Song Of The Wind

Album tracks:

» Song of the wind
» M.J.B
» The last train home
» Homage to Stan
» Goodbye my friend
» Colorado
» Out of no where
» TDL
» Walking in the snow
» Pop song #10

This album stemmed from my 13 year relationship with Yasohachi "88" Itoh and Mikio Aoki. "88" is one of the most well respected jazz producers around and a great friend. He also knows all the best ramen shops. Aoki is the super producer and manager who built the group T-Square from a college band into a fusion empire in Japan. We had been talking about doing something together for years, and finally the timing worked out.

We decided to go for a mix of old and new. For the new, I was introduced to Keiji Matsumoto, who is just a monster player on everything, and is like 22 or something ridiculous. Keiji and I hit it off right away and had the exact same tastes in music. Everything from Fat Boy Slim to Mary J. Blige to Stan Getz to Toninho Horta we clicked, and were like kids in a candy store messing around with gadgets, EQ, compressors, turntables.

For the old, I've always been infatuated with the ECM sound, especially the Jan Garbarek / Keith Jarrett stuff. For these tracks we worked with Hatsuho Furukawa who is a veteran Tokyo jazz master, and totally in love with the style we were after. Furukawa put together some beautiful charts, and when we took them to the studio, they opened up like a flower.

We all wrote for the album, so there's no pop covers. Just pure personal exploratory music.

It was really an honor to work with Tokyo's top musicians and be part of the incredible music vibe going on there. I used to think that NY was the music capital of the world, but after seeing and hearing what is really happening in Tokyo, there's no doubt. Tokyo is definitely the place.

Credits:

Rap - Corbett Wall (2)
Wurlitzer, Keyboards, Piano, Decks - Keiji Matsumoto (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10)
Piano - Hatsuho Furukawa (1, 5, 9)
Programming/Sounds - Kenichiro Oishi (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10)
Electric Guitar - Isamu Ohashi (2, 3)
Acoustic and E. Guitar - Yoshito Tanaka (4, 6, 7, 8)
Electric Sitar - Keiji Matsumoto (6)
Acoustic Bass - Benisuke Sakai (1, 5, 9)
Electric Bass - Hitoshi Shimono (2, 3, 6, 7, 8)
Percussion, voice - Ippiqui Takemoto (8)
Drums - Kazumi Ikenaga (1, 5, 9), Masahiro Sakurai (6, 7)
Executive Producer - Mikio Aoki
General Producer - Minami Kishimoto
Song Producers - Hatsuho Furukawa / Keiji Matsumoto
Product Manager - Masahiro Iuchi
Recorded by - Hiroshi Osako at Village-A Studios, Shibuya
Coordinator/Planner - Toshishige Matsui / Emari Mamiya / Satoshi Yamada
Mastered by - Machiko Suzue, Sony Shinanomachi Studio
Photographer - Take
Artist Manager - Irene Chung
Art Direction and Design - Masaaki Otsuka Make
Make Up Artist - Maomasa Sato
Support Staffs - Shinya Yamaguchi / Hiroyuki Kanamori / Sakari Ito / Mas Giratsuka / Naoriaki Hasegawa / Tomokazu Nagamori / Mutsumi Kotaka / Akemi Ito / Yukiko Asaoka
Special Thanks to - Yasohachi "88" Ito / Akira Watanabe / Misa Jung / Asa Weintraub / Jasmine Hwang / Takanori Nio

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