Agharta
Agharta
Genres: Fusion, Technical Deathcore, japanese, jazz, pop
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青木智仁
About Agharta
1. AGHARTA is a band primarily active in Japan. A group of eight men who call themselves the Mysterious Underground People Group. For a time, they appeared in various parts of Japan wearing cheek covers, but later appeared bare-faced at the closing ceremony of the Nagano Olympics and at a concert by Toshio Kadomatsu (B.). Each member was assigned a number: 001 was Taro Nagamanbe (Toshio Kadomatsu) (G.), 002 was Kitaro Nakamura (B.), 003 was Yoshiyuki Asano (G.), 004 was Yoshihiro Tomonari (Key.), 005 was Shoji Haruna (Sax.), 006 was Michiaki Tanaka (Perc.), 007 was Hisashi Numazawa (Drs.), 008 was Hiroshi Yamada (Comp.). The gimmick is that "each of them has a musician who looks very similar to each other, and the reason why they do not resemble famous musicians is to hide their status as underground people. The original idea was to see if Kadomatsu and other well-known studio musicians would make a splash if they debuted as a new band under a different name [the experiment was to see if it would make a splash if they debuted as a new band under a different name. However, the band members' identities were revealed beforehand, and the experiment ended in failure. 2. Agharta was formed around 1978 by keyboardist/producer Jacques Mignault and sax and flute player Pierre Veniot, who had played together in Main Street Funk. They were joined by Normand Trudel on bass and Normand Cataford on drums, and produced a self titled album, released on Mignault's own label, in 1981. The music is light progressive jazz/fusion with occasional international flavourings a la Weather Report, and is very well composed. This style of music became prevalent in Quebec during the early 80's and as in other countries, and was a natural evolution from the 1970's for many musicians with progressive jazz/rock tendencies. The album also features a guest appearance by percussionist Michel Séguin (ex-Toubabou). That same year they played the Montreal International Jazz Festival, which helped to fuel Quebec's local jazz scene for years to come. A second album was recorded in 1982 but was never released, since the first album achieved only limited distribution. One year later, Trudel and Cataford were replaced by Sylvain Gagnon and Michel Grenier on bass and drums respectively. Agharta continued giving performances until 1984. During this period Agharta also recorded some unreleased material with Séguin, with Mignault and Veniot performing occasionally with the renowned percussionist. Mignault even produced Séguin's solo album "Esprit Des Vents" in 1983. Agharta's LP, along with the unreleased material, has been digitally remastered and may be the subject of a CD reissue in 2005. Drums, Percussion – Normand Cataford Electric Bass – Normand Trudel Keyboards – Jacques Mignault Percussion – Michel Séguin Tenor Saxophone, Sopranino Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet – Pierre Veniot
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