Takashi Tsuzuki - From Tokyo (2019) [Hi-Res]

It’s a familiar tale - a young (Japanese) boy is classically trainedfrom the age of seven, hears Paul McCartney at the age of thirteen and trades his violin for a Hofner bass. Thus begins the musical exploration that has been Takashi Tsuzuki’s life. Playing in a local band and frequenting the studio, Takashi delved into a mix of electronic and organic sounds.

Supporting his creative life through music creation and production for ad agencies and movies, Takashi continued to create his own music for the world. Embraced first in Europe by DJ Nick Luscombe at XFM, and then by EU label HAL9000, Takashi’s music was picked up by Ropeadope for his US debut, Monophonic Multiphonic (2010)

But these are trying times for musicians, and Takashi returned to commercial music and dropped his efforts to create his own music.

March 11, 2011 - We all watch in disbelief of video footage of the most devastating tsunami to hit Japan. In Takashi’s words:

““March 11th 2011 so many things got swiped away. Each day felt like a helpless journey through atunnel with no sight of tomorrow. but time just kept on ticking. I was at the verge of desperation when an email turned up, “i saw the news. couldn’t believe my eyes. are you ok takashi ? if there’s anything i can do just let me know.” It was from a producer Ropeadope, and his words gave me the courage to pull myself together. I started working on my originals only to respond to his kind words.””
In 2015 Takashi brought two records to the world - From Japan and From Tokyo. Collections of his work to date, both albums were distinct yet cohesive - one could feel the life of the artist developing. In the days since, Takashi runs the Seiko booth at Basel World, and composes music for Seiko and other commercials. In early 2017 he sent out the word to Ropeadope that another project was on the way - this time he's pushing into more melody and groove. An introduction to Atlanta Records NiA, aka Tomoko Nagashima, began the first vocal recordings of Takashi's career. And now we present It's Not Fair, the next step in the development of Takashi Tsuzuki

NiA (Tomoko Nagashima) was born in Hyogo prefecture in Japan, and started her career as the vocalist for Orange Pekoe. Known widely as one of the key bands that popularized Jazz in the Japanese music scene, Orange Pekoe has released seven original albums to sales of over 600K copies. In 2014 NiA released her self titled debut - NiA - with co-producer and arranger Takuya Kuroda via Atlanta Records through the Ropeadope family of imprints. Nia now lives in New York working on her second album, and can be found playing around the city, always with some heavy young Jazz musicians on tap.

Tracklist:
01. Takashi Tsuzuki - Free step (6:10)
02. Takashi Tsuzuki - Fright (4:13)
03. Takashi Tsuzuki - If I could (5:23)
04. Takashi Tsuzuki - Symmetry (5:00)
05. Takashi Tsuzuki - Matte Bridge (6:10)
06. Takashi Tsuzuki - YOUG-M (3:38)
07. Takashi Tsuzuki - La quarta fermata (4:04)
08. Takashi Tsuzuki - MO (5:23)
09. Takashi Tsuzuki - Softly (5:07)
10. Takashi Tsuzuki - Cesspool (5:09)