Improvised Music from Japan

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Improvised Music from Japan is a website and record label.

The website was originally known as Japanese Free Improvisers. As its name suggests, it concentrates on Japanese and Japan-based improvisers, particularly free improvisers.

In December 2001, a compilation box-set, also called Improvised Music from Japan, was released to mark the fifth anniversary of the website. It was a 10 CD collection of previously unissued material from a variety of Japanese musicians (some of them collaborating with Europeans and Americans). The artists featured on the release are:

• Tetuzi Akiyama
• Haco
• Kazuo Imai
• Incapacitants
• Kyoko Kuroda
• Sachiko M
• Toshimaru Nakamura
• Otomo Yoshihide
• Michihiro Sato
• Taku Sugimoto
• Kazuhisa Uchihashi
• Michiyo Yagi
• Seiichi Yamamoto
• Ami Yoshida
• Yasuhiro Yoshigaki

The label has since released a number of other records featuring similar artists:

• Toshimaru Nakamura, Tetuzi Akiyama and guests, Meeting at Off Site Vol. 1 (IMJ-501, April 2002)
• Otomo Yoshihide, Ensemble Cathode (IMJ-502, July 2002)
• Kaffe Matthews, Andrea Neumann and Sachiko M, In Case of Fire Take the Stairs (IMJ-503, December 2002)
• Ami Yoshida, Tiger Thrush (IMJ-504, July 2003)
• , 48 (IMJ-505, May 2003)
• Toshimaru Nakamura, Tetuzi Akiyama and guests, Meeting at Off Site Vol. 2 (IMJ-506, May 2003)
• , Tayutauta (IMJ-507, due January 2004)
• Raku Sugifatti (Radu Malfatti and Taku Sugimoto), Futatsu (IMJ-508/9, December 2003)
• , Bon Voyage! (IMJ-510, October 2003)
• Otomo Yoshihide, and , Loose Community (IMJ-511, December 2003)
• Peter Brötzmann and , Funny Rat (IMJ-512, October 2003)
• Toshimaru Nakamura, Side Guitar (IMJ-513, December 2003)
• Han Bennink and Kazuo Imai, Across the Desert (IMJ-514, December 2003)
• Toshimaru Nakamura, Tetuzi Akiyama and guests, Meeting at Off Site Vol. 3 (IMJ-515, December 2003)

Other Japanese artists which could be considered free improvisers include:

• Kaoru Abe
• Masayuki Takayanagi

See also[]

List of Japanoise artists

External links[]

• Home page