{"title":"Toshiyuki Miyama and The New Herd","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eToshiyuki Miyama was born in Chiba in 1921, joined the Japanese Naval Military Band in 1939 and served aboard warships through the war, and emerged from it with a clarinet practice and a sense of what a large ensemble could do that most of his contemporaries lacked. After the war he joined the Lucky Puppy Orchestra, led his own group from 1950 as the Jive Ace, expanded to full big-band size and renamed the ensemble the New Herd in 1958. The New Herd was not a repertoire band playing American standards in the manner of post-war Japanese dance orchestras: from the late 1960s onward, with principal arranger Kozaburo Yamaki providing the compositional framework, the band moved steadily toward original, adventurous material that placed Japanese big-band jazz in genuine conversation with the American avant-garde. “Perspective” (1969) is cited by collectors as the record that announced this direction. The collaboration with pianist and avant-garde composer Masahiko Sato that produced “Canto of Libra” (1970) and “Yamataifu” (1972) pushed the ensemble into territory that won Japan’s prestigious Geijutsusai Yushu Prize. The New Herd recorded with Charles Mingus in 1971, toured worldwide through the 1970s and 1980s, and provided a working home for multiple generations of Japanese jazz musicians, including saxophonists Jiro Inagaki and Hidefumi Toki at different points in their careers. “Tsuchi No Ne (Sound of The Earth)” (1973) is among the most collected entries in the Three Blind Mice catalogue. Miyama led the ensemble for more than fifty years and died on May 24, 2016, aged 94. The New Herd continues to perform.\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\/toshiyuki-miyama-and-the-new-herd.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}