Norio Maeda Maestro Works" Traces the Trajectory of a Music Craftsman and Discovers What "Arrangements" Are [Ryozo Fuwa's "Anime no otto" Vol. 07

The seventh installment of "Anime Noot" will focus on the 2-CD set "Norio Maeda Maestro Works," released on November 27, 2019, by Nippon Columbia.

Norio Maeda was a gifted composer, arranger, and pianist who sadly passed away about a year ago on November 25, 2018. This CD traces the footprints he left in the Japanese music world from various aspects, including TV music, film music, pop music, and jazz. As you may have noticed from the track listing, the CD also includes music by other composers. This is a proof that this CD pays much attention to Norio Maeda as an arranger. In addition to his skills as a composer, Norio Maeda was a pioneer and leader in the field of "arranging" in the Japanese music industry and pioneered the position of "arranger". This is the reason why he is called "Maestro" in the title of this CD.

Norio Maeda was born in Osaka on December 6, 1934. Although he learned to read and write music as a child from his father, who was a teacher, he taught himself to play the piano almost entirely on his own. He started his career as a professional jazz pianist in the Kansai area as soon as he graduated from high school. ...... He moved to Tokyo at the age of 21 and joined Shungo Sawada and the Doublebeats, a group formed by Shungo Sawada, a pioneer of jazz guitar in Japan, in 1957. In 1957, he joined the prestigious band of the time, "Takanosuke Saijo and the West Liners". As an arranger in this band, he gradually emerged not only as a pianist but also as an arranger. In 1959, he joined Keitaro Miho and Kiyoshi Yamaya to form the "Modern Jazz Three Members" with the aim of introducing Japanese original works based on solid jazz theory. As the pioneer and leader of modern jazz in Japan, he played a very important role in pointing young jazzmen in the direction they should go. Since then, he has expanded his activities not only to jazz bands but also to a wide range of other fields such as TV music, film music, and pop music on stage and in recordings. He was a member of the "Showa Ninth Year Club," a group of entertainers born in 1934 (including Yujiro Ishihara, Kinya Aikawa, Hiroyuki Nagato, and Shunji Fujimura), and was a member of the "11PM" program (1965/Nippon Television), "Sekai Marugoto HOW Match" (1983/Mainichi Broadcasting System), "Gimire Bureiku" (1989/TBS), and "Gimire Bureiku. (1989/TBS), etc. He is also known for his music and appearances in various programs.

＜The first half of <DISC-1> features the music for "Quiz Fun Seminar" (1981/NHK), "Mie and Yoshiko's Talking Thieves" (1980/Tokyo 12 Channel, TV Tokyo), "Sekai Marugoto HOW Match," "Oshare 30/30" (1987/Nippon Television Network), "Gimia Bureiku" (1989/TBS), and many other TV programs. (/TBS), and many other variety shows are collected here. All of them are lined up with gorgeous jazz arrangements that grandly announce the opening of the program, and some people are surprised to hear, "This was Norio Maeda's music, too! I am sure that many of you will be surprised to learn that these were also Norio Maeda's compositions. Of particular note here is the difference between the fifth track, "Gimir Bureiku Opening," and the sixth track, "Gimir Bureiku Ending. Although based on the same melody, they are beautifully differentiated into an opening that pushes out the glamor to the fullest, and a calm ending that brings the program to a peaceful conclusion. This is what an arranger does, and this is the quintessence of Norio Maeda. Even if you don't know what kind of work an arranger does, you may be able to get a little clearer picture if you think of it as "directing" ...... to make these two songs serve different purposes. I think it will help you to get an idea of what we do.

Next, from the soundtrack of the theatrical anime "Crusher Joe" (1983, directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Japan Sunrise), which you have all been waiting for, is "MAIN TITLE Crusher Joe's Theme," the opening track of the movie. At the time of the film's release, two types of music albums were available: "Symphonic Suite Crusher Joe (performed by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra)" and "Crusher Joe Music Arc (performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra)", an original soundtrack disc containing the actual music used in the film, but this CD This CD contains the performance of the "Symphonic Suite" version. This was based on a proposal by Haruka Takachiho, who wrote the original story, script, and supervision, to write the symphonic suite first and then write the BGM music for the movie based on it, which is the opposite of the method used for recordings of anime movies up to that time. It is also reported that Takachiho ordered the music from Norio Maeda, strongly inspired by the music of "Star Wars" and "Ben-Hur. The quality of the music is evident when you listen to this CD. The music is so powerful that it could have been made in a Hollywood movie. However, the director, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, says, "This time, the original author has his own particular taste. The creator must not be happy with such an order as, "Please make it like that one, ......," he wrote in the liner notes of the "Music Arc," showing his concern for Norio Maeda and jokingly chiding him. However, Norio Maeda's craftsmanship in accepting all of the above and yet managing to produce such a large amount of music as a "symphony," which is not originally his field, in such a short period of time and for two albums, is truly impressive. Norio Maeda, a jazz pianist by training, has written a grand symphony that is equal to a space opera, and we must not forget that his pride as an "arranger" who "can handle any kind of music and finish it as ordered" shines through strongly, before his creativity as a composer. The music is arranged by the arranger.

＜The second half of <DISC-1> features pop songs, including well-known hits and even unknown classics, such as Pedro & Capricious' "Farewell Morning" (composed by Udo Jürgens/1971), Circus' "Mr. Summertime" (composed by Michel Fugain/1978), Shinichi Mori's Winter Riviera" (composed by Eiichi Otaki/1982), and many other songs for which he was only in charge of arrangements. Norio Maeda was also entrusted with the string arrangements for Eiichi Otaki's hit album "A LONG VACATION" (1981). Norio Maeda is one of the few arrangers that Eiichi Ohtaki, one of Japan's greatest popular music composers and an arranger extraordinaire, entrusted with arranging his own compositions. It is also noteworthy that Norio Maeda is among them.

＜The first track, "Major Soul" (Nobuo Hara and Sharps & Flats), is a Norio Maeda original from the 1960 album "In Search of Soul" by the aforementioned "Three Modern Jazzmen" group. The second track, "Go Go A Go Go," was performed with Jiro Inagaki, a tenor saxophonist who pioneered jazz rock/soul jazz in Japan, and the ninth track, "Strike Up The Band," was performed by the three-man unit "Triple Piano" with his close friends Kentaro Haneda and Masahiko Sato. The album features a succession of Norio Maeda's best ever performances, from well-arranged big band jazz to straight 4-bit modern jazz, 8-bit funky jazz-rock, Latin, and bossa nova.

Most noteworthy are the two bonus tracks included at the end of the book: the 10th track, "Lecture - History of Music - On the Subject of Dead Leaves," and the 11th track, "Practical Use - On the Site of Dramatic Accompaniment. These are re-recordings from Norio Maeda's own CD called "Arranging Tora no Ana" released in 1995. The CD covers the history of jazz and popular music, starting with Dixieland, an early form of jazz, and including swing, Glenn Miller style, bebop, cool jazz, mambo, West Coast jazz, funky jazz, mode, bossa nova, free jazz (......), and so on. This is truly an album by Norio Maeda, a project unique to Norio Maeda, using only one chanson masterpiece, "Kareha," and covering the history of jazz and popular music in one fell swoop, using only changes in "arrangement. Moreover, all the performances are performed by Norio Maeda & Windbreakers, his own band, which is a remarkable feat of craftsmanship. The following section, "Practical Use: At the Site of a Drama Accompaniment," recreates a recording session in the body of a TV drama for which the scenario has been delayed, the story is not well known, and the broadcast is imminent and time is short. It is a hilarious sound drama in which Mr. Maeda himself stands around in his characteristic kotekote Kansai dialect in full throttle. Before his death, Mr. Maeda said, "I want to take this album to my grave. I want to take this album with me to my grave, and when I press the switch, I want the sound of this CD to be played from my grave." He even went so far as to say, "I want to take this album to my grave.

On November 27, a talk event "Kazunori Harada's Sound Gallery Vol. 1: The Splendid and Magnificent World of Norio Maeda, the "Sage of Music"" was held at "Gakki Cafe" in Jimbocho, Tokyo, featuring Kazunori Harada, who provided commentary for this CD. The first half of the concert featured behind-the-scenes stories about the production of this CD and other Norio Maeda works that could not be recorded. The second half featured a guest appearance by Seiken Tanaka, Norio Maeda's personal manager for many years. Mr. Tanaka, who was the closest to Norio Maeda, shared many unknown episodes from his life.

Among them, he talked about his encounter with Yasushi Miyagawa, a composer and arranger of the same generation. Mr. Maeda had already met Mr. Miyagawa when he was in Osaka before moving to Tokyo. On the day of the concert, Mr. Miyagawa's jazz band was performing, and Mr. Maeda was listening to their performance as a guest. On the second day of the concert, Mr. Maeda visited the venue again, greeted Mr. Miyagawa for the first time, and to his surprise, played the exact replica of the piano performance he had heard on the first day. Mr. Miyagawa was astonished and said, "I thought I was the best jazz genius in Osaka, but there are still others above me! He was astonished and highly praised Miyagawa's talent, telling him to use all the records and scores he owned as he liked. Everyone in attendance was impressed that two people who would later move to Tokyo and change the history of jazz/pop and TV music in Japan had such an encounter ......, and the audience was filled with a warm atmosphere as sighs escaped from the audience.

Although the album does not contain a lot of music related to animation, it is an album that many people should listen to because it is very easy to understand the importance of the process of "arrangement," which is the backbone of popular and commercial music that forms the background of animation music. Please pick up a copy.

(Text by Ryozo Fuwa)

Product Information

CD "Norio Maeda Maestro Works

On sale now!

Price: 3,200 yen (excluding tax)

Label: Nippon Columbia Co.

Contents

DISC-1

　＜TV/Animation

Quiz fun seminar Opening - Ending ** "Quiz fun seminar" (NHK)

From "Quiz fun seminar" (NHK)

Talking Thief Theme / Mie Nakao & Yoshiko Moriyama

From "Mie and Yoshiko's Talking Thief" (TX)

HOW MATCH Theme* (from "Sekai Marugoto HOW MATCH")

From "Sekai Marugoto HOW MATCH" (MBS/TBS)

Oshare 30.30 Theme / Tatsuya Takahashi & Tokyo Union

From "Oshare 30・30"(NTV)

5.ギミア・ぶれいく オープニング*★

Gimir Bureiku Ending

From "Gimir Bureiku" (TBS)

7.MAIN TITLE Crusher Joe Theme / Tokyo Symphony Orchestra

From the animated film "Crusher Joe" (TBS)

Dawn! Yarecha Datta Bushi / Junji Takada

From the TV animation "Laughs and Smiles NEW

＜Pops / Songs

Farewell Morning / Pedro & Capricious

my boyfriend / hatsumi shibata

Mr. Summertime / Circus

Riviera in Winter / Shinichi Mori

Foghorn (from Chopin's "Waltz") ★ / Jose Takazawa

Dry Flowers Look Good in the City in the Morning / Akira Okazawa

I Will Give You Samba / Soul Media

ah kapela / hatsumi shibata

Like a Shellfish* / Takashi Shikanai

Yakusoku (Promise) / Hidemi Sasaki

Tokyo Chic / Motoharu Sano & Izumi Yukimura

March of the Saints / Yoshiko Moriyama

DISC-2

＜Jazz

Major Soul / Nobuo Hara and Sharps & Flats

Go Go A Go Go / Norio Maeda=Jiro Inagaki All Stars

Alpha Ray / Norio Maeda Trio

Lazy Lazy / Toshiyuki Miyama and New Hard

Eight Minute Ecstasy★ / Members of the Guitar Society of Japan

Sakura Sakura / Naoteru Misago and Tokyo Cuban Boys

Helter Skelter / Takeshi Inomata and Sound Limited, The Third

Daughter of Ipanema / Norio Maeda and Tin Pan Alley

Strike Up the Band / Triple Piano (Norio Maeda, Masahiko Sato, Kentaro Haneda)

＜Bonus Track: "Arranging Tora no Ana" (from "Arranging Tora no Ana")

　 10. Lecture -History of Music/Kareha as a subject / Norio Maeda & Windbreakers

Practical version - On the site of a theatrical accompaniment - / Norio Maeda & Windbreakers

First CD release

*Monaural recording (DISC-1 Tr. 1 & 3 recorded from broadcast tapes / Tr. 5 & 6 recorded from sound effect tapes)