Jiro Inagaki & His Soul Media - In The Groove [Nippon Columbia / Lawson Japan]

• Limited edition transparent yellow vinyl
• Pressed and printed in Japan
• Japanese OBI
• Originally released in 1973

Since their formation in 1969, Soul Media had been pushing a fusion of jazz and rock. The next step in that lineage was this album, In the Groove, recorded in 1973.

The precision of jazz is brought to the fore, while rock blends in to give it an edge, and funk is injected to imbue it with power and stamina. The result is strong, sophisticated, and simply "cool" music, impossible to categorize into existing genres such as jazz rock, jazz funk, or fusion.

This work is also described as a response to The Crusaders, a group that Jiro Inagaki was paying attention to at the time. His aim hit the bullseye. With this album, Soul Media acquired a "sophisticated black sensibility" and headed towards their ultimate destiny, Funky Stuff.

Text by Yusuke Ogawa (Universounds).