Search - Shuya Okino :: United Legends

A Real Mixed Bag

bordersj2 | Boston | 07/18/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you've heard of Kyoto Jazz Massive, you've heard of Shuya Okino. He, along with his brother Bo and gifted pianist/musician Hajime Yoshizawa have been a staple in the nu-jazz/acid-jazz/break-beat genre for well over a decade as KJM, and much longer than that on their own. From their club in Japan to the numerous compilations and artists they've worked with, Shuya Okino's fit to be one of the 'legends' of the genre. Here, he's working with some friends in the business and genre that shouldn't be unknowns to anyone that's followed the genre or the West London scene.



The album starts well with the energized "Thank-you", by KJM. Navasha Daya's (Fertile Ground) on vocals here and there's a nice little organ solo in it. "Shine" features Diviniti, and it's nice, but not extremely memorable - it has the usual Diviniti sound but DJ Kawasaki works his magic with the production of it - you really have a sort of disco feel to the beat. Clara Hill comes on vocals with "If it Is Love", done up by Pirahnahead, who's also done loads of work with Diviniti among others. THere's a neat sort of bridge in this track where you're taken to straight orchestration. Wonderful! Other songs I enjoyed were "Pieces of You" with Yukimi Nagano And "A Million Tears" done up by Courtney Denni & Da Lata.



This was a solid album but it ultimately left something to be desired with some of the misses. I wasn't feeling it with "What Would I Do Without You", even though I'm a big Mark De Clive-Lowe fan, and I wasn't really into some of the other tracks on this very high priced 10 track import. Carleen Anderson's a good artist, and I like Afronaught but I didn't dig their tracks here. So I'd say you really need to listen to the music clips on this one before you think of making any kind of splurge with the purchase. Beautifully packaged, the linear notes are in Kanji, but I think the 3 stars is right on the money for how much I enjoyed it... i've had it for a while and seldom listen to it - not nearly as much as KJM's Crossbreed series or their three tribute albums.

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