Axis 01

Axis/Another Revolvable Thing is the second installment of Blank Forms’ archival reissues of the music of Japan’s eternal revolutionary Masayuki Takayanagi, following April is the cruellest month, a 1975 studio record by his New Direction Unit. Comprised of recordings of a September 5, 1975 concert by the New Direction Unit at Yasuda Seimei Hall in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district, the two-part set showcases Takayanagi in deep pursuit of what he began calling “non-section music” after leaping beyond the confines of his prior descriptor “real jazz.”

The fifth AXIS recording once again brings in a different approach to the music. With the exception of the group’s first album, Les Oiseaux De Matisse, which was largely recorded live in the studio, subsequent albums (Dream Feathers, Port Of Saints, Blutopia) have been built from Ron upwards – Ron recording with a small core of players and then arranged for larger groups via subsequent overdubs.

Axis was formed in 1970 by Dimitris KATAKOUZINOS and Demis VISVIKIS, after they had hooked up as members of the backing band for Demis ROUSSOS (APHRODITE'S CHILD). They released three albums between 1971 and 1973. Their third album (their second self-titled album) brings the most interest to this site, as it is a mixture of heavy prog, canturbury jazz-rock, and pure fusion.