[Airy Bossa]
No.143 "New York Afternoon" by Yasuko Agawa
Hi. Today's song is "New York Afternoon" by "Yasuko Agawa".
It is a very light, breezy, nice pop song in Bossa Nova rhythm, and has American taste particularly in chorus part.
If you like please listen.
The singer "Yasuko Agawa" is one of the most popular Jazz vocalist in Japan since the '80s. If her songs are new to you, please try on this occasion.
Some links to the music shops offering song samples are located on the bottom of this page.
Few contents have been put away in a " ▼Memo " tab in each section, so please click it to read.
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Thank you.
1.Song data
| Title | New York Afternoon |
|---|---|
| Artist | Yasuko Agawa |
| Album Title | Fine! |
| Catalog Number | VICJ-77038 |
| Track No. | 4 |
| Duration | 3:08 |
| Released | 1982 |
| Publisher | Victor entertainment |
| Lyricist | Unknown |
| Composer | Richie Cole |
| Arranger | Viva Brasil, M.Sasaji |
- About the creators
UnknownLyricist
We are not 100% sure about the name of the lyricist at the moment.
We will update this section, once there is solid information.
Richie ColeComposer
"Richie Cole" is a long serving American Jazz sax player, composer, and arranger active since 1969.
Early days
Cole was grown up in a music environment, because his father was running a Jazz club in New Jersey.
Cole started learning the saxophone at 10 years old. Since then, he continued to study the sax, and finally entered the "Berklee School of Music" in Boston.
In 1969, Cole became a member of Buddy Rich's big band by taking over a position of former saxophonist Art Pepper's, and played lead alto sax.
This became a beginning of his professional career.
Become independent
He spent 2 and a half years with them. Then, Cole took part in the bands like Lionel Hampton or Doc Severinsen, and also played with the Manhattan Transfer.
After those remarkable experiences, he formed his own quartet in 1976.
In this period, "Richie" was frequently worked with a singer "Eddie Jefferson".
The original version of Today's song, "New York Afternoon" was also first recorded in this collaboration.
Since then, he has released 46 leader albums to date.
Alto Madness
"Alto Madness" is the key word often appears while talking about "Richie Cole".
"Richie" uses this word often. In the 70s. it was the word to describe his play style, and in the 80s, it became his band name. And in the 90s, he formed an orchestra, and named it "The Alto Madness Orchestra".
Seemingly, "Alto Madness" means his very energetic saxophone play in Bebop style, and possibly also indicates his spirit on music to play enthusiastically like a mad.
(The word "Alto Madness" appears at least in the '50s though.)
World tour
Cole's excellent play was already well known in the early '80s, and popular as a star saxophone player of Bebop.
Cole and his band "Alto Madness" has toured overseas like Australia, Japan, Africa, Finland, Russia and throughout Europe, and showed their performance.
Thanks to his long time contribution to Jazz, he has been appointed to a member of the Board of several public Jazz associations.
And in 2005, he has given a Congressional Certificate from the State of California for his achievement in Jazz.
(Ref: Wikipedia-en, Richie Cole)
(Ref: jazzcorner.com, Richie Cole)
(Ref: allaboutjazz.com,
Richie And Phil & Richie)
(Ref: centerstage.conn-selmer.com, Richie Cole)
(Ref: communitynews.org,
Jazz legend Richie Cole, December 1, 2017)
Video clip
Finally, here is a music clip of a Jazz live performed by Richie Cole Quartet, at a Restaurant Bar near Pittsburgh.
The players are, Richie Cole (Alt Sax), Eric Susoeff (Guitar), Mark Perna (Bass), Vince Tagieri (Drums), and David Leif Gerjuov on the Washboard.
It's a relaxed nice live, but the performance is first-class.
If you like, please listen.
There is a part 2 of this video. If it is not automatically loaded, please click here.
* "Richie Plays at a Local Bar Part 1" by "Richie Cole"
Viva Brasil, M.SasajiArrangers
San Fransisco based, Brazilian music group, "Viva Brasil", and a talented arranger, "Masanori Sasaji" are credited as the Arrangers.
"Yasuko Agawa"'s 7th LP "Fine!" was her first fully collaborated album with other artists.
All 5 members of "Viva Brasil" were participated in, and actually played their instruments on the recording.
On this song, the strings, the horn section(Sax), and the chorus are also performing. But these parts were not played by "Viva Brasil", but by other musicians.
Therefore, we imagine, that the basic parts, namely, the drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, and percussions were arranged, and played by "Viva Brasil".
And, the strings, sax, and chorus parts were arranged by "Sasaji".
We suppose that is why two names are indicated.
Then, we would like to touch both parties briefly in this section.
Viva Brasil
As mentioned, Viva Brasil is a San Fransisco based, 5-piece Brazilian music band active since 1976.
They have released 5 albums since debut. A vibrant and bouncy Samba touch pop song, "Skindo-Le-Le" (1980) is perhaps the most well known hit song from them.
Skindo-Le-Le
A collaboration between "Viva Brasil" and "Agawa" was started in 1981, when "Agawa" covered, & released Viva's hit song "Skindo-Le-Le", as the opening track of her 5th album "Sungrow" (1981).
Luckily, it became a hit song, Then, they had a tour together, according to the article in Viva's site.
Continuously in 1982, the original 5 members of "Viva Brasil" took part in "Agawa"'s 7th album, "Fine!".
That gave an excellent Latin taste to this album, and made it a unique one in her discography.
"Viva Brasil" is still active at the point of 2015, and holding lives around San Fransisco.
M.Sasaji
"Masanori Sasaji" is a keyboardist, composer, arranger, and music producer active since 1977.
He has produced more than 100 singers from various music categories, and successfully released many hit songs through the singers.
Mariah
"Masanori Sasaji" started his professional career, by joining a reputed Jazz band, "Isao Suzuki" group in 1977, while he was studying in the university.
In 1979, he teamed up a Jazz, Fusion band "Mariah" with 9 other members, and released the 1st album from a major label.
"Mariah" released 5 albums as a band until they broke up in 1983. But they were not just a Jazz band, but more like a project team, like former "Caramel mama" of "Haruomi Hosono".
For example, from the 1st to the 3rd albums of "Tomoko Aran" were produced by them.
Or they were participated in the albums of a Jazz singer "Naomi Akimoto", or a unique pop singer "Yumi Seino".
After Mariah
After the "Mariah" project, "Sasaji" accelerated producer's job, and involved in the album productions of the various artists, like "Yasuko Agawa", "Loudness", "Princess princess", "Seiko Matsuda", "Spitz", "Kobukuro", "Show-Ya", "May J"... and so on.
And as a screen music composer, he has written incremental music for several movies and TV series.
In parallel, he has been an active musician as well.He is playing at the various bands from hard rock to big band Jazz.
From 2012, he started a compact Jazz and rock band, "MusicReview", and is holding live concerts regularly.
He is also occasionally teaching at the music college, since his musical skill, knowledge and experience are outstanding.
(Ref: www.vivabrasil.com, Viva Brasil)
(Ref: Wikipedia, Masanori Sasaji)
(Ref: cdjournal.com, FINE! YASUKO, LOVE - BIRD)🇯🇵
(Ref: ritsumei.ac.jp,
01-11-2008, Masanori Sasaji)🇯🇵
(Ref: hmv.co.jp, Mariah Project)🇯🇵
(Ref: mimitab.jimdo.com,
Masanori Sasaji profile)
Video clip
Finally, here is a live clip of "Morning Kiss" performed by "Junk Fujiyama" in Dec 2012.
"Junk Fujiyama" is a singer-songwriter debuted in 2010, performing nice stylish urban taste pops.
What's unique on him is, his sound, voice and even appearance are very close to a popular artist, "Tatsurō Yamashita" in his youth.
So, old fans often wonder, "Oh! Is this an unpublished old track of 'Tatsurō' ?", when they first listen his music.
It is just a joke, but he is performing very good music with originalities. So, it means if we pursue a good pop music in Japan, it gets to close to 'Tatsurō' in many ways.
On this live, "Masanori Sasaji" is playing the keyboard.
Just for your information, other players are, "Shū-ichi 'Ponta' Murakami"(Dr), "Nobu Saitō" (Per), "Kiyotsugu Amano" (Gt), "Ryuta Sakamoto" (Bs), "Masato Honma" (Sax), "Miki Hamada" (Cho), and "Yui Murase" (Cho).
If you like, please listen.
* "Morning Kiss" by "Junk Fujiyama"
Cover art today
- Sound impressions
Flowing light Bossa
This is a very light and tripping Bossa Nova song in middle to up tempo.
Airy
The drums, bass, strings, percussion, acoustic guitar and Chorus begin a short but elegant introduction, and main melody starts soon.
"Yasuko Agawa"sings main melody in her well-known charming "Sugar voice", accompanied by the flowing acoustic guitar, and the crisp percussions.
A brief saxophone solo, performed by a talented player "Yasuaki Shimizu", is appearing in the bridge, and it is very nice as well.
- Reference
- About the artist
Yasuko AgawaIdol star for Adults
"Yasuko Agawa" is a Jazz singer, TV character, and used to be an actor active since the early '70s.
She is one of the most well known Jazz singer, and a big contributor for making vocal Jazz familiar to the general audiences, who had no particular interest to Jazz before.
"Agawa" debuted in 1978 with an album "Yasuko 'Love-Bird'". Since then, 2 singles, and 31 original, 1 live, and 4 best albums have been released until now.
(Ref: Wikipedia-jp, Yasuko Agawa)
Early time
"Yasuko Agawa" joined a drama club when she was a middle school student.
She continued it after entering a high school. And after graduation, she took an entrance exam to one of the leading theater group, and passed.
"Agawa" studied drama for 1 year at the stable, then began to act in films and TV series.
Curiously, she often couldn't get a role at the audition. Because her voice was too matured to play the role of a young woman.
One day, a judge of the panel, who was a manager of a well known Jazz clarinettist "Shōji Suzuki", came and spoke to her that her voice was perfect for singing a vocal Jazz.
And recommended her to make a visit to a famous Jazz spot in Tokyo, and try to sing some songs if she liked.
"Agawa" followed the judge's advice, and began to sing at the Jazz lounge.
Soon, she became a vocalist to "Suzuki"s Jazz quintet, "Shōji Suzuki & Rhythm Ace", which was very popular by their hit instrumental "Suzukake-no michi" (The Platanus 'or planes' Road).
She quickly became popular, and began to perform in the other Jazz spots as well.
And finally in 1978, "Agawa" released a lovely debut album, Yasuko 'Love-Bird'", produced and arranged by a talented pianist, "Susumu Arima".
Bloom
"Agawa" continued to create very nice vocal Jazz albums since debut. In fact her early 3 albums were a well balanced blend of acoustic Jazz and crossover, and they appealed to Jazz fans.
In the 4th album "Journey", she took on a new challenge. All the song in the album were covers of the jazz standard like, "Moonlight serenade", or "Take the A train" etc, but in a modern arrangement.
Thanks to a Crossover Jazz & Fusion boom in the early '80s, this album marked an exceptional hit as a Jazz album.
At about this point, she had already been a well known Jazz singer, and often introduced as a beauty of Jazz.
Because she was particularly popular among the gentlemen, then, she was often called as an "Idol star for businessmen".
In 1981, she released the 5th LP "Sunglow". This fusion taste album included her signature song "Skindo-Le-Le", or hit song "Senior Dreams", and sold very well.
(♦ "Skindo-Le-Le" was originally released by "Viva Brasil" in 1980.)
Then, she released a thrilling live album "Soft wings" in 1982. It was a really exciting one since more than 60 musicians, including a Jazz big band, accompanied her at the concert.
By the success of these 3 albums, she has completely established her name as a popular Jazz vocalist.
Oshare 30 · 30
Interestingly, people have a stereotyped image that the Jazz men, or women are artistic, but difficult type of people.
"Yasuko Agawa" was also a bit mysterious Jazz singer at that time, so it was a surprise when she became one of the host at the TV talk show, "Oshare 30 · 30" in 1987.
("Oshare 30 · 30" was a 30 minutes popular TV talk variety, broadcasted from 1987 to 1994. The program invited celebrities in their 30s mostly, and the 2 hosts, who were also 30s, interviewed to the guest.)
(For more details, please check with Wikipedia article linked from section title, or here. )
Contrary to her deluxe image, she talked in much friendly, and humorous way in the screen.
The show was quite popular and aired for 7 years. And the 2 hosts, namely "Yasuko Agawa" & "Ichiro Furutachi" continued to appear on throughout the series.
Stage dresses
On this program, there was a mini live session of "Yasuko Agawa", in the last part of the each show.
And "Yasuko Agawa" performed 1 song with the piano accompaniment played by a masterly pianist.
Eventually, the number of songs, she sang on this series, reached 360. They were not only Jazz but also included songs of the "Beatles" or "Carpenters" as well.
On this mini session, "Agawa" was wearing very fashionable stage costume always.
In fact, this section was also popular among fashion conscious audiences.
Recent
Thanks to the TV talk show, "Agawa" has become one of the most well known Jazz vocalist.
Even now, her albums, including new albums, are frequently released or reissued. She is also regularly holding live concerts in various venues.
Among them, "Yasuko Agawa Crossover night" is a regular concert series she is performing once a year. For 2019, it is scheduled to be held in Nagoya (4/9), Tokyo (14/9), and Osaka (26/9).
Backing band musicians are also gorgeous.
"Masanori Sasaji"(Kb), "Hiroyuki Noritake" (Dr), "Vagabond Suzuki" (Bs), "Kiyotsugu Amano" (Gt) and "Ryoji Ihara" (Sax) like super players are going to accompany her, and showing powerful play.
Please check with her website (www.agawa.jp), or here,
(merurido.jp, Billboard Live crossover night 2019), for the details.
If you like, please join.
(Ref: Wikipedia-jp, Yasuko Agawa)
(Ref: jpma-jazz.or.jp,
Interview No.48, Yasuko Agawa)🇯🇵
(Ref: arban-mag.com,
Ken Muraoka, 2018.07.12)🇯🇵
(Ref: jazzshiryokan.net,
Yasuko Agawa, Yasuko "Love-Bird")🇯🇵
(Ref: apres-midi.biz,
Free Soul Yasuko Agawa)🇯🇵
(Ref: www.agawa.jp, Yasuko Agawa profile)🇯🇵
Video clip
We could not find any suitable music video of "Yasuko Agawa", but found a video clip which she was answering to an interview.
So, we would like to post it instead of a music clip.
"Agawa" has been participated in a charity Jazz concert "Women in Jazz" since 2010, which is aiming at supporting girls in the developing countries.
And on this interview clip (Sorry. it's in Japanese), she is talking about her commitment to the event, and about a song she is going to sing (When You Wish Upon a Star).
If you like, please have a look.
* "Interview" by "Yasuko Agawa"
- Samples from online music stores
About the samples
Please go to the page below, and just play or click track No.4.
Trial button is on the left side of the song title.
AD :
Free listening samples
Amazon JP(en)
recochoku.jp
Apple Music(jp)
4
8. Japanese Letters
| Song Title | New York Afternoon |
|---|---|
| Artist | 阿川泰子 (Yasuko Agawa) |
| Album Title | Fine! |
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