Stomu Yamash´ta´s East Wind — Freedom Is Frightening
East Wind was a band Yamash’ta formed in 1973, and it consisted of respected UK bassist & prominent Canterbury scene figure Hugh Hopper( ex Soft Machine, Isotope, Gilgamesh & solo work), Keyboardist Brian Gascoigne, British guitarist Gary Boyl, and Yamash’ta wife Hisako on Violin . The collective released two albums “Freedom Is Frightening” & 1974’s “One By One”.
The album features four fairly lengthy tracks that fall between the seven to near on twelve minute mark. Opening up the album we have the title track, this starts out with a mix of climbing organ & almost wavering spacey synth textures. Pretty soon we get wavering female 'ahhs' added to the building sort of doomed church organ like vibe, and pretty soon Hopper's wondering bass joins the track too. By the 4th minute guitar & percussion elemets have started to appear- slowly at first, then they gain more shape & structure. By the 5th minute we’ve clicked into a slow jazz rock march that has quite a hazed prog vibe to it, and it sort of builds up more pace from there.
Next we have the wonderfully entitled “Rolling Nuns”, which sounds like a mixture of more controlled jazz rock tinged Gong(around Flying Teapot) & early ‘n’ urgent Soft Machine. With Hopper creating a nice throbbing & fuzzed groove for the guitar & keyboard elements to meet around. The track nicely tips into more ethereal 'n' drifting mode around the six minute mark, as it strips down to ethnic percussive playful-ness & warbling drifting female vocalising.
Then there’s “Pine On The Horizon” which moves from a mix of detailed ethnic lined percussion & sawing/churning funk with a tight mixture of bass, guitar & violin. Onto more open Hammond organ grooves ‘n’ break downs. Through to rock guitar riff work-outs ‘n’ soloing over a mixture of Hoppers constant bobbing ‘n’ bopping bass work, and various organ/ keyboard textures…. Hell there’s even some (unaccredited) grooving brass textures added in towards the end, before it drops into slowly descending organ & warbling guitar grim-ness. You really feel here that the group are letting themselves go on this track, and for that reason it’s one of the highlights here.
Lastly we have the more mellow unwind of “Wind Words” which mixers Hisako elegant & sad oriental tinged violin swooning, with slow drifting banks of vibes, subtle organ textures, and Gary Boyl clean picked electric guitar wonderings. It’s a nice come down after the building energy of the other three tracks.
The reissue is topped off with a 12 page booklet that takes in originaly linear notes from then Melody Maker journalist Mick Walls. And a new essay about the album, the East Wind & Stomu Yamash’ta career in genreal.
“Freedom Is Frightening” certainly highlights Yamash’ta ability as a group composer to harnessing the best of each players talents. Sure as an album it’s not as daring & darting musical genre wise as the excellent Go album that Yamash’ta would put out three years later in 1976, but if your after a solid, often memorable & well played 70’s fusion record with prog & world influences this is well worth a look