Fragile- Japanese Fusion

[Dana5140]

I have to say, I was not familiar with them, but they play some truly fiery fusion music. Great stuff!

[interbellum]

I heard some of their music and a friend of mine gave me their album The Sun And The Melodies from 2009 on a CDR. It's good stuff, but I never really got into them.



Most of their work is quite expensive according the discogs-listings: https://www.discogs.com/artist/5213558-Fragile-34

[wideopenears]

Love these guys.....
Also, Exhivision and FazJaz.

[Splicer]

Yes, indeed. Love how up-front the drums are even in the lower-key numbers.

[Top Cat]

Not a fusion kind of guy, but these guys are really really good. Good structure and tight playing.
Thanks for posting this.

[JAMOOL]

hah...I had someone introduce me to these guys back in '06 when Phantom came out. there was a little bit of online buzz for that one. the track "Melancholic Octopus" is incredible. kinda forgot about them afterwards...I guess they're somewhat dormant now?

[Shadow]

This cd is excellent. Yabori's playing reminded me a little of Mike Stern, then I realized Mike is on the cd.

[Shadow]

Another great one is this one.

[Grimjack]

Fragile are a lot of fun and their guitarist Koichi Yabori is a terrific player. He’s got a number of solo CDs that are also excellent. He released one last year that I unfortunately missed out on...a limited edition called ‘Live at Virtuoso’ with Yokata Kent on bass and Senri Kawaguchi on drums that’s an all-standards “live in the studio” affair. The clip on YouTube is pretty amazing...if anybody picked one up and might be interested in trading or selling, please PM. Lots to trade.

[Zalmoxe]

I have to say, I was not familiar with them, but they play some truly fiery fusion music. Great stuff!

Ah yes, one of the better fusion outfits from Japan. Being the mega fusion head that I am, I had to track down every album they have released. Koichi Yabori, their guitarist, has a solo career, in addition to his involvement in Fazjaz.jp. Here's a promo video for his latest album, "You were there":



Japan has an amazing fusion scene and there are so many gems to be discovered there. Head over to the Japanese music thread for some of these great recommendations.

[Shadow]

Prism is also good, not always as fusiony as Fragile, but Akira Wada is an excellent guitarist. If you ever see a cd by W.I.N.S. grab it, it's a killer.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

WINS is indeed another great Prog Fusion band

I like Fragile but WINS is great... and then there's Kenso

and for Symphonic Jazz Rock nobody in Japan beats Asturias

[Zalmoxe]

WINS is indeed another great Prog Fusion band

I like Fragile but WINS is great... and then there's Kenso

and for Symphonic Jazz Rock nobody in Japan beats Asturias

KBB is also worth being mentioned in that conversation. All albums are top-notch. But, like I said, Japan is so rich in good music, there is no shortage of amazing acts that must be discovered.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

KBB is also worth being mentioned in that conversation. All albums are top-notch. But, like I said, Japan is so rich in good music, there is no shortage of amazing acts that must be discovered.

I just *knew* I was forgetting someone! KBB is friggin awesome!

[profusion]

I'd been wondering what Yabori was up to, lately. Love the Fazjaz.jp albums I have.

[SourceCodeX]

This cd is excellent. Yabori's playing reminded me a little of Mike Stern, then I realized Mike is on the cd.

I was perusing my terabytes worth of digital audio and discovered an ultra-rare recording FRAGILE LIVE @ HNK 1-31-2007 and while listening I heard Mike Stern's signature style on several tracks. So 8 years after Wet was released, Stern was still playing with Yabori et al. Interesting.

[Shadow]

I was perusing my terabytes worth of digital audio and discovered an ultra-rare recording FRAGILE LIVE @ HNK 1-31-2007 and while listening I heard Mike Stern's signature style on several tracks. So 8 years after Wet was released, Stern was still playing with Yabori et al. Interesting.

It may not be Stern, sometimes Yabori sounds a little like Stern. He has a new one come out this year, but since Mr. Fusion passed away I don't have contacts anymore. I do have Yabori's email but don't know if I can buy from him.

[JazzHead]

It may not be Stern, sometimes Yabori sounds a little like Stern. He has a new one come out this year, but since Mr. Fusion passed away I don't have contacts anymore. I do have Yabori's email but don't know if I can buy from him.

This is my first post on this fab forum! I'm definitely a huge Koichi Yabori fan. Interesting to see how Koichi's musical world intersects with other worlds. WINS, for example, is a great band (I have their first album, but not their second); the astounding drummer Kozo Suganuma was the drummer in Fragile and is also the WINS drummer (and Akira Wada from PRISM is the guitarist). And, yes, Koichi has a new album and (I think) a new band. The band is called Uragaeru and plays the music of Fragile. The trio includes Kochi, of course, and the excellent Senri Kawaguchi on drums, and the very in-demand Ryoji Orihara on fretless bass. Their first album was released a couple of months ago, called "Uragaeru Live!". After searching high and low for a copy to order (I live in Canada, so a shopping trip to Japan to grab a copy is unlikely...), I found it being offered for sale on Senri's official website store. It is on its way to my house as I write this.
I must echo also the love expressed in this thread for KBB!! Awesome music!!
Anybody else here a Kazumi Watanabe fan? He's got loads of astounding fusion albums!!!!

[Shadow]

^^^^^^^^^^^^
If you haven't you need to check out the three Mo-Bop Trio cds by Kazumi.

[Zalmoxe]

A few more short-lived ones. First TRI-Offensive. Only one album that I know of:

[Zalmoxe]

Mongol - "Doppler 444" was such a massive album. Too bad they released it and then we never heard from this band ever again.

[Zalmoxe]

Finally, Naikaku-no-wa, 2 releases, both of them mind bending and then poof, disappeared in thin air

[interbellum]

Good suggestions ^^ B.t.w. the Doppler-guitarist went to NOA.

Another suggestion is to post these in the thread that's already covering Japanese fusion; for my taste this thread is on Fragile only.

https://www.progressiveears.org/foru...-or-Not/page26

[D.Eric]

Mongol - "Doppler 444" was such a massive album. Too bad they released it and then we never heard from this band ever again.

Agreed. In case you have not seen this one, it seems to be "leftover" tracks recorded around the same time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV5Y...3oTVD7rjLMQgb8