Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media - Funky Stuff (2026 Nippon Columbia/Deep Jazz Reality 180g Vinyl LP)

Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media - Funky Stuff | Vinyl LP - 2026 Nippon Columbia / Deep Jazz Reality Reissue (HMJY-237, Project Re:Vinyl, limited edition remastered 180g pressing) 

• Jiro Inagaki's definitive jazz-funk statement, eight tracks written and arranged by Hiromasa Suzuki, fusing the explosiveness of Japanese jazz-rock with the groove and elasticity of American funk and soul
• One of the most sought-after Japanese jazz records of the 1970s, originally released in January 1975 on Nippon Columbia, featuring a cover of Kool and The Gang's title track alongside seven Suzuki originals
• Limited edition 180g Pure Vinyl reissue on the Project Re:Vinyl series, remastered and cut by Shigeru Takesawa, supervised by Yusuke Ogawa of Universounds, with original Josuke Kubo illustration

Jiro Inagaki had been leading groups through the jazz-rock landscape since the late 1960s, moving from The Soul Mates to His Black Rhythm Machine before forming Soul Media in 1969. Funky Stuff, recorded in August 1974 at Nippon Columbia's studio, was the last album of his jazz-rock era, and it arrived at something more focused than anything before it. Inagaki later described the shift simply: "I did black funk." The arrangements are by pianist Hiromasa Suzuki, whose Fender Rhodes drives the harmonic foundation across all eight tracks while Inagaki switches between tenor and soprano saxophone and flute on top. "Painted Paradise" opens with the full band sprinting, Akira Okazawa's bass and Hajime Ishimatsu's drums locking into a groove with a low centre of gravity while Hiroshi Yasukawa's guitar and Takashi Imai's trombone add layers above. "Funky Motion" follows with a tighter, more insistent rhythmic pattern, and "Breeze" pulls back into territory where funkiness and mellowness coexist, Suzuki's electric piano floating over the rhythm section. "Scratch", the only non-Suzuki composition on Side A, is credited to W. Henderson and carries a different feel.

Side B opens with the title track, a cover of Kool and The Gang's 1973 hit played with a weight and sharpness that transforms it from party funk into something closer to the Headhunters' approach: Okazawa's bass is fat and insistent, Ishimatsu's drums are crisp, and Inagaki's saxophone cuts through the arrangement. "One for Jiroh", Suzuki's tribute to the bandleader, follows as a warmer, more lyrical piece, and "Gentle Wave" eases back further before "Four Up" closes the album on a harder groove. The original 1975 pressing on Nippon Columbia (KZ-7502) became a collector's item, and this is the latest in a series of reissues that have brought the album back into circulation. This 2026 edition on Columbia and Deep Jazz Reality (HMJY-237) is part of the Project Re:Vinyl series, pressed on 180g Pure Vinyl, remastered and cut by Shigeru Takesawa, supervised by Yusuke Ogawa of Universounds. Single jacket with obi strip, original Josuke Kubo illustration.