STOMU YAMASH'TA & MASAHIKO SATOH: METEMPSYCHOSIS

Stomu Yamash'ta's debut album is ambitious contemporary avant and free-jazz mix, composed by Masahiko Satoh. Masahiko was graduated by Berklee School Of Music, and after his return to Japan in 1968 he became one of leading avant-jazz Japanese musician. His solo release "Amalgamation" from the same 1971 year is absolute avant-prog masterpiece.

There on their common project with another Japanese fusion future star Stomu Yamash'ta things don't go such a good way. Masahiko's compositions (album contains two only long free form compositions) are ambitious, but the realisation isn't successful at all. Stomu Yamash'ta plays percussion with support of Masahiko on piano and Masahiko's regular collaborator of that time brass section based ensemble T. Miyama & His New Herd.

Music on this release are free form long and bulky compositions without big internal logic or structure. Almost all of the time it sounds just as a collection of separate independent free form musical pieces, and even that pieces themselves too often sound as some ideas demonstration, not pre-composed music. From another hand, album absolutely lacks dynamics and adventure of improv work. In fact, all release could be described as collection of occasional avant contemporary music and free jazz pieces without connection between each other, filled with amorphous ambient-like sounds between them.

Big disappointment.