![]() ![]() His final recordings were made upon his final return to Sapporo, where he opened the Slowboat jazz club in 1995. Later chapters of his career were filled with travels, particularly to America where his mentor Barry Harris inspired some of his most exhilarating sessions. Ryo Fukui’s domain existed in likewise hidden institutions - historical venues such as the Shinjuku Pit Inn, Kichijoji’s Sometime, or Nagoya’s Jazz Inn Lovely. Some researchers estimate that Japan still has the largest portions of jazz listeners in the world, with an ongoing tradition of jazz kissa‘s: cozy listenings bars which ritualise the listening of LPs, much like enjoying a fine whisky. Where jazz was deemed initially controversial as foreign culture, its gradual importation and adaptation throughout the early 20th century allowed one of the most vibrant free jazz scenes to blossom by the 1960s. As showcased in Scenery’s effortless fusing of modal, bop and cool jazz, the city at the time was peaking with the cumulative influences of American music made throughout Japan’s post-war years. Scenery exemplifies the elevated levels of perfection sought out in Japanese jazz scenes, with the skills of its musicians pressurised under the intensity and intimacy of its venues. Though his story eventually reached the ears of several millions through internet algorithms, he was noticed scarcely by Western aficionados of his time. Since recording his second, Mellow Dream (1977), the following year, regular performances in important venues continued to sharpen his musical finesse until he began to perform and teach piano internationally. Ryo Fukui’s magnum opus was in fact his first release, a recording of his trio made after 6 years of living in Tokyo, away from his hometown. With the recent re-issuing of his coveted discography and rare live recordings by We Release Jazz (sister label of WRWTFWW, who previously re-issued several experimental Japanese rarities), as one of the most widely consumed jazz musicians of recent years, the rise of Ryo Fukui reflects a surging interest in the genre’s unique history in Japan. Through many moments both upbeat and serene, his immaculate instrumentation flows seamlessly, permanently leaving his personal mark as a self-taught musician. Courtesy of We Release Jazz/WRWTFWW Records.Ĭompletely under the radar until its miraculous recent online rediscovery, Sapporo-based pianist Ryo Fukui’s 1976 record Scenery has come to be seen as emblematic in jazz’s international history. I'll try to use this as a learning experience and hope that I can improve as time goes on.Ryo Fukui. Overall, I'm sorry to hear that this was a disappointing read. I appreciate your criticisms and appreciate that you took the time to write them out. ![]() Though, after reading these comments I think I should stick to writing about. I thought it would be a good stepping stone into the world of jazz journalism. but wasn't expecting it to be posted to this forum. With this article, I wanted to branch out a little and write something about jazz. ![]() Regardless of where/when it occurred, those problems have been solved. Seems there was some miscommunication somewhere in the process of submission/publication. Maybe I should have just stuck with "one of my favorites of the 70s" instead of "one of the finest".Īs for the typos, they've been corrected. I will, however, still say it's one of my favorites. I knew it was a stretch to say it was a top album from the 70s but I think claiming it's the finest album of the decade is absurd. For the record, I wouldn't have posted it with this title. It just left a really bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I'll get downvoted hard for being so harsh, but whatever. I get that the author wants to write an article praising the great quality of musicianship in this album, but to go to such extravagant lengths and resorting to cheap gimmicky journalism is just. That is probably the most obnoxious statement I've read in a jazz article, and I'm not even American. Outside of America, however, jazz still had hope. If the author thinks jazz had its back against the wall as a genre because you feel it couldn't appeal to mainstream audiences because of its experimental nature, then why cite an obscure and largely forgotten record to defend the thesis, no matter how successful it was in upholding the hard bop (which the author spells as hard Bob. Write from the lack of spellcheque ( scenry - if one is writing an article about an album, make sure one has the first instance of the album name right, yeah?) to the glaring lack of objective judgment. The album is pretty good, thanks for the link. ![]()
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