Akira Sakata - MOOKO (2021)

1. Nitchimo Satchimo 06:21

2. Hiyashi-bushi 05:54

3. Wann kann ich see wiedersehen 04:42

4. Hitsujikai No Banasan 09:14

5. Kibaminzoku No Odori 07:49

6. Mooko 03:02

Akira Sakata: alto saxophone, bass clarinet, piano, vocalism

Bill Laswell: prepared fretless bass (#4, 6 & 8) 8 string bass, sitar bass, violin, ectar

Ronald Shannon Jackson: drums, percussion, scheollmie

produced by Bill Laswell, Akira Sakata & Ronald Shannon Jackson

recorded at Sorcerer Sound, NYC, December 2 & 3, 1987

mixed at Quad Recording Studio, December 4 & 5, 1987

engineering: Robert Musso

assistant engineer: Shawna Stobie

remastered by James Dellatacoma

at Orange Music, West Orange, NJ

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Akira Sakata - MOOKO Japan Concert (2021)

1. Mooko Nitchimo Satchimo 09:42

2. Mooko Hunnahahna-Bushi 07:13

3. Mooko Itai Itai 02:02

4. Mooko Mooko No Ohkami(A Monglian Wolf) 05:21

5. Mooko Ryoshi Ga Kita(A Hunter Is Coming) 14:59

Akira Sakata: saxophone, bass clarinet, vocal

Bill Laswell: bass

Ronald Shannon Jackson: drums

Kiyohiko Semba: percussion

recorded in Nagoya, Ureshino & Tokyo 23, 29 & 31, July 1988

engineering: Fumio Nij & Hidetoshi Mizue

mixed & edited at Platinum Island, NYC engineering: Robert Musso

remastered by James Dellatacoma at Orange Music, West Orange, NJ

design & photo by Thi-Linh Le layout by Dennis Michael Weeden

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Akira Sakata - Flying Mijinko Band Central Asian Tour (2021)

1. DISC 1 SECTION 1:Two Fleet Steeds of Genghis Khan + NIIKAWA KODAIJIN 16:36

2. DISC 1 SECTION 2:Tugrug Man Form Texas 16:03

3. DISC 1 SECTION 3:Azim Daryo-UYGURCHA + Kohjoh No Tsuki 13:55

4. DISC 1 SECTION 4:Tsugaru Jongarqa-bushi~Tsugaru Aiya-bushi 14:38

5. DISC 2 SECTION 1:Tsombon Tuuraitai Khuren 10:12

6. DISC 2 SECTION 2:Gepee Busgui~Gooj Nanna+ Leave me 06:17

7. DISC 2 SECTION 3:Morioka Sansa-Odori 10:24

8. DISC 2 SECTION 4:Wica 09:43

9. DISC 2 SECTION 5:Sii Mai Yahlong 07:00

10. DISC 2 SECTION 6:Akita-Ondo + Kelafa 10:44

Akira Sakata (reeds)

Febian Resa Pane (piano, keyboards)

Asuka Kaneko (violin) by courtesy of the BMG Victor

Shozan Tanabe (shakuhachi)

Michihiro Sato (tsugaru-shamisen)

Nicky Skopelitis (electric guitar)

Hiroshi Yoshino (contrabass)

Bill Laswell (electric bass)

Anton Fier (drums)

Aiyb Dieng (percussions)

Foday Musa Suso (vocal, kora, donsongoni

Shigeri Kitsu (vocal, percussion)

Kaori Kitsu (vocal percussion)

Epo (vocal)

Recorded at Ulan Theatre, Hohhot on 21 Sep, 1994 at The Japan Foundation Forum, Tokyo on 25 & 26 September, 1994

Mixed at Greenpoint Studio, New York

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UPLIFT 10: Fear No Love | Rudy Royston Podcast & New Single (GREENLEAF MUSIC)

Join us to hear our latest track

Our October UPLIFT track supports Lamda Legal and their important work on behalf of LGBTQ legal and civil rights.

We've posted some excerpts and complete tracks on Bandcamp and Soundcloud so you can preview the entire subscribers series featuring Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Mary Halvorson, Julian Lage, Bill Laswell and Ian Chang.

Rudy Royston introduces Flatbed Buggy

This special edition of the podcast features Rudy Royston previewing tracks from his upcoming album Flatbed Buggy, discussing the inspirations for his compositions and giving an insider's view on how the record came together.

We've also released the third single from the album, Hourglass, ahead of the release date on October 26. Check it out here.

Akira Sakata - Fisherman's.com (TROST RECORDS 2018)

We are happy to announce the unearthing of another gem of Japanese jazz maestro Akira Sakata, together with Laswell, Drake and Cosey!

Fisherman’s.com was released originally on CD, Japan-only, by Starlets Records in 2001 – now for the first time on vinyl and available worldwide.   Fisherman’s.com is Sakata’s ode to folksongs of the sea - an intense personal statement on the fluidity of tradition.

Alto Saxophone, Vocals, Synth – Akira Sakata

Bass – Bill Laswell

Drums, Congas – Hamid Drake

Guitar – Pete Cosey

1. Kaigara-Bushi 14:44

2. Ondo No Hunauta 09:51

3. Saitaro-Bushi 08:27

4. Wakare No Ipponsugi 14:12

Recorded and mixed at Orange Music Sound Studio, New Jersey, October 17-19, 2000. 

Mastered October 21, 2000 at Turtletone Studio 

Vinyl-remastering by Martin Siewert

Wadada Leo Smith - NAJWA (TUM RECORDS October 20, 2017)

International release: October 20, 2017

Wadada Leo Smith’s new album Najwa features four compositions in tribute to past masters of creative music, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Ronald Shannon Jackson and Billie Holiday, as well as the title composition ”Najwa” in remembrance of a love lost. Compared to Smith’s prior recordings, the presence of four guitarists and Bill Laswell’s electric bass create a unique sound world and fluidity for the music.

The first two extended compositions that open the album are dedications to two great masters of creative music, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, and each takes the form of a mini-suite. “Each has a second movement within the context of the overall shape,” says Smith. “They’re shaped like miniature suites within the context of a single album. And then the whole album has the shape of a tribute. It’s all about people and, therefore, it’s also organically unified, based around these people who I respect.” Next is the brief but touching “Najwa,” followed by a dedication to the sometime drummer of Smith’s Golden Quartet, Ronald Shannon Jackson.

The CD closes with the achingly beautiful “The Empress, Lady Day,” one of Smith’s several compositions dedicated to Billie Holiday. “I’ve written more compositions for Billie Holiday than maybe any other person,” Smith says. “She was a great performer/composer.” Although Wadada Leo Smith has worked with electric guitars in the past, including in his Organic ensemble and in Yo Miles! which he co-led with Henry Kaiser, Najwa puts the guitar in an even more central role. All four guitarists have worked with Smith before; Michael Gregory Jackson since Smith’s early years in New Haven in the 1970s, Henry Kaiser in Yo Miles!, and Brandon Ross and Lamar Smith (Smith’s grandson) in Organic.

In addition to the guitars, Bill Laswell’s electric bass takes a central role in the sonic world of Najwa and Laswell also played an important part in the post-production and mixing of the music on the album. Smith says that he enjoyed “the idea of making this session and then going back and re-recording some of the areas and then sitting down with Bill and allowing him to tweak it in certain ways and re-reference it in a whole different way. I very much like that notion, that idea or that philosophy.” This was the first time Smith and Laswell recorded together but their collaborations have continued both live and in the recording studio.

Hideo Yamaki, Bill Laswell with Dave Douglas - The Drawing Center (M.O.D. Technologies 2017)

Hideo Yamaki - Japan’s most renown, respected and in demand drummer. Veteran of countless recording and live projects with Japan’s most celebrated pop / rock artists. As well as many collaborations with Japanese icons such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Toshinori Kondo, DJ Krush, Akira Sakata and many others. 

Bill Laswell - Legendary, Ikonoklast, bassist / producer, has worked with Hideo Yamaki since the eighties in many diverse and unimaginable configurations. They have been able to establish a bass and drum dialog that explodes with fluid, spontaneous blasts of telepathy, an ever expanding, dynamic matrix. 

Dave Douglas - one of the leading trumpeters of his generation, was recognized as “Trumpet player of the year” by the Down Beat critics poll for the first time in 2000 and continued that billing 13 times in the 15 years since. Has worked with John Zorn’s Masada, Horace Silver, Anthony Braxton, Joe Lovano and many others. A transcendent style and sweeping vision.

1. The Science of Imaginary Solutions

Released March 10, 2017 

Dave Douglas: trumpet 

Bill Laswell: bass & effects 

Hideo Yamaki: drums 

Recorded by Hiroyuki Sanada & Fuso Murase at The Drawing Center, NY on August 19, 2016 

Edited, mixed & mastered at Orange Music, West Orange, NJ 

Engineering: James Dellatacoma 

Artwork by Yoko Yamabe @ Randesign 

Executive Producer: Giacomo Bruzzo 

M.O.D. Technologies: Yoko Yamabe 

M.O.D. Technologies support: Dave Brunelle 

M.O.D. Technologies Digital Series 

INCUNABULA