Go

Hailing from Japan, Stomu Yamashta was a classically trained percussionist whose earliest recording featured the works of 20th century composers Hans Werner Henze and Toru Takemitsu. After releasing his first original percussion composition, he toured Europe with his Red Buddha Theatre Company, which eventually led him to London and Island Records. His first two releases for the label, Floating Music in 1972 and Man From The East in 1973, were with fellow percussionist Morris Pert’s band, Come To The Edge (which was eventually re-christened Suntreader). Both saw a fusion of eastern and western music, the latter also containing pieces for Yamashta’s theatre company. He then formed his own band East Wind, with guitarist Gary Boyle, bassist Hugh Hopper and keyboardist Brian Gascoigne. To be expected, they skirted with another fusion of sound, but this time of the funky-jazz type best demonstrated on the excellent Freedom Is Frightening. Another couple of albums appeared (now with vocalists), again all for Island Records. But what Yamashta would be most famous for was his next project: In 1976, he assembled a superstar lineup, including Steve Winwood, Michael Shrieve, Klaus Schulze, Rosco Gee, Al DiMeola and others, and recorded Go. The lush strings of the opening tracks unfold to Winwood’s always-soulful voice on “Crossing The Line”, certainly a prototype of what would yield hit singles for the singer a decade later. “Man Of Leo” then gets funky, setting up a guitar solo from DiMeola, before yielding to the juxtaposing synthesizers on “Space Theme”. The second side builds up again from the electronics before erupting into “Carnival” and “Ghost Machine”. Winwood’s “Winner/Loser” closes, again another potential single. All in all, it was a forward thinking attempt, blending the widest varieties of musical styles; but somehow it failed to impress, only rising to No. 60 on the US charts. A live album, Go Live In Paris, was released the same year, while the funky white soul of Go Too followed in 1977. Yamashta would record several more new age-y albums until the mid-’80s, but few would see release outside Japan.