Word: yamashta
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Lester Parker--1369 Club Soul Syndicate--The Club, 9:30-2:00 Stonu Yamashta--Jazz Workshop at 8:30 and 11 Shelly Isaacs Band--Michael's Pub Steve Veikley Jazz Quartet-- Tree of Life--Pooh's Pub Joe Venutl--Sandy's Chris Hogan--Sunflower Cafe B. Winlker--Last Hurrah Maggie Scott--Scotch and Sirloin Sue O'Claire and Essence--Airport Hilton...
...year-old Winwood's most recent effort is Go, a strange and spacey album that combines elements from electronic music, jazz, classical music, reggae, salsa, and just the slightest touch of rock and roll. Recorded with Japanese avant-garde composer and percussionist Stomu Yamashta and former Santana guitarist Michael Shrieve. Go is an extraordinarily innovative work which demands more than casual listening. Yet the heavy emphasis on electronic music--the sounds of synthesizers and the electronic instrumental effects throughout--make listening a bizarre, somewhat alienating experience...
...Stomu Yamashta conceived the ideas behind the album, as well as most of its musical composition. Like Winwood, Yamashta is 28 and a former child prodigy. As a teenager he performed with John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. His more recent achievements include writing the soundtracks for such films as Ken Russell's The Devils, Altman's Images and Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth. In addition, Yamashta has toured with and composed pieces for the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Ballet and a number of jazz-rock bands...
ELECTRONIC MUSIC is Yamashta's special love and talent but to my mind, the best moments of Go come when the music moves away from that medium and allows the opportunity for the strengths and style of Stevie Winwood to emerge. Winwood, who sings the part of Kurata and also plays guitar, piano and organ, puts in an impressive performance. His childlike yet soulful vocals are at their finest in "Ghost Machine," a fast-paced number based loosely on an Afro-Cuban rhythmic pattern with an aggressive rock beat, and on "Winner/Loser" which is in fact a Winwood composition...
...these days of the rock and roll superstar, it is refreshing to see someone like Stevie Winwood willing to take supporting roles in order to learn and experiment with new musical styles. Yet the talents he has to offer are considerable, and while he sings and plays Yamashta's music with skill and authority, his unique abilities are allowed to remain unrealized. With each successive listening to Go, the answer to the question posed earlier--"What became of Stevie Winwood?"--becomes more clearly enunciated: he is back, but he still has a ways...
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