Stomu Yamashta (Yamashita): The Complete GO Sessions auf 2 CDs

In the 1970s famed Japanese percussionist / composer STOMU YAMASHTA recorded a series of legendary (and long out-of-print) albums with his GO ensemble that have been a Holy Grail among aficionados of jazz fusion / space rock. Raven has now combined the three entire GO albums – The Complete GO Sessions. Yamashta – best known for his blending of the avant-garde and rock music – recorded the ambitious ‘rock-classical concept’ album GO in 1976, highlighting prominent contributions from master musician Steve Winwood, jazz fusion guitarist Al DiMeola, Santana band drummer Michael Shrieve, German synthesizer pioneer Klaus Schulze and orchestral arranger Paul Buckmaster.

This was one ‘super-session’ that definitely worked. Winwood shines with his magnificent vocals on ‘Winner / Loser’ and ‘Crossing the Line’. The double album follow-up GO Live From Paris and a second studio set GO Too continued the expansive musical tapestry of jazz, classical, space rock, new age and soul. With superb audio quality and echoes of Weather Report, Tangerine Dream, Mike Oldfield etc, these milestone recordings are ripe for re-evaluation.

(ravenrecords. com. au)