SENSE OF WONDER

Veteran Japanese composer born in Tokyo in 1953 and growing up in a music family, where he learned to play the piano as a kid.Entering the high school Namba came in touch with Psychedelic and Progressive Rock and formed his first band.His listenings became wider while growing up, including Jazz and Bossa Nova and in early-70s he became a member of the group Kaneko Mari & Bux Bunny.After three studio and a live album with them he pursued a solo career, recording his first personal album ''Sense of wonder'' in 1979 for King Records' branch label Seven Seas.

Hard to classify, this early Namba effort sounds as a compilation of his endless influences and inspirations as a young composer and musician, although most of the tracks are built around a pop enviroment.There are traces of his future as an arranger of music for video games and animes in a pair of dreamy Electronic pieces with floating synthesizers and slight JEAN-MICHEL JARRE hints, but the majority of this album follows a poppy vein with childish vocals and an amateur production, having a quite humurous choir of female voices and easy-going beat tunes.During the second half jazzy and Soul influences come in evidence, although these are also performed in a very Loungle mood with light electric guitars and calm piano and organ lines.A couple of mediocre Hard Rockers (with English lyrics) just proove the confusion in Namba's early steps in discography and make ''Sense of wonder'' even more incohesive.

Namba's later albums are much better than his debut, which is very incosistent and below average Art Pop.Only for collectors and lovers of Japanese music in general.