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| Mint Jams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | May 21, 1982 | |||
| Recorded | February 23 & 24, 1982 | |||
| Venue | Chuo Kaikan Hall, Tukiji Tokyo  | |||
| Genre | Jazz fusion | |||
| Length | 36:16 | |||
| Label | Alfa | |||
| Producer | Shunsuke Miyazumi | |||
| Casiopea chronology | ||||
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Mint Jams is the seventh album and the second live album by Japanese jazz-fusion band Casiopea, released on May 21, 1982. The album's title is an arrangement of the band members' first and last initials.
As Alfa Records expanded into Europe, it was planned to produce an album for Europe by one of its artists, Casiopea. Initially, it was planned to be a compilation of best songs from existing albums, but was later turned into a live album.
Live sound recordings from a two-day performance at Tokyo Kaikan were used, and subsequently remixed at Alfa Studio 'A' by Shunsuke Miyazami, Satoshi Nakao, Norio Yoshizawa and Atsushi Saito. The songs were arranged in advance with studio work in mind.
To achieve the likeness of a studio quality sound, the audience noise from the Chuo Kaikan live performances were cut from the mix, except for during the bass guitar and drum solos in 'Domino Line', and the latter-half part of 'Swear' which include the drum and rag piano solo.
Besides the title of the album being an arrangement of the band members' first and last initials, it derives the word 'mint' to imply 'a mint condition' and 'high performance'. The word 'jams' describe their live performance of which the source material was taken from.
This album is widely considered to be Casiopea's best, as it combines their live dynamism and precision with careful studio work.
Mint Jams was also Casiopea's first album to mainly feature the Yamaha GS-1 FM synthesizer, operated by Minoru Mukaiya. This synthesizer was subsequently used in many of their live-performances.
The European version of Mint Jams was released in the same year as the Japanese release. The following year, in 1983, when Casiopea visited London to record the album JIVE JIVE, a promotional live concert was held.
There were many changes in the arrangements and sound of songs in post such as:
"Tears of the Star" had a removed 30 second intro. "Domino Line" has bass and drum solos from both concert dates. The outro for "Swear" was cut down ~40 seconds. "Midnight Rendezvous" had an added clap sfx. "Time Limit" had more than a minute removed.
All music is composed by Issei Noro
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Take Me" | 4:51 |
| 2. | "Asayake" | 4:58 |
| 3. | "Midnight Rendezvous" | 4:57 |
| 4. | "Time Limit" | 2:38 |
| Total length: | 17:24 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Domino Line" | 7:22 |
| 2. | "Tears of the Star" | 4:29 |
| 3. | "Swear" | 6:48 |
| Total length: | 18:39 | |
Casiopea:
Production:
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | March 21, 1982 | Alfa Records | 30cmLP | ALF-85869 [1] | stereo |
| United Kingdom | 1982 | ||||
| Netherlands | 1982 | ||||
| Sweden | 1982 | Sonet Records | SNTF-924 | ||
| Japan | December 21, 1983 | Alfa Records | 12cmCD | 38XA-5 | |
| 1984 | 30cmLP | ALR-20002 | |||
| Sweden | 1984 | Sonet Records | 12cmCD | SNCD 924 | |
| Japan | January 25, 1987 | Alfa Records | 32XA-112 | ||
| March 21, 1992 | ALCA-277 | ||||
| July 27, 1994 | ALCA-9007 | ||||
| July 23, 1998 | ALCA-9202 | ||||
| January 23, 2002 | Village Records | remastered 12cmCD | VRCL-2207 | DSD, LP paper jacket | |
| February 14, 2002 | VRCL-2227 | DSD | |||
| May 27, 2009 | Sony Music Direct | MHCL-20009 | DSD, Blu-spec CD, LP paper jacket | ||
| December 10, 2014 | HYBRID SA-CD | DYCL-446 | DSD, ORDER MADE FACTORY | ||
| February 3, 2016 | Music download | 1076210122 | iTunes Store [2] | ||
| 4582290414003 | mora AAC-LC 320 kbps [3] | ||||
| A1003862351 | Recochoku AAC 128/320 kbps [4] | ||||
| B01B5ATMFW | Amazon.com [5] | ||||
| Btqo2vsuzhatovitlmjn42qysey | Google Play Music [6] | ||||
| July 27, 2016 | 4582290419152 | mora DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit [7] | |||
| smj4582290419152 | e-onkyo DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit [8] | ||||
| 11188 | HD-music DSD 2.8 MHz/1bit [9] | ||||
| 4582290419145 | mora FLAC 96.0 kHz/24bit [10] | ||||
| A1004668159 | Recochoku FLAC 96 kHz 24bit [11] | ||||
| smj4582290419145 | e-onkyo FLAC 96 kHz 24bit [12] | ||||
| 11178 | HD-music FLAC 96 kHz/24bit [13] | ||||
| 9b1bb9ff260e89188f84 | AWA 320kbps [14] | ||||
| November 10, 2016 | 23fddOrAvvFX0iJQL5vvZ4 | Spotify [15] |
Aside from Casiopea Perfect Live II , all Casiopea lives officially released are cut.
Some songs are missing from the official release, some are not in the right order and some are shorter. "Galactic Funk" and "Tears of the Star" were played with special intros.
| No. | Title | Music | from album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Galactic Funk" | Issei Noro | Cross Point | |
| 2. | "Eyes Of The Mind" | Issei Noro | Make Up City | |
| 3. | "Take Me" | Issei Noro | Super Flight | |
| 4. | "Time Limit" | Issei Noro | Casiopea | |
| 5. | "Lakai" | Harvey Mason, Bob James | Eyes of the Mind | |
| 6. | "Smile Again" | Issei Noro | Cross Point | |
| 7. | "Sunnyside Feelin'" | Akira Jimbo | Cross Point | |
| 8. | "Midnight Rendezvous" | Issei Noro | Casiopea | |
| 9. | "Any Moment (We'll Be One)" | Harvey Mason | Cross Point | |
| 10. | "Domino Line" | Issei Noro | Cross Point | |
| 11. | "Swear" | Issei Noro | Cross Point | |
| 12. | "Asayake" | Issei Noro | Super Flight | |
| 13. | "Black Joke" | Issei Noro | Casiopea | |
| 14. | "Tears Of The Star" | Issei Noro | Casiopea |
Casiopea, now known in its fourth iteration as Casiopea-P4, is a Japanese jazz fusion band formed in 1976 by guitarist Issei Noro, bassist Tetsuo Sakurai, drummer Tohru "Rika" Suzuki, and keyboardist Hidehiko Koike. In 1977, keyboardist Minoru Mukaiya and drummer Takashi Sasaki replaced Koike and Suzuki respectively. They recorded their debut album Casiopea (1979) with guest appearances by American jazz musicians Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, and David Sanborn. In 1980, drummer Akira Jimbo joined the band. Casiopea has released over 40 albums in Japan and around the world.
Issei Noro is a Japanese jazz fusion guitarist who is one of the founding members and the main composer of the band Casiopea. He has released 6 solo albums and a compilation. He also works as an instructor of a guitar clinic, and as a producer.
Casiopea is the debut album of Japanese jazz fusion group Casiopea, released on May 25, 1979. Recorded between December 1978 and March 1979 in Japan, it marks Casiopea's first album appearance since their performance on EastWest '77.
Super Flight is the second studio album by Japanese jazz fusion band Casiopea, released via Alfa Records on November 25, 1979. Recording took place at Studio A in Shibaura, Tokyo from August to October of that year. The album cover arts depicts a blimp with "Casiopea" written on the side flying during a sunset near Lower Manhattan, New York.
Thunder Live is the third album and first live album released by jazz fusion group Casiopea in 1980. This album marked the first appearance of drummer Akira Jimbo, who replaced Takashi Sasaki that same year.
Make Up City is the fourth album and the third studio album by Casiopea released on November 21, 1980.
Eyes of the Mind is the fifth album and the fourth studio album by Casiopea, released in 1981. The album was recorded in Los Angeles.
Cross Point is the sixth album and the fifth studio album by Casiopea, recorded and released in 1981. This is the band's second album to be created and produced with Harvey Mason. Casiopea did a domestic tour in late November and December after this album, which inspired the Mint Jams concert sessions in February of the following year.
4×4 - FOUR BY FOUR is the eighth album and sixth studio album by Casiopea recorded and released in 1982. Lee Ritenour, Harvey Mason, Nathan East, and Don Grusin participated in the recording of this album.
Photographs is the ninth album and the seventh studio album by Casiopea, recorded and released in 1983.
Jive Jive is the tenth album and the eighth studio album by Casiopea, recorded and released in 1983.
The Soundgraphy is the 11th album by Casiopea, recorded and released in 1984 in Japan. This is also Casiopea's first Compilation album.
Down Upbeat is the twelfth album and the ninth studio album by Casiopea, recorded and released in 1984. This is Casiopea's second full album where Issei Noro is credited as a producer. The following year, "Zoom" was released as the lead single for this album, and is the only one of Casiopea's songs to have a professionally produced, full length music video, recorded in Manhattan.
Halle is the 13th album and 10th studio album by Casiopea released in 1985. The lead single, "Halle" is the first Casiopea song to have songwriting credits from all four members. It's also the first Casiopea album recorded in Japan since 1983's Photographs.
Casiopea Live is the third live album and first live video by Casiopea, released in 1985. This is also Casiopea's 14th album overall.
Sun Sun is the 15th album by Casiopea, recorded and released in 1986.
Casiopea Perfect Live II is the fourth live album and second live video released by the jazz fusion group Casiopea.
On February 25, 1987, it was released with a laser disc from laser disc Co., Ltd. 7" single record "Asian Dreamer" was distributed as the first board purchase privilege.
On July 10, 1987, it became an LP record from Alfa Records.
In 2000, it was recurred as DVD "CASIOPEA LIVE HISTORY PART-I". At the end of the video, as an exclusive add-on, an Issei Noro interview was added.
This is contains the final concert of Casiopea's 10th anniversary tour, performed at U-Port hall.
Platinum is the 17th album released by the jazz fusion group Casiopea in 1987. The album featured a cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water"--a song originally written by Paul Simon.
Euphony is the 18th album released by the jazz fusion group Casiopea in 1988.
Answers is the 25th album by jazz fusion group Casiopea released in 1994.
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