{"title":"Shūkō Mizuno","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eShūkō Mizuno was born in Tokushima in 1934, raised in Chiba, studied at Chiba University and then entered Tokyo University of the Arts in 1957 to study music theory, completing the specialist course in 1963. His composition teachers at Geidai included Yoshio Hasegawa and Michio Shibata; he studied ethnomusicology under Fumio Koizumi and jazz theory separately under Sadao Watanabe, who had developed his own deep engagement with both American jazz and Japanese musical identity. Mizuno then went to Mills College in Oakland to study electronic music while continuing to pursue jazz, an education that was unusually broad for a Japanese composer of his generation and that shaped everything he made afterwards. He joined the faculty at Chiba University as a professor of education, eventually becoming emeritus professor, and produced music across the dividing line between contemporary classical composition, electronic music, jazz and avant-garde big-band writing with no evident discomfort about what category any of it fell into. His collaboration with Toshiyuki Miyama and the New Herd produced “Jazz Orchestra ‘73” (TBM, 1973) and “Jazz Orchestra ‘75” (TBM, 1975), both of which placed in the top three of Swing Journal’s Jazz Disc Award. “The World of Shūkō Mizuno” (TBM, 1976), recorded live on the fourth night of the “5 Days in Jazz 1976” festival at Yamaha Hall in Ginza on May 26, 1976, features his Combo alongside the New Herd and became the record that made his name to the wider world. Kazumi Watanabe plays guitar throughout. \u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"shuko-mizuno-toshiyuki-miyama-the-new-herd-plus-all-star-guests-jazz-orchestra-73-1973-japanese-three-blind-mice-tbm-1001-vinyl-lp","title":"Shūkō Mizuno \/ Toshiyuki Miyama \u0026 The New Herd Plus All-Star Guests - Jazz Orchestra ‘73 (1973 Japanese Three Blind Mice TBM-1001 Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShūkō Mizuno \/ Toshiyuki Miyama \u0026amp; The New Herd Plus All-Star Guests - \u003cem\u003eJazz Orchestra ‘73\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP, 1973 Japanese Three Blind Mice (TBM-1001, Gatefold, Toshiba EMI)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwo side-long compositions for big band by Shūkō Mizuno\u003c\/strong\u003e, performed by Toshiyuki Miyama’s New Herd (one of Japan’s most important jazz orchestras) with guest soloists, recorded in two sessions at Aoi Studio in August and September 1973\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOver 44 minutes of music that moves between free jazz, hard-swinging big band writing, blues and funk\u003c\/strong\u003e, with a four-trumpet, four-trombone, five-saxophone section plus electric bass and drums\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGatefold sleeve\u003c\/strong\u003e, liner notes by Shoichi Yui and the composer, engineered by Yoshihiko Kannari, produced by Takeshi Fujii\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShūkō Mizuno is a composer whose work crosses boundaries that most musicians stay inside. He was a co-founder of Group Ongaku in the early 1960s, one of Japan’s first free improvisation collectives, and his output ranges from electronic music and orchestral composition to these large-scale jazz works. \u003cem\u003eJazz Orchestra ‘73\u003c\/em\u003e is the first of two albums he wrote for Toshiyuki Miyama’s New Herd on Three Blind Mice (the second, \u003cem\u003eJazz Orchestra ‘75\u003c\/em\u003e, followed two years later). The New Herd had been active since 1958 and was by this point the leading progressive big band in Japan, a group that had recorded with Charles Mingus in 1971 and toured internationally. Miyama treated the New Herd as a vehicle for adventurous arrangers and composers, and Mizuno’s writing here takes full advantage of that openness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe album is two pieces. “Drive, Drive, Drive!” runs the entire first side at over 21 minutes. “Blues, Autonomy, Drive, Chaos” fills side B at over 23 minutes. The titles describe what happens in the music: sections of rhythmic propulsion, passages of collective free improvisation, blues-based episodes, and moments where the full weight of a 17-piece band lands with a force that smaller groups cannot produce. Yoshihiko Kannari’s recording captures the ensemble at Aoi Studio with the spatial clarity that TBM pressings are known for, and with a big band the dynamic range is considerable. This pressing (TBM-1001) is a gatefold including liner notes by Shoichi Yui and by Mizuno himself. Manufactured by Toshiba EMI. Please note the original \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e24-page booklet is missing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Three Blind Mice","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44726884139067,"sku":null,"price":150.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_9257.jpg?v=1792816119"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/shuko-mizuno.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}