Warren Smith & Masami Nakagawa
Kaiko / Saiun
RCA (Japan) 1977
RVL-8502 (12”) Promotional copy. White label. w/insert.
sleeve : EX-(some wear on edge and corner, light color-faded.)
media : EX/EX(some slightly noise.)
A 12-inch single released in 1977, featuring American drummer/percussionist Warren Smith—known for his work with the groups of Sam Rivers and Julius Hemphill, and for teaching at the State University of New York alongside Ken McIntyre—together with Japanese flutist Shozo Nakagawa, whose activities span classical, contemporary music, and jazz.
This recording is one of a special projects that came about when Smith, visiting Japan incognito following a Sam Rivers Trio tour, was paired with Japanese musicians at RVC Studios. Performed as a free improvisation without rehearsal and captured via direct cutting, the session unfolds with striking immediacy. Elements of improvisational contemporary music blend seamlessly with ethnic-tinged free jazz, while Smith’s powerful, muscular drumming—evoking parallels with percussionists such as Stomu Yamash’ta, Michael Ranta, and Yasunori Yamaguchi—intertwines with Nakagawa’s organic flute to create a vivid, three-dimensional soundscape. Highly recommended.
A: 邂逅(Kaiko)
B: 彩雲(Saiun)