Jazz quartet Bungalow issued an imaginative and flavorful debut album with Metropolitan Oasis in 2011. Striking and singular, the songs reward repeat listens by offering creative jazz compositions with stimulating blueprints. The songs ebb and flow with energy, grooves, and clever rhythms, where folk and ethnic influences converge with modern jazz, bop, classical, and free elements, pushing boundaries to reach new vistas.

Masahiro Yamamoto, an original member of Bungalow featured on their first two albums, plays alto sax with a warm, textured tone which bends and flutters with visceral energy while the band lays out arcane jazz sounds not confined to the genre. Whether on the free opener “Metropolitan Oasis”, the slinky rocker “Underpass”, the mysterious drama of “Human Lost”, or the elaborate pieces “Bastristurgisism” and “O.P.P.M.”, the album cleverly navigates and develops their art of sound with lovely constructions and comfortable escapism.

Metropolitan Oasis by Bungalow

• Masahiro Yamamoto - alto sax, soprano sax
• Koichi Sato - piano
• Hiroshi Ikejiri - bass
• Ko Omura - drums

Released in 2011 on Daiki Musica as DMCD-17.

Japanese names: 山本昌広 Yamamoto Masahiro 佐藤浩一 Sato Koichi 池尻洋史 Ikejiri Hiroshi 大村亘 Omura Ko

Audio and Video

• Bungalow playing live in 2012:

• Excerpt from track #3: “Underpass”

Jazz of Japan #114 • Mar 26, 2020 • Brian McCrory