Home    Preorders    WaJazz: Japanese Jazz Spectacle Vol. I - Deep, Heavy and Beautiful Jazz from Japan 1968-1984 - The Nippon Columbia masters - Selected by Yusuke Ogawa (Universounds)

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WaJazz: Japanese Jazz Spectacle Vol. I - Deep, Heavy and Beautiful Jazz from Japan 1968-1984 - The Nippon Columbia masters - Selected by Yusuke Ogawa (Universounds)

180g

180GHMVLP01

LP Black $46

SHIPS BY 2025-06-20

  • Essential 14 track collection of “WaJazz” music selected and compiled by renowned Japanese jazz expert Yusuke Ogawa, owner of the Universounds record store in Tokyo.
  • Gatefold 180g heavy double vinyl LP. Comes with extensive track-by-track liner notes by Yusuke Ogawa.
  • All tracks licensed by Nippon Columbia, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Mastering and lacquer cut by Jukka Sarapää at Timmion Cutting Lab, Helsinki, Finland.
  • PLEASE NOTE: NO WHOLESALE TO JAPAN

Description

Universounds, HMV Record Shop and 180g team up for an exceptional release: from blazing hard bop to free jazz, to introspective saxophone solos and massive big band sounds, renowned Japanese jazz expert Yusuke Ogawa presents an essential 14 track collection of “WaJazz” music taken from the Nippon Columbia vaults. Featuring Jiro Inagaki, Minoru Muraoka, Hiroshi Suzuki, Hozan Yamamoto, Count Buffalo, Takeshi Inomata, and much more!

“Japanese jazz has been recognized and celebrated by music lovers worldwide for decades. The origins of this trend may be traced back to the rare groove movement that flourished in the 1990s, but its current deep and wide popularity seems to be connected to the fact that Japanese people have been reevaluating their own jazz since the mid-2000s, locally referred to as WaJazz (“Wa” meaning Japan but also the Shōwa emperor period, from 1926 to 1989). Since the beginning...

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Preview Tracklist

  • Tadaaki Misago & Tokyo Cuban Boys - Sakura Sakura
  • Minoru Muraoka with New Jazz Players - Muraiki
  • Count Buffalo & The Jazz Rock Band - Mago-Uta
  • Kiyoshi Sugimoto - D-51
  • Toshiyuki Miyama & The New Herd - Adult's Day
  • Soul Media - Breeze
  • George Ohtsuka - Sea View
  • Hozan Yamamoto Masahiko Togashi Yosuke Yamashita - Breath Prologue
  • Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media - Do It
  • Hiroshi Suzuki - Romance
  • Masahiko Sato - Tochi Mo Kurumi Mo Fukiotose
  • Masahiko Togashi - Fourth Expression
  • Takeshi Inomata & Sound Limited - Mustache (OK)
  • Takeo Moriyama - Watarase