''Casiopea'' is the debut album of Japanese jazz fusion group

Casiopea , now known in its fourth iteration as Casiopea-P4, is a Japanese jazz fusion band formed in 1976 by guitarist Issei Noro, bassist Tetsuo Sakurai, drummer Tohru "Rika" Suzuki, and keyboardist Hidehiko Koike. In 1977, keyboardist Minoru Mukaiya ...

, released on May 25, 1979. Recorded between December 1978 and March 1979 in Japan, it is

's self-titled debut album. The record includes the participation of some notable contemporary jazz players such as

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 19 ...

on the saxophone, giving a special touch to Issei Noro's compositions. Tunes like Black Joke are part of the multiple performances and variances along Casiopea's career. This album was recorded on LP in 1979 as ALR-6017 and years later in 1986 on CD under the 32XA-104 catalog numbers, being the first editions on both LP and CD. The cover depicts two racecars racing each other on a raceway. The cars are based on

Can Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/ CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987. History Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada (''Can'') and four races in the United ...

cars running in the japanese Fuji Grand Champion series at the end of the seventies, most likely a Lola T290 Mazda and a March 74s from the 1978 & 1979http://www.classicscars.com/wspr/results/gc/gc1979.html championships.

Track listing

All tracks were written and arranged by

Issei Noro is a Japanese jazz fusion guitarist who is one of the founding members and the main composer of the band Casiopea. He has released 6 solo albums and a compilation. He also works as an instructor of a guitar clinic, and as a producer. In 1983, ...

except horn arranged by

Jun Fukamachi was a Japanese jazz fusion composer, arranger, and keyboardist. He played with The Brecker Brothers and Steve Gadd and released albums for Polydor Records, Polydor and Toshiba Records, Toshiba in the 1970s. Early life and career At the age of ...

and strings arranged by Hiroki Inui.

Credits and personnel

;Musicians *

– Electric guitar (Yamaha SG2000), Acoustic guitar, vocals on "Dream Hill" *

Minoru Mukaiya is a Japanese musician best known as the former keyboardist of the jazz fusion band Casiopea and producer of the Train Simulator series of Japanese video games. Mukaiya joined Casiopea during its formation in 1977 (with guitarist Issei Noro, ...

– Fender Rhodes electric piano, Acoustic piano, synthesizers, Yamaha electone, vibraphone *

Tetsuo Sakurai is a Japanese bassist. To date, he has released a total of 37 albums as a member of Casiopea and Jimsaku and solo artist, and has also made 3 bass instructional videos. History Tetsuo Sakurai started playing bass when he was 13 years old. In ...

– Bass guitar (Fender Jazz Bass) *Takashi Sasaki – Drums *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on No ...

– Trumpet *

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

– Tenor saxophone *

– Alto saxophone *"Tomato" – Strings ;Production and design * Executive Producer – Kunihiko Murai, Syoro Kawazoe *Producer – Shinji Sawada, Kazusuke Obi * Recording engineer –

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jones, and other ...

, Norio Yoshizawa, Yasuhiko Terada *Assistant engineer – Mitsuo Koike *Recording engineer –

Neil Dorfsman Neil Dorfsman (born May 31, 1952) is an American sound engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Dire Straits, Bruce Hornsby, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney and Sting. He won Grammy Awards for Best Producer for Bruce Hornsby's ...

*Assistant engineer – James Farber *

Mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

– Yasuhiko Terada *Art Direction & Design – ALPHABET (nh ad system) *

Photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

– Shigeru Wada * Illustrator – Toshikuni Okubo * Remastering engineer – Kouji Suzuki (2016)

Release history

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1979 debut albums Casiopea albums Alfa Records albums