Masabumi Kikuchi

Disc 1 recorded on April 1 and 2, 1994 at Onkio Haus, Tokyo. Disc 2 to 4 recorded on March 29, 1994 at Pit-Inn, Tokyo.

Masabumi Kikuchi - Black Orpheus (2016) {ECM-Universal Music Japan UCCE-1160}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 236 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 164 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 453 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2016 ECM Records / Universal Music Japan | UCCE-1160
Jazz / Modern Creative / Modern Jazz / Piano

A document of a 2012 Japanese solo recital – not only the last in his homeland but the last anywhere – by idiosyncratic improviser Masabumi Kikuchi (1939-2015). One of the uncategorisable greats, Kikuchi occupied his own musical universe and in his final years was quietly and systematically severing his ties to jazz, drifting instead towards what he called ‘floating sound and harmonies’, introspective and poetic improvisations. Song forms still sometimes materialized. Kikuchi revisits “Little Abi”, a ballad for his daughter, which the pianist once recorded with Elvin Jones. And there is a surprising and very touching version of the wistfully yearning theme from the 1959 Brazilian film Black Orpheus.

Masabumi Kikuchi - East Wind (1974) {DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9131 rel 2015}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 304 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 141 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1974, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9131
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

A brilliant set from Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi – two long, leaping, loping tracks that almost feel like some of McCoy Tyner's best work! Kikuchi plays acoustic piano, and the group's a quartet with Terumasu Hino on trumpet, Koshuke Mine on tenor, Eric Gravatt on drums, and Juni Booth playing some really wonderful bass. Booth's bass leads the tracks with a soulful quality that you don't always hear on Kikuchi's other work – really giving the record a strongly-rooted vibe, while the musicians are still free to really open up and explore. The album's tracks, "East Wind" and "Green Dance", are both excellent examples of the soulful freedoms allowed in the Japanese scene of the 70s – side-long numbers that are different both from contemporary performances on both the US and European scenes of the period.

Masabumi Kikuchi - Wishes/Kochi (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 329 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 126 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 158 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1976, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9173
Jazz / Post Bop / Fusion

An excellent mid 70s Japanese fusion set, led by the Gil Evans protege Masabumi Kikuchi – with a very similar group to the one on his awesome Susto LP! The vibe isn't quite as funky on this outing – in fact it's a bit more reminiscent of Miles' spacey electric explorations – though there are some pretty hard groovin' moments should definitely appeal to fans of funky fusion. Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman play some nice coloristic lines on reeds, and Terumasa Hino is in fine form on trumpet. The rest of the group is rounded out by Reggie Lucas on guitar playing some hard choppy accompaniment to Kikuchi's synths and electric piano, Mtume on percussion, Al Foster on drums and Anthony Jackson on bass. We're especially keen on the dark and heavy "Auroral Flare", the spacious "Pacific Hushes" which opens with a beautiful line played by Hino and the set's closer "Alone".

Masabumi Kikuchi - Hanamichi - The Final Studio Recording (2021) {Red Hook Japan, KKJ 9010 rec 2013}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 120 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 2021 King International / Red Hook Japan | KKJ 9010
Jazz / Modal Music / Post Bop / Piano Solo

Masabumi Kikuchi is not the kind of jazz pianist who just strikes the keys to produce a sound. He has a Zen-like approach to the instrument by making it an extension of himself, and thus both constructs and hears the music produced as a different form factor. There are and were other contemporary pianists such as Bill Evans, Denny Zeitlin and the late Canadian classical pianist Glenn Gould, musicians who perhaps may fit into this category, but Kikuchi was a one of a kind artist.

Shunzoh Ohno feat. Masabumi Kikuchi - Something's Coming (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 Series}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 229 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 86 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 180 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9141
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Fusion / Trumpet

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. An aggressive bit of funky fusion – a set that matches the talents of Japanese trumpeter Shunzoh Ohno with some hip American grooves from Reggie Lucas on guitar, Cedric Lawson on keyboards, Don Pate on bass, and Roy Haynes on drums! The sound is very full-on – in a mid 70s Miles Davis electric mode, but with perhaps a bit more of a funk touch on the best cuts – almost a refinement of the groove that Miles hit in Japan, fusing the energy into some great tunes that really pack a sharp punch! Haynes' drums are surprisingly heavy at points – and titles include "You Dig That?", "But It's Not So", and "I Remember That It Happened".

Masahiko Togashi + Masabumi Kikuchi - Concerto (1991) {Japan Studio Songs Remaster YZSO Series rel 2016}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 335 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 269 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 190 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1991, 2016 Studio Songs Japan / Nippon Crown | YZSO-10064
Jazz / Post Bop / Chamber Music / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano / Percussions

Two Japanese jazz greats pianist Masabumi Kikuchi and percussionist Masahiko Togashi recorded “Concerto” in 1991 – quite prolific period for both (especially for Kikuchi who founded one of his most successful project Tethered Moon with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian right at that time). Released soon after, this duo album hasn't been noticed and became an obscurity. Many Kikuchi fans even don't know such release exists. In 2016 it has been re-issued in Japan so it is much more accessible now. Being mostly known as an object of discussions between collectors (as rule no-one of them ever heard its content) – is this album really all that good?

Masabumi Kikuchi - Susto +2 (1981) {2016 Japan Crossover & Fusion Collection 1000 Series SICJ 169}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 411 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 131 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 289 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1981, 2016 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICJ 169
Jazz / Fusion / Jazz Funk / Keyboards

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. A great album of funky Japanese fusion – one of the few sets from the Japanese scene of the late 70s that got any sort of wider release in the US – and a treasure that we've loved for years! The set's got a really great sound – soulful and funky, but sharp too – in a lineup that features a variety of keyboards from Masabumi Kikuchi, plus work by Terumasa Hino on trumpet, Steve Grossman and Dave Liebman on saxes, and James Mason on guitar! The best cuts have a funky feel that's in the CTI/Kudu mode – perhaps mixed with a bit of Herbie Hancock keyboard jamming – and the album's a surprisingly lost funky gem in the Columbia catalog of the early 80s, with a much harder edge than some of the other work on the label at the time!

Masabumi Kikuchi - Masabumi Kikuchi In Concert (1970) {2015 Japan We Remember Poo Complete Series UCCJ-9206} [CD4of8]
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 311 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 110 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 204 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970, 2015 Philips / Unversal Japan | UCCJ-9206
Jazz / Post Bop / Electric Jazz / Piano

Heavy electric piano from Masabumi Kikuchi – played here on two side-long tracks that really stretch out! The album's a live one, and features Kikuchi working with a sextet – a great lineup that features soprano sax, bass, and drums – plus some added organ and keyboards next to Masabumi's own keyboards – especially nice on one track that also features piano! There's a sensitivity to these tunes that's wonderful – a hint at the straighter Japanese trio mode that would dominate later in the 70s, but played with some of the best boldness that scene was bringing to its work at the start of the decade. Titles are both originals – "Yellow Carcass In The Blue" and "Dancing Mist" – both with a sound as evocative as their titles!

Masabumi Kikuchi & Masayuki Takayanagi - Live at Jazz Inn Lovely 1990 (2020) {NoBusiness NBCD135}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Official Digital Download -> 366 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 188 Mb
Full Artwork (jpg+pdf) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1990, 2020 NoBusiness Records | NBCD 135
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano / Guitar

This live date from the titular Nagoya venue reveals the mellow side of Japanese free jazz. That could seem unlikely when considering the lead name, guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, a maverick follower of Lennie Tristano who later turned to total freak-outs and noise, partnering with the likes of outsider saxophonist Kaoru Abe. Recorded nine months before his death 30 years ago this month, the concert finds him in the company of regular collaborator bassist Nobuyoshi Ino, plus celebrated pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, who died in 2015, sitting in during a trip home from his long sojourn in the U.S. Kikuchi, who worked with Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Dave Liebman and Joe Henderson, as well as a cooperative trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, exerts a pull towards the tradition.