Odori

by Pemberton Roach
According to the album's liner notes, &Odori& is the Japanese word for &dance.& The title is fairly appropriate in the 1980 sense, as this album is mostly composed of uninspired soft disco music. Although Hiroshima is generally considered a fusion band, the music here has more in common with the theme from The Love Boat than with either jazz or rock. Although some of the grooves do groove in their way, and the rhythm section of Dane Matsumura (bass) and Danny Yamamoto (drums) are quite good at the metronomic high-hat/slap bass thing, there are few surprises, even for disco music. Many of the songs feature vocals, and the lyrics are uniformly forgettable, if not downright inane. Really, the only interesting moments are June Okida's koto solos, mostly because they are so unusual for Western music and she manages to fit them in so seamlessly. Peter Hada manages to add occasional sparks with his John McLaughlin/Al DiMeola-influenced lead guitar riffing, but, considering his playing doesn't even approach the virtuosity of these two giants, it doesn't do much good.

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