be Free Tonight." We get great energy and a little funky as Daitoku employs the clavinet on "Rainbow's Papa's Band Song." Both sax players shine here and we also get a nice drum part from Ryojiro. We can catch our breath a bit on "Sweet Flags In The Mist" with a nice melody and flute part from Honda. We continue with the Latin feel in "History of Tabasco" and "La Rimarna." The aptly named "Sayonara" closes us out with a mellow reggae touch and another great album is in the books. 

We skip ahead a few years into 1983 for our next release for an album that has become a favorite of mine. A hybrid album of various sounds, Once In A While again features some excellent musicianship. And we have some familiar faces from previous posts lending support. Lucky for us, Kohsuke Mine is here on saxophone, Mukai returns on trombone, Native Son bassist Tamio Kawabata and guitarist Motonobu Ohde are joined by 2 other guitarists in June Yamagishi and Kohichi Hiroki. On keys we have Junichiro Ohkuchi and Masahiro Sayama and lending support on percussion we have Getao Takahashi and Gonshichi Koizumi. 

The opening "Once In A While In Nichiogi" is a melodic bouncy track highlighting Mine's beautiful sax play and a great guitar part. Although I'm unsure which guitarist to thank. The very rhythmic "Wan-Nyago" is next up and be careful, the cutting of rugs may commence. These first 2 tracks have very minimal vocals that didn't warrant an instrumental, in my opinion. 

"Twilight Chime" is up next and the group turns toward reggae. A short tune, and about halfway through the tempo changes and who I assume is Ohde shreds for the remainder of the track. "Dancing" follows and is another reggae tune with an excellent bass line from Kawabata and a nice soprano sax part from Mine. "Peak Wind" follows and once the track develops it again has a great tempo. Mine shines as usual on tenor and there's also an awesome synthesizer part. Last track here is "Moonlight Slumber" and also has a reggae vibe to it. Vocals here provided by Minako Yoshida and while they fit the track very well, I've included an instrumental. 

And that wraps it up. Have a great weekend and hopefully this post will provide some enjoyable new to you music.