RECORD TURNOVER 80s HITS #87
Yasuaki Shimizu is a Japanese saxophone player and composer who, over the years, have working with everyone from Ryuichi Sakamoto and Julee Cruise to Nam June Paik. Above all though, he’s recognised as the leader of the underground group Mariah – the jazz fusion and synth-pop band that released the classic Utakata no Hibi in 1983. It came out on the avantgarde label Better Days, who also released Shimizu’s most famous solo record Shimizu the year before. It was his fifth album and is both experimental and universally appealing, getting a lot of attention after it was finally reissued along with Utakata no Hibi a few years ago. The effort was a collaboration between NYC label Palto Flats and Swiss label WRWTFWW.
