Friday, July 10, 2020

Masaru Imada -- Andalusia no Kaze(アンダルシアの風)


To be honest, I wasn't quite sure where Andalusia was initially which goes to show how much my geography has deteriorated over the decades. However, I did find out from Wikipedia that it "...is the southern autonomous community in Peninsular Spain.", and with Jere Travels' video of the region, I could witness how lovely it is.


My curiosity in the area was sparked by this first and title track from jazz pianist and arranger Masaru Imada's(今田勝)1980 album "Andalusia no Kaze" (Andalusian Breeze). I've yet to find out much about Imada aside from what I gleaned from his brief description at Tower Records which states that he was born in Tokyo in 1932 and he graduated from Meiji University. He's had a dynamic career as a top musician at various events including concerts and festivals.

The last statement for that Tower Records description mentions that Imada likes to go for a beautiful and romantic sound based on Latin rhythms. "Andalusia no Kaze" has that in spades and I'd also like to add that guitarist Kazumi Watanabe(渡辺香津美), who I covered just recently through one of his own tracks in the same year, is also contributing his talents on "Andalusia no Kaze" the album. Indeed, it's as smooth as freshly-polished glass, and his piano often sounds like peals of bells.

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