Urabe, Masayoshi – “Kampanerura” – [Utech Records]

Saxophonist Urabe has played with just about everyone in the Japanese underground music scene. He doesn’t have what I’d call a musical approach; he’s more about picking up an instrument and experimenting with it to see what it can do. He often discovers sounds that no one else seems to have found, and he also isn’t afraid to include a good bit of silence in his artist’s palette. I would describe the tracks on this CD as restrained sound pieces. In addition to saxophone, Urabe can be heard on guitar, percussion, vocal noises, bird calls, chains, and no doubt a few other things. Teruhisa Nanbu (Aural Fit) adds percussion on #2 and #5. Otherwise it’s all Urabe. A worthy addition to Utech’s “Shokyo Ontei” series, which focuses on work by groundbreaking Asian artists.