Akira Ishikawa & Count Buffalo

The respected Japanese jazz drummer Akira Ishikawa was not messing around when he recorded the 'Uganda (Dawn Of Rock)' album with his band the Count Buffaloes. For this offering, originally released in 1972 on Toshiba Records, Akira Ishikawa takes us on a deep tripped-out journey. 'Uganda (Dawn Of Rock)' is a fusion of progressive and psych rock with African percussion workouts, dergy-wah wah blues-funk, and jazzy sensibilities; with different genres morphing and uniting as they progress. A long way from his funk and Afrobeat album 'Back To Rhythm,' reissued on Mr Bongo in 2019, this record has a darker, deeper, abstract and experimental stoned tone with the listener being pulled into its vortex for the ride. This record doesn't pull any punches. For this album, Akira is joined by Hideaki Chihara on bass, guitarist Kimio Mizutani, sounding at times like an early '70s Peter Green, percussionist Larry Sunaga and composer Takeru Muraoka. The album has become highly sought-after amongst psych, prog and acid rock collectors and due to the rare nature of original copies they come at a hefty price tag. Mr Bongo is delighted to present an officially licensed reissue of this underground Japanese rock rarity.

odd japanese african-themed psych rock nugget from 1972 ; lovingly reissued by johan wellens via his tiliqua imprint ... this is kind of all over the place ; switching between a king of “chooglin’” acid/boogie-rock and the kind of “studio full of exotic instruments and lsd” approach perfected around the same time by East Bionic Symphonia & Taj Mahal Traveller