Ryuichi Sakamoto -- A Day in the Park

 

I'm still in thrall to Ryuichi Sakamoto's（坂本龍一）supermarket jingle "Daiei" and his racing "G.T.", and now I've got to expand my memories to include this winner.

This one comes some years following the first two, so allow me to introduce you to "A Day in the Park", the final track on The Professor's October 1995 11th studio album "Smoochy". I'd heard of "Smoochy" before and I felt that the title made it sound a little too artsy so I never bought it. I may be regretting that decision but I'm sure a Xmas wish and a credit card will resolve that issue.

Anyways, compared to the high-octane "Daiei" and "G.T.", "A Day in the Park" is about as laid back and comfy as a real walk in the park. There are even recorded sounds of that traipse among all the greenery which makes it all the more enticing to track down your nearest patch of grass and trees. New York's jazz and R&B artist Vivian Sessoms provides the smoky vocals and the lyrics while Sakamoto comes up with the dreamy and soulful goods. There are a couple of more stars involved here: guitarist Yoshiyuki Sahashi（佐橋佳幸）and singer-songwriter Hiroshi Takano（高野寛）who's manning the electric sitar. I can easily imagine this being played at some jazz festival right in the middle of Central Park on a sunny Sunday.