1977 Masayoshi Takanaka 高中正義 “An Insatiable High” on Kitty Records. Friends

Friends, this record is awesome. And not just because our boy Masayoshi is more or less backed by Oaktown, CA’s own Tower of Power, including Greg Adams killing it on trumpet, with Mic Gillette, Doc Kupka, and Emillio Castillo getting seriously busy, and the SNL band’s Lenny Pickett stomping on tenor. Yeah, it’s funky as hell in all the right ways, but this is no TOP Japan session, it’s actually sort of totally earnest City Pop way before that was even a thing, mixed with straight jazz, mixed with soulful funk, mixed with a purely Eastern Sun Rising sensibility. There are stings and synths and the whole record is so goddamned happy and uplifting that, if you’re like me at least, it’s totally suspicious. Who, in reality, is this chill? Well, apparently Mayayoshi Takanaka is, because every single note feels like a real expression of forward movement and intricate ebullience on an 80s yacht, but also an anime sleepover at a dive bar that only serves neon cocktails named after OG tennis players. It’s unashamedly goofy, but also funks in fits and harder jazzy starts. I am doing a bad job of describing this great record because it is, perhaps, beyond description. Takanaka as a guitar player is sort of a cross between Allan Holdsworth, David Lindley, and Foghorn Leghorn.

​Hey, you know why this album also sort of inexplicably rules? Takanaka somehow talked Harvey Mason, Chuck Rainey, AND Lee Ritenour into the studio more or less uncredited! CHUCK RAINEY! I mean, that right there worth its weight in a golden Fender P-Bass laid down at your feet. One song called “Sexy Dance” sounds exactly like doing a sexy dance, and another called “Malibu” sounds exactly like driving a 1977 Cutlass Supreme Convertible along Highway One through Malibu. Oh, did I mention that the MIGHTY Patrice Rushen is on it too, rocking some serious piano? May not have. Can you kindly explain to me why you don’t own it yet? To reiterate: This record RULES.