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| Wikimedia Commons Eric Gaba |
A little over a month ago, I profiled a 1987 song by singer-songwriter Masatou Higashi（東正任）titled "Singapore no Yuki"（シンガポールの雪）. I noticed that the song had been composed by Ryohei Yamanashi（山梨良平）, someone that I haven't really written about in a few years and that was a pity because as I recall, he came up with some pretty snazzy songs himself, mixing in some jive jazz with the City Pop.
One such song was his "Jungle Love" track from his 1984 album "La Habanera" which was pretty darn close in tone to some of the songs that Kid Creole & The Coconuts were releasing at about the same time. A fellow track from the album is "Futari no Africa" (Africa for Two). Written and composed by Yamanashi, it's a musical version of a romantic and breezy honeymoon on the titular continent, once again bringing jazz and City Pop together. I swear that in another life Yamanashi must have been a Jazz Age crooner singing weekly on top of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.
The title of the song had me expecting Makossa or Afrorock, but this very so very soulful jazz here!
ReplyDeleteI've got a feeling that Yamanashi had been born a generation too late.
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