Year : 1979
Label : Infinity records
Genre : Jazz
Style : Jazz Funk, Latin Jazz
"Native Son" is a Japanese fusion band formed in 1978 when the crossover jazz "boom" was at climax in Japan. From the late seventies to the mid-eighties, they had met an international audience, when they were regularly on stage in Europe (Montreux Jazz Festival '83) and in the USA. Led by pianist Takehiro Honda featuring saxophonist Kohsuke Mine, drummer Hiroshi Murakami and later joined by trombonist Hiroshi Fukumura, the group released from 1978 to 1987, seven albums whose the record hit "Savannah Hot-Line" in 1979. Their first album includes some Latin sounds ("Whispering Eyes" feat. Damião Gomes De Souza), caribbean styles (Wind Surfin), Funk elements (Super Safari) and soul jazz with "Heat Zone", a variation on "Spirits Flow" taken from "Another Departure" (1977). All tracks composed by Takehiro Honda.
MUSICIANS : Takehiro Honda - electric piano, clavinet & Synthesizer - Kohsuke Mine - tenor & soprano saxophones - Tamio Kawabata - bass - Motonobu Ohde - guitar - Hiroshi Murakami - drums - Damião Gomes De Souza - cuica
