Umaoto

"Wouldn't it be a shame if we didn't release the sound source we recorded in 2003 and let it go to waste?" Junior-san, the engineer who was in charge of our recording at that time, contacted us sometime in the fall of 2023.

Sabrosura del Sonido (SDS) was organized by the leader Ken-ichi Masaki in 1998, when he called upon some of the hottest musicians playing in the Kansai area, and had released three albums. This album contains the never-before-released pieces that have been stored for a "certain reason" since they were recorded in 2003.

The live performance of SDS was raw (in a good way), speedy, and full of fun. One member found his identity by performing with only a loincloth around his waist, as if he were taking a bath. Another was so obsessed with the idea of ecological soundness in the amount of fabric used in his costume (or so it was believed) that he ultimately ended up wearing the "red pinafore for the legendary Kintaro," which used an extremely small amount of fabric. Another had become possibly the first Japanese musician to perform in Cuba while holding "pompons"... Still, none of these members were crazy enough to foresee the day when this album filled with their "Kansai-flavored sound" could be released.

The original tunes of SDS will appeal even to the listeners who don't know salsa, with funk and pop and nu jazz,acid jazz flavors that will make everyone's body move. The album begins with an unexpected introduction, and the fusion of the groove of each instrument and the programming music follows. Catchy tunes one after the other make the time go by very fast. This mixture of sounds, which cannot be simply labeled as Salsa or Cuban music, is the charm of the SDS sound.

With the deepest gratitude to numerous musicians who played with us, all the fans nationwide who came to our live performances, Junior-san who made the release of this album a reality, and to our beloved bassist Peppei-san, wholooked forward to the release of this album but had to leave us in the spring of 2023, we present this album to you. We sincerely hope that this album will reach as many people out there as possible. Muchas gracias!