Stomu Yamatcha

The First Ever Boxed Set Celebrating The Work Of Stomu Yamashta For Island Records Between 1972 And 1976. Remastered Set Including The Albums 'Floating Music', 'The Man From The East', 'Freedom Is Frightening', 'One By One', 'Raindog', 'Go' And 'Go… Live From Paris'. Featuring Steve Winwood, Klaus Schulze, Michael Shrieve, Al Di Meola, Hugh Hopper, Gary Boyle, Morris Pert And More. Born in Kyoto, Japan, Yamashta studied music at Kyoto University and Berklee College of Music. His athletic and virtuoso percussion style came to prominence in the early 1970s when his work with the Red Buddha Theatre brought him to Europe. He teamed up with percussionist Morris Pert and members of his band Come To The Edge to record the album 'Floating Music' for Island Records in 1972. This was followed in 1973 by the release of the soundtrack album 'The Man From The East', which also featured Morris Pert and keyboard player Peter Robinson. Later the same year Yamashta formed the band East Wind with Gary Boyle (guitar), Hugh Hopper (bass) and Brian Gascoigne (keyboards) and recorded the excellent jazz rock album 'Freedom Is Frightening'.

Stomu Yamashta is a Japanese percussionist, keyboardist and composer. He is best known for pioneering and popularising the world music genre after blending traditional music with popular music in the 1960s and 1970s. Originally released in 1974, One By One was the soundtrack to the racing movie, One By One, directed by Claude du Boc and released in 1975. This Esoteric Recordings reissue marks the album's debut on CD and has been remastered from the original master tapes.

Stomu Yamashta's first two Island albums are combined on this two-disc 2008 reissue. From 1972, Floating Music - actually credited to Stomu Yamashta & Come to the Edge - was an unusually long (51-minute) LP for the era. Side one consisted of two long studio compositions; side two had two similarly lengthy instrumental tracks, recorded on January 10, 1972, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Recording with non-Japanese musicians, percussionist Yamashta with this album established himself as an accomplished purveyor of complex, versatile, and quite cerebral fusion music, though of the sort too challenging to get an audience that wide even by fusion standards. Including some world music-flavored interludes, the music nonetheless remained pretty electronic-based, and pretty serious in mood…

If you enjoy the electronic orchestrations of Vangelis or the refined Japanese sensibility of Kitaro, this album is a must. Sea and Sky is a masterpiece. Working with the brilliant arranger Paul Buckmaster, Stomu Yamashta brings together his virtuoso synthesizer and percussion playing with the richness and power of full symphonic orchestra. From the surging initial ascent to the spectacular final crescendo, Stomu brings you images of the sea and sky in all their grandeur, with echoes of Debussy's "La Mer," the passion of Berlioz and the lushness of the great film scores. With the exception of one inexplicable section of light jazz, every moment of this 1984 album shines with a special energy.

Stomu Yamashta is a Japanese percussionist, keyboardist and composer. He is best known for pioneering and popularising the world music genre after blending traditional music with popular music in the 1960s and 1970s. Originally released in 1974, One By One was the soundtrack to the racing movie, One By One, directed by Claude du Boc and released in 1975. This Esoteric Recordings reissue marks the album's debut on CD and has been remastered from the original master tapes.

Stomu Yamashta's first two Island albums are combined on this two-disc 2008 reissue. From 1972, Floating Music - actually credited to Stomu Yamashta & Come to the Edge - was an unusually long (51-minute) LP for the era. Side one consisted of two long studio compositions; side two had two similarly lengthy instrumental tracks, recorded on January 10, 1972, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Recording with non-Japanese musicians, percussionist Yamashta with this album established himself as an accomplished purveyor of complex, versatile, and quite cerebral fusion music, though of the sort too challenging to get an audience that wide even by fusion standards. Including some world music-flavored interludes, the music nonetheless remained pretty electronic-based, and pretty serious in mood…

Perhaps most widely known for his contributions to the atmospheric score of Nicolas Roeg's The Man Who Fell To Earth, Japanese composer/percussionist Stomu Yasmashta made a number of albums in the 1970s that trounced the boundaries of jazz fusion, new age music, and old fashioned experimentation. This 2008 release, mastered directly from the original recordings, is the first CD edition of Yamashta's '75 opus, Raindog, a compelling work that includes one track later used in Earth. Fans of Brian Eno will find a kindred (but wholly original) spirit here.

Stomu Yamashta is a master percussionist who studied Jazz drumming at Berklee School of Jazz. In the 1970’s he recorded a string of innovative albums for Island records fusing his percussion talents with jazz, electronic and classical music. "Freedom Is Frightening" features a fine band, including Soft Machine bass guitarist Hugh Hopper and guitarist Gary Boyle. It was a fine achievement which propelled Yamashta to a wider audience which would eventually lead to his acclaimed Go albums featuring collaborators Steve Winwood, Michael Shrieve, Klaus Schulze. Never before released on CD, this Esoteric reissue has been re-mastered from the original master tapes and fully restores the original vinyl artwork and continues Esoteric's series of Yamashta’s work for Island Records.