Akira Kurosawa & Los Primos -- Yoru no Blues（夜のブルース）

 

I was a little surprised on Sunday that there was an episode of "Shin BS Nihon no Uta"（新BS日本の歌）on Jme since it's the Holidays. I'd assumed that the program was going on New Year's hiatus, but as it turned out, they had one more in them to get out before the New Year which is fine for my parents especially. 

A Los Primos song was covered in that last episode which had me thinking. The Mood Kayo group really loved their go-touchi（ご当地）songs especially with the term "blues" in the title. There have been "Ginza Blues"（銀座ブルース）, "Niigata Blues"（新潟ブルース）and "Asahikawa Blues"（旭川ブルース）, and that's for starters. How many more do they have?

Well, as it turns out, Akira Kurosawa & Los Primos（黒沢明とロス・プリモス）did release their 17th single in February 1970 titled "Yoru no Blues" (Night Blues). Yes, no geographical reference point here...at least not in the title. But as it turns out, those Los Primos guys pulled off a three-in-one. That's right. The three verses in "Yoru no Blues" stake claims to Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki, all major port cities in Japan. And it looks like the guys in those verses just can't seem to make the best of their opportunities, but dang, isn't it all very atmospheric, just like any Mood Kayo song should be?

Written by Kyosuke Kuni（久仁京介）and composed by Masakazu Mizushima（水島正和）, it feels like a fairly lighthearted tune for a Mood Kayo although there is the classic posture of Shoji Mori（森聖二）as the main vocalist at the time while the others were on instruments and haunting chorus, even with some languid scatting. The only thing that struck me was hearing the mellow horns provide the final harmonized note instead of the voices of Los Primos themselves.