Group Ongaku - Music of Group Ongaku


You may not have heard the name Group Ongaku, but you've sure heard of some of the group members. Takehisa Kosugi (who would go on to lead Taj Majal Travellers and East Bionic Symphonia) and Shukou Mizunao (now an established composer and artist) were just college students in Tokyo in the late 1950's when they roped in some friends (including Yasunao Tone and Fluxus artist Mieko Shiomi) to create group improvisations and soundtracks for modern dance. The recordings on this very rare CD, which as far as I'm aware are the only existing recordings of the group, were made in 1960 and 1961. As a historical document, the significance of this album is self-evident. It's helpful, though, that the music is also great.

Group Ongaku - Music of Group Ongaku

2 comments:

Bence 22 June 2016 at 22:34  

Thanks for making this available! And keeping alive the blogosphere! These Japanese posts are essential and important.