New Orleans Rascals of Osaka with Henry Blackburn

Among the long runningest of the many traditional jazz bands that have achieved extreme longevity is the New Orleans Rascals of Osaka, Japan. Americans who have the impression that the Japanese are particularly enamored with traditional jazz and especially love George Lewis have picked up that idea from The Rascals, and the efforts of the Original Dixieland Jazz Club of Osaka, which is related to the band. The Rascals formed in 1961. The founder of the band, Ryoichi Kawai, passed away in 2023. He himself had been inspired at the Waseda University New Orleans Jazz Club, founded in 1957, when he would have been about 18.

The 1963 visit of George Lewis and his All-Stars would become a primary influence on the sound of the Rascals, who from then on would focus on having a direct connection to the New Orleans portion of the revival. They would make their first visit to New Orleans and Preservation Hall in 1965, which began a very active back and forth of musicians between Osaka and New Orleans, which became, in a way, Twin Cities.

(This exchange is now being guided by Haruka Kikuchi who got her start at Waseda. Now well established as a trombone player in New Orleans she hosts many visiting Japanese musicians and has a series of recordings made pairing them with New Orleans musicians. Search for the Japan-New Orleans Connection series.)

Speaking of Twin Cities, Minneapolis/St Paul was in the mix from very early on, also gaining visits from elder New Orleans musicians thrilled to find a passionate audience, and, visits from the New Orleans Rascals. So perhaps there were Tri-Cities of New Orleans jazz in the late ’60s. This triumvirate came to be in part because of Henry Blackburn.

Henry Blackburn is equally long running. Born in 1925, he played clarinet and sax in Navy Swing bands during WWII. After the war he attended Tulane in New Orleans for medical school and was on the front line of the nascent New Orleans jazz revival there. He brought that sound with him to Minnesota which would become in short order the least expected hot spot of traditional jazz. It is no coincidence The Mississippi Rag was based there. The history of the area is well told in Tony Balluff’s two part article on the Hall Brothers and the Emporium of Jazz (TST, Dec. 2020 and Feb. 2021).

Blackburn visited the New Orleans Rascals on a trip to Japan for a medical study in 1968 and jammed with the band. (He may have seen them on their New Orleans trip in 1966, I could not confirm.) It would be the first of many meetings that continued in Japan, New Orleans, and Minnesota over many decades. During these visits, he usually led with clarinetist Ryoichi Kawai making way for Blackburn’s more dominant soprano sax. Some of these sessions were informally recorded to tape which is what is on offer here. The recordings were made between 1968 and 1993. I can say that there are no distracting change ups in the audio on the collection, all could have been taped in the same environment.

In toto, they have what I think of as a ’70s sound, like something recorded for Big Bill Bissonnette’s Jazz Crusade in a New Orleans back room. The style of play may be what is evoking that as much as the equalization. It’s hot, thrillingly fun, blushing in the corner with your second drink and starting to tap your foot fun. Real New Orleans fun.

The tune choices are great, warhorses that will be familiar to all and recognizable material for a New Orleans band of the period. Think “China Boy,” “Yellow Dog Blue,” “Sweet Substitute,” “Bye and Bye,” “Lady be Good,” and “Avalon,” the 16 track record ends with traditional New Orleans closers.

The jams are long, with tracks averaging over five minutes. The band goes deep into the weeds with exuberant collective improvisation decisively led by Blackburn’s soprano sax. They sound like fun nights shared between musicians who are excited to be among their global peers—exactly what they are. On some tracks, the Rascals are also joined on clarinet by Nick Polites or Jack McLaughlin, both of Australia, or by Tom Sharpsteen. When you think of what a bootleg should be, this is it, there is a rowdy feel rarely heard outside special nights like these.

Despite being recorded over a 25 years period only one line up of the New Orleans Rascals is given, a true testament to the band’s commitment. The band in that period was Ryoichi Kawai, leader and clarinet; Keitaro Shiga, trumpet; Tsunetami Fukuda, trombone; Junichi Kawai, banjo; Yoshiyasu Ozaki, piano (he steals the show when put front and center); Nobuo Ishida, bass; and Yoichi Kimura, drums. They didn’t earn world renown only as the best traditional jazz band from Japan, but as one of the best in the world, purists in the best way.

As he approaches his hundredth birthday Henry Blackburn wanted to make sure these tapes were available and released them on Bandcamp for a minimal $7 download fee. While you are there he has many other releases for you to explore featuring his Blackburn-Balluff band, Blackburn-Beach Band, Doc Evans, Kid Dutch, a 1962 night at a Minnesota jazz club earlier than the Emporium of Jazz, his Creole Jazz Band, and the Bechet Big Five. Music to bridge the generational gap that I plan on exploring deeply myself.

Arigato, from Henry
New Orleans Rascals of Osaka with Henry Blackburn
henryblackburn.bandcamp.com