BLOODEST SAXOPHONE
Formed in Tokyo, the jump blues & swing band, BLOODEST SAXOPHONE has been playing old-school vintage sounds since 1998. The group’s leader, Young Corn Shintaro, established the band with the ambition “to rule the world with the saxophone.” Young Corn Shintaro says “Jump Blues and Swing Jazz bring out the soul of the tenor saxophone, especially when jumpin‟. ” The group does not think of themselves as playing old music but instead just time traveled from the days when Illinois Jacquet and Arnett Cobb were around. Their first album “Blood-est” was released in 2003; to date they have released 11 albums and appeared on 13 compilations. Their music has been enchanting not only old school blues/jazz lovers but also Rock „n‟ Roll, Rockabilly fans and Mods, the band‟s fiery performance at the event “Mods May Day” is a history.
In 2012, the legendary honker Big Jay McNeely discovered them on internet, which led to have a joint tour of Japan in 2013 and the live album in 2015. The combination of young and old generations brought forth the sounds of today‟s Jump blues. The album recorded in 2014 at the studio in the foothills of Mt. Fuji featuring the great singer from the 60‟s Louis Armstrong Orchestra, Jewel Brown, along with the album with McNeely, is highly acclaimed both in Japan and overseas.
Recording and playing with these music legends, band leader Young Corn says, was “super fun and they taught us that everything boils down to soul and call&response”. Young Corn was very moved by how focused both artists were on entertaining the audience. Young Corn described how amazing it was when he momentarily felt like a better saxophone player while playing together. All this success led the Bloodest Saxophone to take the stage at Fuji Rock Festival in 2015, the biggest music festival in Japan. Additionally, they had a second Japan tour with BIG JAY McNEELY and recorded with him. On New Year‟s Eve of 2015 they started playing in Hong Kong and continue to several times a year. After appearing in Tokyo Jazz, a famous jazz event in Tokyo, they flew to Austin, Texas to record with blues/soul female singers. These new tracks are due to be released in the summer of 2018. Keep a look out!
The band really wants to convey the excitement and true power of music to as many people as possible. Being an instrumental band with no regular vocalist, they want to stay creative, try different ideas and evolve freely. 20 years after forming, they are heading for a break and even more energy.
Young Corn believes that all Bloodest Saxophone fans are cool and “if you want to be cool, just listen to the Bloodest Saxophone‟.