Uyama Hiroto - Freedom Of The Son (2014)

A partner of the acclaimed Nujabes, Uyama Hiroto is continuing the tradition of his mentor in the Japanese Trip Hop realm. Freedom of the Son is far better than the previous A Son of the Sun to the extent that it works on the original style, but improves it to a much more heavenly level. There are elements of free jazz, rap, and the beautiful piano work Japan is always brilliant at providing for the world. Here in this concoction there is the ambience of some distant Autumn dream hidden in the Pacific. This album is less repetitive and the rappers who provide vocals on a few of the tracks are far smarter with their rhymes. This is best seen of “Relax Your Mind”. Perhaps it still has elements of elevator music incorporated in, but put in the correct mood, this album is incredibly soothing. This is atmospheric jazz and as always, the album cover’s use of red and orange is a perfect metaphor for the feeling embedded in these poetic arrangements. It’s as if you are staring over a bustling city in the middle of a sunset. It is strange this artist is not well known, because everything is produced so well and you can’t help but feel at peace while listening to it.

Tracklist:

01. 81 autumn
02. Compass
03. One Day
04. Light
05. Waltz For Life -song for children~
06. Relax Your Mind feat. Pase Rock
07. Reminiscence Jazz feat. Segawa Tatsuya
08. Soul Of Freedom feat. Cise Starr
09. Spektrum feat. Fat Jon
10. Path Of Wind
11. Rainy
12. Waiting For…
13. Become One Live Sun
14. Peaceful Quiet feat yu-ri (BLU-SWING)
15. Just For You