Label: Qbico – QBICO 22/23
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP; Country: Italy - Released: 2004
Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded on February 25 and April 15 & 30, 1978 live at Gaya, Tokyo, Japan.
(Previously unreleased material)
Cover Design by Sabu (front) & Qbico (inside)
Artwork and Design on info pages by VITKO
Mastered By – Harumi Hayashi
Photography By – Kenshi Sudoh, Masaaki Ohthu
Recorded By – Shinji Ohno
KAORU ABE – alto sax
SABU TOYOZUMI – drums, percussion
Note:
..."for sure one of the most legendary qbico release. Abe was a hero for me, i was a long time admirer of his music/unique, angry voice; so this was more then a pleasure and honour to put out. Sabu worked on the front cover, me on the inside and ltd ed. Sabu also found many original flyers of the 1st Memorial Concert dedicated to Kaoru Abe which we used for the collectors ed.. Sabu told me so many stories about Abe: how much fun they had together, how he assaulted Milford Graves screaming his sax in front of him, which let to the conclusion that Mr. Graves refused to play with him again (i'd have loved to see that scene), how poor he was at the end of his life..."Qbico
"A real find: a clutch of unreleased duo performances from starcrossed free Japanese altoist Kaoru Abe recorded a few months prior to his death aged only 29 on September 9th 1978. Though he obviously owed plenty to Ayler's righteous whoops and shrieks, Abe's playing also had a distinctive, deeply lonely and melancholic air. Indeed, he was often most comfortable playing alone, when he could carve huge chunks of weighty black silence to construct his dynamic of tension and release, sometimes he'd remain motionless for long minutes on end before blasting through the static mess. As such he has been a major influence on contemporary sound-thinkers like Masayoshi Urabe and alongside guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi stands at the forefront of the first wave of Japanese avant garde musicians. This stunning double gatefold LP bundles four ferociously powerful sets where he ’ s accompanied by powerhouse drummer Sabu Toyozumi who has played with Peter Brötzmann, Derek Bailey, Exias-J and Arthur Doyle. Side A is Feb 25th, 1978 (3rd set), B is April 15th, 1978 (1st set), C is April 15th, 1978 (2nd set) and D is April 30th, 1978 (1st set). Outer sleeve designed by Toyozumi himself, nice archival shots of the duo inside. Comes on psychedelic multi-coloured vinyl. A major historic event for sure." _ DK
Note:
Unrelease recording available here for the 1st time after more then 25 years. "Long ago, when i started listening to free jazz records, the abrasive sax sound of Kaoru Abe immediatly fascinated me and he instantly became one of my heros... i'd have never imagined that one day i'd have released an unissued record by him. This dream came true thanks to my friend Sabu, who discovered these very well recorded magical live sessions. Here, you still hear Abe piercing sound, few months before his tragic death for acute stomach rupture. His solo activity had been documented on more then 15 releases, but his collaborations have been less documented: three releases with guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi, an LP with Motoharu Yoshizawa and finally group playing with Derek Bailey and Milford Graves. He was definitively one of the greatest improvisor from Japan and Sabu with his creative and powerful drumming, the ideal partner to let him freely express all his intense emotions." - Qbico
Links in Comments!