Naoya Matsuoka -- One Last Farewell

Thank the heavens for Van Paugam's streaming City Pop radio. I've been able to discover some new stuff on it ever since the radio started up some weeks ago.

One example is this song by jazz pianist and Latin fusion musician Naoya Matsuoka（松岡直也）. His name has popped up once on this blog since he was behind the creation of one of Akina Nakamori's（中森明菜）greatest hits "Meu Amor e"（ミ・アモーレ）. He also took care of the arrangement of a 1970s kayo kyoku which has become a nostalgic favourite, "Taiyo ga Kureta Kisetsu"（太陽がくれた季節）by the group Aoi Sankaku Jougi（青い三角定規）.

However, I hadn't heard any of his own music until some nights ago when I discovered his "One Last Farewell" on Van Paugam's "City Pop Radio". It kinda fits that nice genre of Resort Pop and perhaps folks back in Japan dreamed about heading overseas as they were listening to this one. To me, it sounds fresh and nostalgic at the same time. The song was a track on his 1981 album "The Show".

It was sad to hear that Matsuoka passed away in April 2014 at the age of 76 from prostate cancer. One thing I read on J-Wiki via a 2013 magazine interview with bassist Hiroshi Inuzuka（犬塚弘）, formerly of  Hajime Hana & The Crazy Cats（ハナ肇とクレージーキャッツ）, is that a very young Matsuoka had filled in for a sick member of the group back in 1960 during which he had been asked whether he would like to become a member of the band. However, for whatever reason, Matsuoka declined the offer.