Ego-Wrappin'/Akina Nakamori -- Midnight Deja Vu Shikisai Blues （色彩ブルース）

In Japan, New Year's Eve and Day are very much family-and-friends affairs....cooking up the special stuff like o-sechi ryori and toshikoshi soba on the 31st and then the visits to the temples followed by a few days of noshing, drinking and chatting. Over here, New Year's Eve is the biggest party night of the year followed by New Year's Day which consists of televised parades and college football games, and recovering from massive hangovers before heading straight back to work from the 2nd.

This entry talks about that small band of time between the party countdown before the big turnover and the time that everyone finally decides to sludge their way home. The Osakan unit Ego-Wrappin' released an appealing bluesy number back in November 2001 as their very first single after the release of their 2nd album, "Michishio no Romance"(満ち汐のロマンス....Tide Flow Romance) some months earlier. After hearing the rockabilly craziness of "Psychoanalysis" and the jazz waltz of "Katsute"(both already profiled), Yoshie Nakano and Masaki Mori（中納良恵・森雅樹） came out with something just as listenable and danceable....at the time of 2 a.m. The mellow sax, the languid guitar and the swishes of the brushes on the drum backing up Nakano's slightly raw, whiskey voice made this work for me.

"Midnight Deja Vu -- Shikisai no Blues"(Colour Blues) made it all the way to No. 15 on the Oricon charts before becoming the 61st-ranked song of 2001. The single, by the way, is more of a maxi-single. It also contains live versions of "Nervous Breakdown", "Katsute" and a more contemporary ballad, "byrd".

I'd always wondered how Akina Nakamori（中森明菜） would have handled a jazz tune. I mean, I know she did do "Tattoo" as a techno big band swing number back in the late 80s, but how would she have handled a Cool Jazz tune from the 50s as if she were singing with a trio or quartet in a smoke-filled basement club? She's had that low, husky voice for years....would work with jazz. Well, I was given a partial answer with her cover version of "Midnight Deja Vu". This was part of her March 2002 album, "ZEROalbum-Utahime 2"(歌姫２....Diva 2), her 2nd album of covers of various artists such as Ego-Wrappin', Momoe Yamaguchi（山口百恵） and Saki Kubota（久保田早紀）. The album peaked at No. 10.

Nakamori's take on "Midnight Deja Vu" is still jazz, but it has more of a Henry Mancini or Nelson Riddle polish with the addition of the shimmery string section. I probably wouldn't hear this in a basement jazz club but this might be more in a more refined setting such as a concert hall, perhaps more reminiscent of Linda Ronstadt's dabbling with the old standards in the early 80s. I also like her delivery of the lyrics....nice addition to the album.

This is a concert video of the Ego-Wrappin' original. So, once you've passed the midnight hour into 2013, just chill with that alcohol and give it a play.

Ego-Wrappin'-- Midnight Deja Vu