an unlettered concordance
of the music of keiji haino

lost aaraaff recordings

index of lost aaraaff recordings

• introduction to lost aaraaff recordings
  
  
• untitled
• concert from the genyasai festival
  
  
• closing to lost aaraaff recordings

introduction to lost aaraaff recordings
Lost Aaraaff was a free jazz group formed by Haino in the early 1970’s. They played their first gig on July 26, 1970 at the Rock In Highland festival, and played frequently at other free rock festivals throughout the early 1970s. The group lasted until around 1975/76. The line-up for Lost Aaraaff is poorly documented and may have fluctuated. A 1971 concert lists Haino (voice), Akira Asami (piano) and Hiroyuki Takahashi (drums). A 1974 concert included Keiji Haino (vocals), Hiroyuki Takahashi (drums), Suda (piano) and Saito (bass), which appears on a compilation. On some of the performances there is saxophone. As to who is playing the saxophone, this is unknown. This is early Haino, featured on two releases and several compilations. Most of the available output reveals a genuine jazz group, although there is one example credited to Lost Aaraaff, which is true blue experimental minimalism, virtually complete outside the jazz idiom.

I wrote in the review of uchu ni karami tsuite iru waga itami that it was only album by Haino that makes you want to laugh, but, in listening to the first Lost Aaraaff album, I take it back. This Lost Aaraaff, especially track one and the first half of track 2, is…how shall we put it? Over-the-top. Bombastic. Ridiculous. Comical. Hysterical. Goofy. Absurd. You may very well laugh. Is it intentionally so? Absolutely. This is an intentionally composed absurdity. The piano and drums provide almost slapstick jazz licks to which Haino sings “la la la” like a child intentionally keeping out of tune. I am sure that from one perspective a jazz critic can find a serious element to this music and, don’t get me wrong, I can hear it too, but there are parts of the album that are really funny.

Musically, this is Haino’s most obvious jazz outfit. The music is melodic and free of any gratuitous noise elements. The piano is gentle, light-hearted and jazzy. The only real discordant element is Haino’s shouting. Is it genius? Yeah, I would probably say so. Did it come out well before it’s time? Hell, it seems to me that it came out well outside its own universe. Perhaps there was a context in Japan of the early 1970s in which this music was well placed but that culture, if it ever really existed, has presumably vanished.

This is the first disc of the Soul’s True Love box set. This performance is from the Genya Concert of August 14, 1971. There are various compilations which collect portions of the various performances that made up the concert, but this disc collects the complete Lost Aarraaf performance. As was the case with the other discs in this box, the sound quality ranks at best an ok-fi.

This performance features two 29-minute tracks with Haino on voice plus a pianist and drummer. This performance is louder and rowdier and less musical than the release on PSF, which makes me like the PSF release more. Both performances have a wild side to them, but the PSF release is a wildness within a jazz melody. This live show is simply a wildness beyond any jazz melody. The second track in particular lacks any melody at all and is rather a mishmash of shouted vocals and percussion. The additional structure in the PSF release enhances the performance for me. Besides, the sound quality on this disc is relatively poor, compared to the PSF release.

There was excitement about this release when it was issued because a portion of the track had been released on a long out of print compilation. The interest was principly in hearing this historic recording and was increased by the fact that it had been previously difficult to find. In retrospect, it compares poorly with the PSF release.

closing to lost aaraaff recordings
Lost Aaraaff represents a long-gone ensemble with Haino in a jazz style that he has not since revisited. It’s a fun ensemble. If you were to hear one Lost Aaraaff disc it should clearly be the release on PSF.

proceed to nijiumu recordings

all text copyright david keffer. distribution without consent is prohibited. contact the author.