Mint Jams

Mint Jams is a fusion jazz album by Japanese band Casiopea. It is in default format the other Japanese bands also use for jazz and funk music: as clean, smooth and laidback as you can get. This leads to an album to which the average elevator and supermarket music seems adventurous. Thank god the album was over before I woke up.

This album was incredible! I could hear the origins of the soundtracks to some of my favourite Japanese media in this. I really enjoy the Japanese take on jazz and I think this is a great example of the clean and bright sounds you only get from Japanese jazz artists.

What if the Weather Channel fuuuuuccckkkked?

This was recommended to me by a pal at a Super Bowl party earlier this year and soundtracked a very sleep train from Birmingham back to London, and it absolutely slapped. Mindbending jazz fusion and catchy as all hell. Very happy seeing it again

What's interesting here is how much this sounds like a Japanese videogame soundtrack, even though games were very much in their most primitive form at this stage. There's a cleaness to everything from the melodies to the production that just transferred so well to musical hardware.

This was great. More of this please. My personal rating: 5/5 My rating relative to the list: 5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Yes.

This fucking rips

For as long as Americans have had a presence in Japan following WWII, Japanese musicians have had their finger on the pulse of jazz. From the hard bop of the '50s to the free jazz of the '60s, Japan would have their own output within the American-born genre. Of course, the popularity of jazz fusion in the '70s would find its way to artists such as Jiro Inagaki and Masayoshi Takanaka, before eventually becoming the basis for Casiopea's sound on their debut album by the end of the decade. A few years later, Mint Jams would be considered the crowning achievement of jazz fusion from Japan. I think it's only fair to draw comparisons to the Weather Report's Heavy Weather on the original list: funky, breezy jazz fusion jams with impressive musicianship to dazzle. It's an impressive showcase of each band member's talent that especially highlights the technical levels that they're operating at. All this while maintaining a sunny, playful vibe. Is it a bit shallow outside of that? Perhaps, but it still makes for an enjoyable listen throughout. Best enjoyed with tea and origami crane friends. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Hmmmmmmaybe. Either this or an album from Takanaka, but even then I'm hesitant to think that Japanese jazz fusion needs to be showcased on the list.

I've heard a few songs off this before, but nice to hear the whole thing. I've really been digging Japanese jazz at the moment.

This was an interesting experience. My initial reaction was that it was horrible lite jazz elevator Muzak. After a bit more listening, I found the tune catchy... and after a bit more listening, I realized the musicians were actually quite good. I could see this being some sort of elaborate prank, but conversely, the whole thing is played with great verve, energy, and swing in places. The bass and drums are quite tight. I think the earnestness saves it, ultimately.

Jazz fusion, Jazz-funk, smooth jazz. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

I could listen to this everyday. 4/5

Rating: 7/10

Jazz from 1982 and it works really well. Very nice, enjoyable listen. 4/5

Nice jammy jams on this… I liked it. This project has given me more appreciation of this kind of jazz.

There's been an influx of JPop/Jazz fusion LPs to the user list recently, and I'm all for it. Every one of these albums feels so nostalgically warm and effortless, yet contains meticulously crafted instrumentals that lock together like clockwork. Found myself getting lost in the twisting, labyrinthine bass lines and overall flow of the LP's own little world. These albums are always such a welcome escape, great add!

Quite a fun listen and something that certainly could have ended up on the original list if the editors knew about anything other than the UK. 8/10

A japanese fusion essential. I’m a bit more partial to their debut but this one is always a good time

Smmoooooooootttthhhhh. Nice.

It was a really fun album, ridiculous at times but good. I will be looking into their other stuff

I love the color green, so this album already has my full attention with its mint-colored cover. I can’t say that I’m familiar with Japanese jazz fusion, but I’m really curious to see what this sounds like, especially since it’s also classified as electronica. Overall, I thought this album was pretty fun. The overall sound was unique, and it was pretty enjoyable to listen to, mostly due to the electronic elements that were used to comprise the music. A couple of tracks really stood out to me: the second and the fifth tracks. The drumming and guitar playing on the second track were both really great. The sound was infectious, and it made me want to stand up and dance. The rapidly pulsing guitar on the fifth track was really good as well, although nothing else came close to how fun I found track two. The rest of the album was fine, and although this isn’t the type of thing I’d come back to, I appreciate its inclusion on the user list, and I enjoyed the chance to branch out a bit.

Feels like I'm high and listening to the Weather Channel

I should start playing Mario Kart again

The first track made me feel like I was in the Wii menu. I liked the rest a little more, but the funk aspect wasn't organic enough for me

Very smooth jams. I can't say I didn't like it. A lot of the sound felt pretty dated.

Jazzy fusions

Slappy, groovy jazz fusion. Feels like I should be playing a PS1 racing game driving through a low-poly neon city while listening to this. Certainly a fun one.

This is some high-end Elevator Music

This was pretty much what I expected from a live 1970s jazz fusion record. It was smooth and wanky. It was fine, but not for me at all.

City Pop for $200, Alex! I also most definitely heard Nintendo circa 1986 in a number of these tracks.

Like high-end elevator music.2 stars.

Japanese jazz fusion. Not for me.