Shibusashirazu (渋さ知らズ, Shibusashirazu; roughly, "we don't understand/are unaffected by cool"), often lengthened to Shibusashirazu Orchestra, is a Japanese jazz orchestra. The group was formed in 1989 by bassist Daisuke Fuwa and since then many of Japan's jazz musicians, Butoh dancers and other performance artists have passed through the orchestra.
The majority of the group's original work is composed and arranged by Daisuke Fuwa. Their style stems from the jazz movement of the 60s, with the influence of 80s punk and No Wave. Although featuring extended free improvisation, there is also an element of rock music that makes the orchestra more accessible to a wider audience than a lot of other free jazz.
In 2007 they signed to Avex Trax, one of Japan's leading labels for commercial pop and dance music.
The orchestra performed four times in a row at the annual Fuji Rock Festival from 2000 and have performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2002 and 2016. They tour Europe frequently although are not well known in the United States.
Hey, it's my Patreon submission!
Sorry to go for something that's not available on Spotify, but this was an album where one of my first thoughts after listening to it was: "Holy shit, I'm so glad I heard this before I died", so I thought it would be a perfect addition for the list (and since there's surprisingly not a lot of jazz on here).
Just an absolutely bonkers, bombastic Japanese jazz record with rock elements featuring members of Sun Ra Arkestra. Real shame it's not more well known. "Naadam" especially might be one of the greatest songs ever recorded and that main melody is a dangerously potent earworm.
So cool. Ironic considering what the band name translates to. Blast this shit while my soul leaves my body at the humble age of 248 years old.
Oops it seems I listened to the wrong album and the right album isn’t on Apple Music. The album shibusaikayoutaizen opened like a late 70s Japanese cop show and wandered around in a sort of jazzy way that I loved. For now will give this a 5 based on that and will try to find the right album and check it out then update this review.
Shibuboshi is absolutely bananas but in a really fun way, the musicianship is great, I have fucking no idea what's going on but it made me smile and if music does that it's good. High 3/low 4, I dunno if I could listen regularly because it's a mind melter but a hell of an experience anyway.
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