JAPAN: NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION SERIES Vol.17
Feat. Natsuko Furukawa 古川 奈都子 : Piano and Vocal (from Tokyo, Japan)
Yutaka Umitsuki 海付 豊 : Alto Saxophone (from Tokyo, Japan)
Yoshie Nakamura 中村 好江 : Trumpet (from Suzuka, Japan)


Available now on , iTunes, Spotify and Amazon etc.
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I’ve been doing this project “JAPAN: NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION SERIES” since 2016 and it’s always special, but this time, it’s truly special session we made it with three amazing feature guests, Natsuko Furukawa on piano, her husband Yutaka Umitsuki on Alto Saxophone and Yoshie Nakamura on Trumpet all the way from Japan.

If you follow this project for a while, some of you may have noticed though,
I invite each musician to the recording for one session once, it’s one kind of rule for this project since I’d love to introduce/invite many musicians as I can,
But again, this is extremely special opportunity to have Gerald French (he was on the very first session on vol.1) and Richard Moten (also played with us on vol.4) again. And happy to have Tom Fischer, he leads the New Orleans All Stars band and their Japan tour every summer.

Natsuko Furukawa, one of the great New Orleans style Jazz Piano player in Japan, also great alumnae of Waseda University's New Orleans Jazz Club 早稲田大学ニューオルリンズジャズクラブ, I mentioned another recording also but Tomohiko (vol.4), Makiko (vol.5), Kensuke (vol.9) Tomomitsu (vol.10) , Shoma (vol.12), Mayu and Sayuri (vol.15), also New Orleans finest Piano player Mari （fun fact, Natsuko and Mari were class mate at the University) and myself, we are all came through that same Jazz Club(Society) in Tokyo, Japan. Her first time to come to New Orleans was 38 years ago and comes to New Orleans with her husband, great saxophone player Yutaka Umitsuki, almost every year since then, now she became like an extended family member of New Orleans Jazz Community.

Yoshie Nakamura is also a fine regular New Orleans lover every spring time she comes to New Orleans and keeps playing the traditional style. It’s rare to fine someone plays the traditional style of New Orleans Jazz, especially her hometown Suzuka, Japan but she also travels a lot with her Trumpet.


Hope this project will be a linking bridge for both communities, between New Orleans and Japan, and also will encourage young future musicians!!

Haruka Kikuchi, April 2025
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This is our first compilation from Panorama's track-of-the-Month club, Good Music For You. This CD includes music released between May, 2014 and April 2016 performed for you by the Panorama Jazz Band and the Panorama Brass Band of New Orleans, LA

為了這個項目，大酋長決定前往牙買加，在回到路易斯安那之前，他和當地的音樂家一起完成了這張唱片，尋找他在雷鬼流派中的根。
Monk以前從沒去過牙買加。他和經紀人Rueben Williams和吉他手Damon Fowler一起花了一個星期的時間參觀Kingston，駕車進山，去瞻仰Bob Marley的墳墓，並在Tad’s International Limited的錄音室和一個雷鬼樂隊完成了錄音。
Monk在那里製作的六首歌曲反映了他在牙買加的所見所聞，探討了其中與他的家鄉紐奧良的相似之處。這趟島國與沼澤之間的往返，讓他結識了無數的音樂傳奇，包括Tab Benoit, Michael Doucet, and Johnny Sansone。這些牙買加和路易斯安那的明星們，讓Monk得以穿越歷史，跨越流派，這張專輯讓其間的界限變得模糊，形成更緊密的聯繫。

The Secret Six are a New Orleans traditional jazz band evoking the rich style of collective improvisation and ensemble playing. Specializing in stomps, blueses, rags and no frills hot jazz.

K2 digitally remastered Japanese limited edition special issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork.

The GRAMMY-nominated band Cha Wa explode onto the scene again with 'My People', a new collection that draws from the rich and vibrant street culture of New Orleans.
Arriving via the renowned southern independent label Single Lock Records, 'My People' exuberantly infuses contemporary sounds with the music of street parades and the Mardi Gras Indian community a group of Black New Orleanians who pay respect to Native American tribes their wardrobe, music and dialect.
Packed with a vivid assemblage of New Orleans sounds and stories, this collection of new original songs draws from the grooves of ‘70s New Orleans funk bands like The Meters (particularly on offerings like “Wildman” and “Bow Down”) and takes clear influence from the city's history of Brass band music, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, rock, soul and African-inspired arrangements (including a chilling cover of Bob Dylan’s “Masters Of War” in this style).
Cha Wa was formed by bandleader Joe Gelini shortly before the release of the group’s 2018 debut album Spyboy, which was recognised with a Best Regional Roots Album nomination at the GRAMMYs that year. A student of the legendary New Orleans drummer Idris Muhammad, Gelini was taken by the city’s street culture along with the sounds of the Mardi Gras Indians and began to immerse himself in that world after moving to the area.
Working with vocalist Joseph Boudreaux Jr, a lifelong member of those New Orleans musical circles, and many of the top musicians from the city's Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs and Second Line brass bands, Cha Wa quickly became a staple of that street culture before bringing their spin on Mardi Gras Indian music to the GRAMMYs and around the world.With roots dating back to the 19th century, Mardi Gras Indians are most commonly associated with internationally-known New Orleans celebrations like Fat Tuesday, but the tradition is said to have started as a way for the city’s Black community to express gratitude to Native Americans for giving shelter to New Orleanians fleeing enslavement.
In more recent years, Mardi Gras Indians have displayed their role as community leaders with front line responses to both Hurricane Katrina and the unlawful NOPD conduct that resulted in investigations by the Obama administration.
“Mardi Gras Indian songs are inherently songs about freedom,” Gelini says. “That struggle is as relevant today as it’s ever been.”