Yopie Item and his Combo 2, Live with Idris Sardi 1976

 

This album features some nice fusion with violin by Idris Sardi, whose page is here.  Similar I guess a bit to Didier Lockwood.

A track called Jali-Jali:

Yopie Item and his Combo 1

 

Some very obscure fusion from Indonesia, from this gentleman named Jopy Item.

With his combo he released three cassette only recordings two of which I'll bring to these pages, the first being this one, year unknown.

Here the music is quite commercially accessible and jazzy, with female vocals. Track A5:

Many thanks to the generous and kind ripper for sharing this!

Red Hot Peppers (NZ) in 3

 

In complete contradistinction to the funky alternative rock band of approx. the same name who I used to love in their heyday of the nineties this is folk, acoustic, pop, and ssw in style, and comes from the late seventies New Zealand, with female vocals, for some pleasant but not demanding listening.

Information is here on discogs, as usual.

Stargazing is the title track of their third album:

It's Only a Matter of Taste, from 1979, by request

Only album from this band, Matter of Taste:

Matter Of Taste came from Gemmrigheim (on the river Neckar, north of Stuttgart), Germany. They were part of that proliferation of rock 'n' soul bands from the late 1970's, bordering on pop, with funky edges and (unusually) a very soulful black female lead singer.

The vocal fusion track Break it Up with its suspended chord intro just knocks it out of the ballpark for me:

We've encountered the beautiful instrumental track Berlin before with its very interesting tritonal chord progression, written by keyboardist Uli Buhl, because he was also a member of the Frederic Rabold Crew, a bunch of fine jazz musicians you might recall from back here:

I love how beautiful he has made the city sound on this piece of music.  Bravo. 

Ryojiro Furusawa Group, Spicy Islands 1978

 

I really enjoyed this album, with information here.  It's a one-off from this particular collaboration, led by drummer Ryojiro Furusawa who I don't anything about of course. As usual we don't mind if anyone can elucidate more in terms of what's worth hearing.  Except the album "At the Room 427" which I didn't like as it's free jazz/improvised. And with a percussionist as leader, that doesn't bode well at all.

Sweet Flags in the Mist:

Bassist and Composer Bingo Miki (Scandinavian Suite, Back to the Sea, Montreux Cyclone, The Eve, Mystic Solar Dance)

 

Despite the lovely artwork and album titles this is squarely big band type jazz with slight fusion and even slighter classical importations.
Well, looking back at them, gorgeous album paintings or collages with such wonderful sense of style and moreover so varied... only in the seventies!

Here and there are songs well worth the hearing, I think overall the best album was Mystic Solar Dance, from 1981, which begins as follows:

Discogs entry can be found here.

Krystyna Pronko in 4 albums

From discogs (where else?):

Born 14 January 1947 in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland. Polish singer, composer and musical pedagogue. Sister of Piotr Prońko and Wojciech Prońko.

Well she's famous enough to have a wikipedia page, if you're interested.

Just as you might expect the music starts with bluesy funky rock, luckily with minimal if any cover versions, all original compositions by various Polish songwriters, and then moves into the sappy pop-rock territory that was de rigeur in the later seventies carrying on into the 1983 album. She did make more later but I found that last one had so little worth hearing I didn't dare step foot into the later parts of the decade which, I would predict, feature digital percussion electric keys and jumpy rhythms.

From the 1978 album, track 6:

From 1980, something called Poranne lzy (which I quite enjoy):

Tone Jansa Quartet's 1983 Goa by request

These guys made quite a few albums in the period from 1977 to 1989, so 12 years.

The style is contemporary jazz with ethnic influences here.  Information for this particular release.

First and title track:

All of these are really just jazz albums, one point for the fact they use original compositions, thankfully none of those dreadful overplayed standards.

Pacific Eardrum's 3, by request

 

Their covers are so entrancing. Interesting that they kept the same blue / grey hues. 

The first LP painting which is like an homage to the Dali painting on the civil war (?) is incredible.

These guys played a very smooth commercially accessible style of fusion that was also indubitably professionally played, but maybe slightly lacking in the creative compositional originality and sometimes really too much veering into being over-radio-friendly.  

I think most people know their first but I was surprised they made two more after that one.  And the rare third album which silly enough is also ST, from 1980, holds some nice surprises, including the composed Sun in Mind track:

All the compositions are referencing ocean, sun, sky, etc.

Last Tamami: Elsa with Larry Coryell again

 

Again, less impressive than the prior ones, and leaning very much towards typical jazz standards now.

Bye-Ya, by T. Monk:

Tamami Four: Face to Space

 

Essentially the same as the last album...

Set Point:

Tamami's Third: Windows, with Larry Coryell, 1983

 

Well honestly, who wouldn't get excited at the mere idea of this album: beautiful Japanese flautist Tamami with the great fusion guitarist Coryell?  However, it's a little disappointing in comparison to its two predecessors, an experience we will find repeated with this artist as we continue the discography so we may as well get used to it now.

Of note the composition is now handled by pianist Toru Tsuzuki, oddly enough each of her albums is handled by a different composer.

Windows, a track by Chick Corea, really highlights the beauty of Coryell's playing:

Ax - You've been so bad (Canada 1970) by request

Unreleased from 1970, recorded in Toronto, Canada.  Basic hard rock here.

Babies falling from the sky, side b from this ep (?) or 10 inch: