About

Masayuki "Jojo" Takayanagi (高柳 昌行, Takayanagi Masayuki; December 22, 1932 – June 23, 1991) was a Japanese jazz / free improvisation / noise musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. In the 1960s he formed New Direction (later New Direction Unit), which recorded several albums throughout the 1970s. He also recorded several albums with saxophonist Kaoru Abe, including Kaitai Teki Kohkan, Gradually Projection and Mass Projection.  — (via Wikipedia)

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"Ginparis" (銀巴里, literally "Silver Paris") was a famous cafe and key jazz venue for the better part of the 50s and 60s located in Ginza, Tokyo. It is primarily known for hosting young emerging jazz musicians during the period of time. One of which was japanese free jazz musician, Masayuki Takayanagi. His influential live ablum, Ginaparis Session — which was recorded at at the establishment on June 26, 1963, helped the venue achieve lasting fame. 

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Ginparis Session: June 26, 1963 documents the formative years of Masayuki Takayanagi—later known for his radical free-jazz explorations—in an intimate early performance recorded at Tokyo’s famed Ginparis jazz club. Here, Takayanagi displays his bebop roots with remarkable clarity and lyricism, supported by a tight quartet of emerging Tokyo jazz musicians. This reissue revives the original Three Blind Mice mastering with exceptional detail and warmth.  — (via Jazz Messengers)

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For the better part of the 50s and 60s, Masayuki Takayanagi was among Japan's best-respected jazz guitarists. But it wasn't until his experiments with tabletop guitar led him down the seductive path of sonic experimentation that he became the stuff of legend. “Ginparis” (literally translated as Silver Paris) was known as the chanson cafe in Tokyo, Ginza, and the performances often centred around chansons but eventually became the session venue for young jazz musicians.  They left their mark on a record, Ginpari Session, with Masayuki Takayanagi on guitar, Masahiko Togashi on drums, Masaaki Kikuchi and Yosuke Yamashita on piano, Terumasa Hino on trumpets. — (via Soundohm)

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Masayuki Takayanagi's 1963 Ginparis Session was an early flashpoint in Japanese modern jazz. Recorded live at the Ginparis club in Tokyo, the guitarist assembled a sharp unit under the Shinseiki Ongaku Kenkyujo banner with drummer Masahiko Togashi, pianist Masabumi Kikuchi and bassist Hideto Kanai. The set mixes standards with exploratory edges: 'Greensleeves' is a jagged meditation on the English broadside ballad, its fractured lyricism later cited as a breakthrough moment for Takayanagi's career; 'Nardis' and 'If I Were A Bell' are stretched into tense, searching frameworks; closer 'Obstruction' hints at the free directions Takayanagi would pursue more fully in the late 60s. Issued here on LP, this session captures the ferment of a scene beginning to move beyond imitation and into a distinctly Japanese jazz vernacular. — (via Juno)

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2025 Japan reissue
180g Vinyl Premium Limited Edition
Remastering & Cutting: Bernie Grundman
Original reprint liner notes

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Label: Three Blind Mice
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Mono
Reissued: 2025 / Original release: 1971
Genre: Jazz
Style: Post Bop, Avant-garde Jazz, Free Improvisation, Japanese Jazz

File under: Japanese Jazz // Three Blind Mice
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