Yoshiaki Masuo - 24 (1970)

Before I started this post, I tried to figure out where I first heard this guitarist. I'm fairly confident it was on the Pamoja album from Sadoa Watanabe that I made a post for previously but I'm not 100% certain. Nonetheless, where ever it was, I really enjoyed Yoshiaki Masuo's sound and started diving into his work. Sadly, none of it blew me away like I hoped but I still found it relatively enjoyable. Most of his catalog is available digitally but despite looking far and wide, I could not find his debut album, 24, anywhere. Turns out its on a few platforms digitally but licensing has a couple of the songs blocked in my country, the US. It became a borderline unhealthy obsession for a few days until finally I broke down and bought a copy. Hopefully any weary internet travelers in pursuit of this album will find their way here. 

Released in 1970, 24 features a great lineup - which likely contributed to my steadfast pursuit. It looks like different groups of personnel were used as the album was recorded. I'll try to be clear on who was where. Yoshio Suzuki is present for each track and contributes on double bass, electric bass, percussion and cello. Hideo Ichikawa is on keys for tunes 1, 3 and 5-7. Motohiko Hino is on drums for tracks 1 and 3 while Hiro Tsunoda covers drums on tracks 2 and 4-6. Sadao Watanabe is present for track 4 on flute and percussion and the horn players are here for tracks 5 and 6. On trumpet we have Kazutoshi Ohkubo, Takehito Fujioka and Tetsuo Fushimi. On trombone we have Shigemichi Domoto and Takashi Imai. 

The album starts off with "Uptight" which is a nice, early fusion tune. Next up is "Shirley" which features Masuo on acoustic guitar and has a "Dear Prudence" kind of vibe to it. The title track is next and is a more straight forward tune with Ichikawa shining on the Rhodes. The folky "Corvallis" is next with Watanabe on flute and Masuo again on the acoustic. "Dirty Mashy Toe" is next and despite the weird name - might be the best tune on the album and is similar to the title track. "Round Trip" is another favorite and returns to a more early fusion sound with the horns also contributing nicely. The closing tune, "Soft Sadness" has a nice melody and sounds like you'd expect it to. 

Happy to share this one and get it out there for other people without access. Enjoy!