In the late '60s and early '70s, Don Cherry found a rawer, more personal sound at the edges of free jazz instrumentation. Traveling east and south, he met collaborators from different cultures carrying their own folk instruments and ideas, using the natural spaces between them to open up a looser, more accessible sonic landscape beyond free jazz.
Jun Fukamachi, a pioneer of Japanese crossover/fusion keyboards, recorded this landmark 1975 entry in Toshiba EMI's audiophile "Pro Use Series", now repressed on clear red vinyl for Record Day. Backed by the powerhouse rhythm section of Shuichi "Ponta" Murakami and Rei Ohara plus guitarist Kenji Omura, Fukamachi leans heavily on then-cutting-edge analog synths. The 14-minute jazz-funk highlight "Bamboo Bongo" remains a classic of free-flowing Japanese fusion improvisation.