a summery playlist, travelling from japan's city pop and retro-future jams, to brazil's bossa nova, and landing on american jazz fusion and jazz-tinged pop.
full tracklist (expand to view)
This mix is a bit of a change from my previous ones, which were specifically aiming for newer releases with a focus on digital fusion. For this one, I was inspired by the summer's sweltering heat to let my mind wander to worldwide genres that make me feel like summer.
Starting with Japanese city pop. I included a selection of classics, like "Clouds" by Tatsuro Yamashita, as well as SUPER DRAGON's cover of "Kimi wa 1000%", but also modern takes, like Mukajudan's wonderful Maboroshi Time Machine and Flamingo by Asako Toki.
Drifting onward from this sound, I landed on the bossa nova sound from Brazil: Jobim, Banda Black Rio (although they might be considered funk instead), and many other pioneers from that time.
Finally, I selected some of the most summery tracks from the US jazz fusion and jazzy, summery side of r'n'b from the 70s and 80s: Steely Dan is a must of course, and I recently discovered that "I Can't Help It" by Michael Jackson was written by Stevie Wonder, a real sleeper track with stellar production by Quincy Jones. I also included some of my favorite instrumental jazz fusion tracks to close the set out, with Ramsey Lewis' "Brazilica" tying it all together. Get a cold drink and sit under the intercontinental palm trees!