Yamash’ta & The Horizon – Sunrise from West Sea: Live LP WeWantSounds (UK)

LP version. Gatefold sleeve with OBI. Wewantsounds present a first time reissue of Sunrise From West Sea, Stomu Yamash’ta’s cult LP originally released in 1971. A deep, cosmic, at time ambient performance recorded live and featuring two other Japanese legends: Takehisa Kosugi from the Taj-Mahal Travellers and jazz pianist Masahiko Satoh. The line-up also included Hideakira Sakurai on electric shamisen. Stomu Yamash’ta has been hailed as one of the best percussionists in the world by John Cage. Yamash’ta and Satoh recorded the landmark album Metempsychosis for Nippon Columbia in 1971. 1971 was also the year Yamash’ta released his highly-acclaimed Red Buddha solo album which was released in Europe and in the US. Inspired by the Metempsychosis experience Yamash’ta set to recreate the flowing energy of the album in a live setting with a smaller line-up. Recorded live at Yamaha Hall in Tokyo on April 18, 1971, just a few days after the end of the Red Buddha recording sessions, the all-night concert was recorded in front of an invite-only audience consisting of friends and musicians. Yamash’ta enrolled Satoh on keyboards together Taj Mahal Travellers leader Takehisa Kosugi, whom he’d met through his mentor, Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. Hideakira Sakurai on electric shamisen was also added the lineup. Edited down to fit two sides of an album that will become Sunrise From West Sea, the performance is both hypnotic and ethereal. It starts with Kosugi’s distinctive electric violin and develops into a deep, spiritual free form conversation between the four musicians, giving them all the space they need to freely improvise and interact with each other, mixing electronics, percussion, electric organ, and shamizen without ever clashing. The interaction alternates between quiet, tranquil Eastern meditations and more paced parts, fuelled by Yamash’ta’s extraordinary percussion playing. Later known for his involvement in soundtracks for Robert Altman’s 1972 film Images — collaborating with John Williams — and Nic Roeg’s 1976 classic The Man Who Fell To Earth, and also for his foray into fusion with his group Go, Yamash’ta never reached the creativity heard in Sunrise From West Sea again. The album was recorded during one of the most fertile periods in Japan where such groups as Les Rallizes Denudes and Taj Mahal Travellers and jazz musicians like Masahiko Satoh and Yamash’ta were revolutionizing the Japanese music scene. Includes new introduction by Paul Bowler. Remastered from the master tapes.