COPA SALVO - PAUL MURPHY

I took a trip to the If Music Store, 2nd Floor, above the paint shop and that got me hooked on the sound of COPA SALVO.

“You NEED this!” said Jean-Claude. “They're an amazing and unique Jazzy Combo from Japan!” But at the time I was stuck in some dead end Gulag job getting things together for the launch of a record label idea I'd been working on and the bobs were just not in abundance. Especially in the part of the wallet marked “Japanese Vinyl Import Department”. But he gave it a spin and I was pretty much hooked from that day on.

Things soon looked up though and the next sighting of COPA SALVO was on the BBE Records release: A Journey Into Deep Jazz Vol. 3 (Compiled by that very same Jean-Claude!) which featured COPA SALVO - Hasta La Victria Siempre, a pounding piano driven homage to Fidel which incidentally is one of the featured numbers of this album.

I kept looking for more COPA SALVO as I was really intrigued by the sound they produced and, over a period of time I managed to obtain nearly all of their sparse catalog. Once Jazz Room Records had started to get established and the release of the Colin Curtis Presents: indigo jam unit compilation had been a success I will never forget it. No, I can't forget it. An email arrived around 22:00 on April 19, 2023. The destination was the UK! The sender was, huh? Huh? ? Paul Murphy! ? I sensed that it was not spam, so I checked the text to see what it was about, and it said, "I want to release a COPA SALVO record, so can you help me?" ! ! Seriously? It's three days before the band's comeback concert after being on hiatus. There is definitely some kind of power at work here. I was shaking. What else can you call this but a miracle? I wanted to share this miracle, so I immediately called the members Masuda, Kobayashi and Peach-kun. (It would take too long to write about the three's funny reactions here, so if you're interested, please ask me directly. It has a perfect punch line. As expected lol) I think it was the best support fire for everyone who was nervous about restarting. It's been a little over a year and a half since then. The release date has finally been decided. The selection is of course by Paul Murphy. If you like club music, you've probably heard his name at least once. He made a huge contribution to the creation of Acid Jazz, a music culture that originated in the UK and swept Japan and the world in the 1990s. In fact, he is a pioneer. He had a major influence on Gilles Peterson and others. Here we introduce COPA SALVO, a jazz side that he has captured with his reliable aesthetic eye. I see, the arrangement of the songs is very interesting. In recent years, the excavation of bands from the Japanese club scene in the 2000s has progressed worldwide, so it makes sense that they have arrived here. The culmination of all the work up to 2006, when Mango-Logy was released, has returned on a black ship. Let me say this punch line. It's finally here, this time!! That said, I have no choice but to have a feeling that they will make a rapid advance from here on out, and I am honored to have been a part of this. And thank you to Paul Murphy for the email.

I went to If Music Store, upstairs above the paint shop, and fell in love with the sound of COPA SALVO.

You need this! ”Jean-Claude said. “They are a great and unique jazz combo from Japan!” But at the time I was tied up in a dead-end job putting things together for the launch of a record label idea I had been working on and was totally short on funds. Especially the part of my wallet that said “Japanese Vinyl Import Division”. But he passed it around and I was hooked from that day on.

But things quickly turned around and COPA SALVO’s next appearance was on the BBE Records release “A Journey Into Deep Jazz Vol. 3” (compiled by that very Jean-Claude!). The album features “Hasta La Victoria Siempre”, a powerful piano-led homage to Fidel, which actually happens to be one of the highlights of the album.

I was so intrigued by the sound of COPA SALVO that I kept looking for more. And after a while I was able to get hold of most of their limited catalog. When Jazz Room Records was established and the Colin Curtis Presents: Indigo Jam Unit compilation was a success I thought "It's time for COPA SALVO to make their Jazz Room debut!"