For purely selfish reasons, I wish the music of Masayuki "JoJo" Takayanagi would reach a wider audience. With the unoriginal, safe, samey dullard-drone fucktards out there considered "groundbreaking" on labels like Matawhore, Southern Snore and their ilk, none of 'em have ever scaled the euphoric peaks and soul-numbing lows JoJo laid down three decades ago. Mebbe if they'd heard albums like this one, things would be different (and if they have-- shame on you visionless hacks!!), cuz it seems to me that much as the Velvets and Stooges incorporated elements of Ayler and Ornette into their jams, this is material begging to be plundered and expanded upon. Not only by the more "avant" element either. They usually fuck it up with their pretentiousness anyway.
Born in Tokyo in 1932, Takayanagi was a leader of the underground Nipponese free jazz/improv scene by as early as the mid-fifties. He's kind of an Eastern equivalent to Sonny Sharrock, though his feedback-drenched axe attack travels even further into Thee Great Fucked Up than St. Sonny. Backed by his New Direction Unit (Kenji Mori [sax/flute/bass clarinet], Nobuyoshi Ino [bass/cello] Hiroshi Yamazaki [percussion]), "April" was originally slated to be released on thee Mighty ESP-Disk, but the label unfortunately folded before its release. From beginning to end of its nearly fifty minutes, JoJo coaxes heavily wah'd scratchy tones that morph into ungodly squawks effortlessly. Special mention should be made of Kenji Mori's contributions-- his flute/sax/bass clarinet transmissions are nothing more and nothing less than amplifications of Dolphy's work on "Other Aspects." Yes, he's that fucking good.
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ReplyDeletepw = sln2010
This is my all-time favorite.
ReplyDeleteFor your semi-review: I especially like the "dullard-drone fucktards" part. Our opinios about today's drone-scene (?) is shockingly mutual! :)