Susto (Remastered) Masabumi Kikuchi

• 1 Circle/Line 14:57
• 2 City Snow 07:41
• 3 Gumbo 10:14
• 4 New Native 15:00
• 5 Gumbo (Edit Take) 03:50
• 6 Circle/Line (Edit Take) 03:38
• Total Runtime 55:20

Info zu Susto (Remastered)

An underrated gem from one of the Japanese jazz greats, Susto is essentially Masabumi Kikuchi doing his best Miles Davis electric period impression… and it works! Kikuchi brings on former Davis sax players Dave Liebman and Steve Grossman along with his good friend Terumasa Hino and some of the best New York session musicians to craft four long-form electronic fusion tracks that are deeply hypnotic, rhythmic, and funky. All four tracks are great, though, if we had to pick a favorite, it might have to be the perfectly frantic jazz dance opener “Circle/Line” which features an ostinato bass groove and some psychedelic synth sounds from Kikuchi. Also important to note: the album was produced by the great James Mason, who you probably know from his Rhythm Of Life LP. Big thanks to Jeff Parker for playing this one at our summer listening residency!

Kikuchi's most successful album, both artistically and commercially, was his 1981 Columbia release Susto, which was recorded around the same time as his collaboration with his friend Terumasa Hino, on the latter's groove LP Double Rainbow. Similarly, Kikuchi ploughed a single-minded funkathon groove over four long tracks. Taking his lead from Miles Davis' mid-70s funk band, Kikuchi invited Hino to play trumpet in addition to former Davis sax stars Dave Liebman and Steve Grossman. Kikuchi then reinforced his ensemble with an arsenal of guitarists and percussionists far beyond the point of overkill, but not with the same obliteration of ego that Miles achieved on such albums as Get Up with It and Agharta. Susto's high water mark is the fifteen-minute album closer "New Native", which actually features four guitarists – Billy Patterson, Butch Campbell, Ronnie Drayton and producer James Mason – plus two drummers and two percussionists. Ironically, the only track to omit trumpeter Hino is a failure, "Gumbo" being a lame lopsided reggae-disco piece of the style Can were want to lay on us around the time of Saw Delight. However, as Susto was dedicated to "Alexander Calder, Duke Ellington, Gil Evans, Gyorgy Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Toru Takemitsu", it's pretty clear where Kikuchi's pleasure centres truly lay.

Masabumi Kikuchi was one of the greats in Japanese jazz for a long time. He recently died and to honor him, a number of his long out of print titles have been reissued; this is the first time that this album has been available as HiRes ReMaster!

He started as a accompanist on acoustic pianist in the 60s and then later launched a band and a solo career.

"By the late 70s Masabumi Kikuchi had pretty well settled into living in New York City. Like many of the jazz musicians of the time he wandered off into full blown fusion territory. If the Kochi project was the calling card then Susto was the coming out party with One Way Traveller the just-as-successful follow up. This is full blown electric Miles worship which finds Kikuchi backed by some of NY's best session players. It was one thing to hear Kikuchi playing electric piano and organ in the past but now he runs wild adding synthesizer to his arsenal Masterful fusion from one of the overlooked greats."

Masabumi Kikuchi, keyboards, Rhodes synthesizer (2 solo, 3 solo, 4 solo), producer
James Mason, electric guitar
Hassan Jenkins, bass
Richie Morales, drums
Aïyb Dieng, percussion, congas (tracks 3, 4)
Steve Grossman, soprano saxophone (tracks 1, 2, 4), tenor saxophone (track 3)
Yahya Sediq, drums (tracks 1, 3, 4)
Terumasa Hino, Bolivian flute (1), cornet (tracks 2, 4 solo) Dave Liebman, soprano saxophone (1, 4 solo), alto flute (2 solo), tenor saxophone (track 4)
Sam Morrison, instruments (wind driver by), (tracks 1, 2, 3 solo)
Airto Moreira, percussion (tracks 1, 2, 4)
Marlon Graves, electric guitar (tracks 1, 3)
Butch Campbell, electric guitar (tracks 2, 4)
Billy Patterson, electric guitar (tracks 3, 4)
Barry Finnerty, electric guitar (track 1)
Alyrio Lima, percussion (track 1)
Ed Walsh, Oberheim and synthesizer programming (track 1)

Recorded November 1980 in New York, December 1980 and January 1981 in Tokyo at Sound Ideas Studios, Brooklyn, New York; CBS/Sony Roppongi Studio, Tokyo

Digitally remastered

Masabumi "Poo" Kikuchi
was a Japanese jazz pianist of legendary stature with a vast discography that ran the gamut from straight-up post-bop and vanguard classical to fusion recordings, solo synthesizer dates, and even digital dub. He toured and recorded with artists as diverse as Sonny Rollins, Lionel Hampton, Terumasa Hino, Sadao Watanabe, and drummer Paul Motian, among others.

Kikuchi was born in Tokyo in October of 1939. He studied music at the Tokyo Art College High School and, upon graduating, immediately formed his own trio. Soon after, he won a spot in Hampton's Japanese touring band. He made his recording debut as a jazz pianist in 1963 on Toshiko Akiyoshi and Charlie Mariano's East & West. Kikuchi played piano on composer Toru Takemitsu's score for ..., a film by Masahiro Shinoda. In 1966 he appeared with Watanabe on the saxophonist's Jazz & Bossa recording, along with iconic drummer Masahiko Togashi. The year 1967 proved to be a prolific one in Kikuchi's career: not only did he appear on no less than five albums recorded with Watanabe and Mariano, but he also appeared with Japan's Swing All Stars. In 1968, along with session work, he and trumpeter Hino formed the Hino-Kikuchi Quintet and recorded their self-titled debut; the album received national acclaim. Around this time, the pianist also entered a contest for overseas musicians sponsored by Down Beat magazine. He won a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in the United States. Before leaving for Berklee, Kikuchi played piano for Rollins during his Japanese tour. The pianist returned to Japan in 1969. In 1970 he was part of Peacock's group on the seminal Eastward album. Kikuchi formed his own sextet right after, and recorded Matrix in 1970; it was the first recording under his own name to see international distribution and is one of his classics. Poo-Sun, which was influenced by the sounds coming from Miles Davis' group of the same period, was issued the same year. All told, Kikuchi's sextet recorded a total of seven albums in 1970, two in collaboration with Watanabe's band. He also appeared on Hozan Yamamoto's Silver World with Peacock.

Between 1970 and 1979, Kikuchi was prolific as both a recording artist and as a sideman and featured guest. He recorded and toured with Gil Evans, Mal Waldron, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones, and Peacock, and cut two duet albums with Togashi, the truly enigmatic Japanese vanguard jazz recordings Poesy = The Man Who Keeps Washing His Hands (1971) and Song for Myself (1974). His own non-sextet dates from the '70s included the enigmatic A Short Story for Image Hairpin Circus (1972), East Wind (1974), Wishes/Kochi (from 1976, featuring members of Davis' group including Reggie Lucas, Steve Grossman, Mtume, Dave Liebman, and Al Foster), and the solo But Not for Me (1978). Kikuchi had become friends with Davis earlier in the decade. He was one of the musicians whom the trumpeter kept in touch with during his retirement, and the two recorded an album together in 1978 that has never been released. Listen to the Silence: Live at the Public Center (New York, 1980) The '80s were a period of experimentation, musical discovery, and new directions for Kikuchi. In 1980, he was the pianist on the Gil Evans Orchestra's Listen to the Silence: Live at the Public Theater. He followed this with two electric recordings that are considered essential parts of his catalog, Susto (1980) and One-Way Traveler (1981). He also appeared on Hino's Daydream (1980) and the global hit Double Rainbow (1981). Kikuchi recorded eight themed solo synthesizer records between 1984 and 1986. He also cut the solo acoustic piano date Attached in 1989. Tethered Moon: First Meeting In 1990, Kikuchi released the Bill Laswell-produced Dreamachine. The other players included Bernie Worrell, Nicky Skopelitis, Bootsy Collins, and Aiyb Dieng. This was also the year that his collaboration with Motian and Peacock began in the group Tethered Moon. Their debut offering was appropriately titled First Meeting. In 1991 Kikuchi recorded another duet with Togashi, entitled Concerto, and a self-titled offering with Tethered Moon. In all, Tethered Moon would issue five albums during the '90s, among them tributes to the music of Jimi Hendrix, Edith Piaf, and Kurt Weill. Kikuchi also cut Miles Mode/P.M.P. with Motian and Marc Johnson (1993), two trio albums with Togashi and Peacock, and Triple Helix with Hino, Togashi, and James Genus (1993). The pianist also released two solo piano standards offerings, After Hours (1994) and Love Song (1995). Also in 1995, the Hino-Kikuchi Quintet would reunite for two albums, Acoustic Boogie and Moment. In 1996 he recorded another solo standards date, Possessed. Despite his wildly busy composing, recording, and touring schedules, Kikuchi was still trying out new forms. He cut another electric full-length entitled Raw Material #1 in 1996, conceived by producer Mitsumasa Yabuki with members of Laswell's stable as well as Brooklyn session players. Three remix EPs followed.

Kikuchi welcomed the advent of the 21st century with a piano duet album with Takeshi Shibuya entitled Tandem in 2000, followed immediately by Melancholy Girl, a solo piano album that featured him playing live in a French-style Japanese restaurant! He also cut three critically albums with his Slash Trio in 2001 and 2002 before reuniting with Tethered Moon for Experiencing Tosca in 2004 and touring the globe. He was part of the Paul Motian Trio 2000 + Two recordings Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, along with Chris Potter, Greg Osby, and Mat Maneri in 2007 and 2008, respectively. In 2009 Kikuchi formed a new trio with Motian and bassist Thomas Morgan. They recorded the album Sunrise, produced by Manfred Eicher; it was released in the spring of 2012. Kikuchi died on July 6, 2015 after an extended illness.

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