Tag Archives: Stevie Salas

Koshi Inaba News

The cat is finally out of the bag! Koshi Inaba’s and Stevie Salas’ highly anticipated collaborative album has finally been announced. Their album titled 「CHUBBY GROOVE」 will release in Japan on January 18, 2017 contrary to previous rumors, which indicated that the album is going to be released in December. 「CHUBBY GROOVE」 features twelve tracks, with various famed musicians such as Ricky Peterson, Bernard Fowler (The Rolling Stones) and Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) participating on the record. The album was mixed by Tim Palmer, who mixed albums for U2 and David Bowie in the past. It comes in a CD-only as well as a CD+DVD version, with the DVD version containing music videos to the tracks 「SAYONARA RIVER」「OVERDRIVE」and「AISHI-AISARE」(*whisper* they will probably be posted on YouTube anyway *whisper*). Unfortunately, the release does not feature a documentary video containing the excerpts shown in the 「SAYONARA RIVER」 music video, nor is a Blu-ray version available.

The album was recorded over the course of several months since May, and took place in different locations such as Tokyo, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Austin, Nashville and Toronto.

You can pre-order the album at the usual places: [YesAsia] [CDJapan] and [Amazon Japan].

Price (CD Only): 2,800 Yen
Price (CD+DVD): 3,700 Yen

「CHUBBY GROOVE」

[Tracklist]
01. SAYONARA RIVER
02. OVERDRIVE
03. WABISABI
04. AISHI-AISARE (Love-Be Loved)
05. shirase (The News / シラセ)
06. ERROR MESSAGE
07. NISHI-HIGASHI (EAST-WEST)
08. kunou no hate no sore mo kotae no hitotsu (The Thing at the End of Agony is also an Answer / 苦悩の果てのそれも答えのひとつ)
09. MARIE
10. BLINK
11. MY HEART YOUR HEART
12. TROPHY

Koshi Inaba News

Today we get a first glimpse at Koshi Inaba’s and Stevie Salas’ collaborative project. A possible song from their yet-to-be-announced upcoming album was uploaded to the “Chubby Groove Official Channel” on YouTube. The track 「SAYONARA RIVER」 features a groovy tune, with Stevie Salas no doubt rocking the guitar. In the video, we can see Koshi and Stevie travel various parts in the U.S. (and possibly Japan) as they work on their record. Check it out below!

News

Koshi Inaba has this week announced his plans for a 2017 tour with Stevie Salas dubbed 「INABA / SALAS “CHUBBY GROOVE TOUR 2017”」. The tour will include mostly small club venues, with a capacity of about 2000 people each, and will be in support of Koshi’s and Stevie Salas’ yet to be announced collaboration album. The album is scheduled for a December release, pending an official announcement in the coming weeks.

While we already knew Koshi was working with Stevie Salas on a new record, with a tour planned for early 2017, Tak’s solo project was largely unknown. Tak will be touring with Hawaiian multi-instrumentalist Daniel Ho. Just like with Koshi’s tour, the tour will include small club venues by the likes of the BLUE NOTE.

Given that both Tak and Koshi now embark on another solo project, we probably won’t see any new B’z activities until at least March/April 2017. But most definitely in 2018 for their 30th anniversary Pleasure tour.

Here are the tour dates at a glance:

INABA / SALAS “CHUBBY GROOVE TOUR 2017”

January 25 – Zepp Nagoya (Aichi)
January 26 – Zepp Namba (Osaka)
January 27 – Zepp Namba (Osaka)
January 30 – Zepp Sapporo (Hokkaido)
February 3 – DRUM LOGOS (Fukuoka)
February 6 – Zepp Tokyo (Tokyo)
February 7 – Zepp Tokyo (Tokyo)
February 8 – Zepp Tokyo (Tokyo)

Tak Matsumoto & Daniel Ho Live! 2017 -Electric Island, Acoustic Sea-

February 25 – Blue Note Tokyo (Tokyo)
February 26 – Blue Note Tokyo (Tokyo)
February 28 – Nagoya Blue Note (Aichi)
March 1 – Nagoya Blue Note (Aichi)
March 2 – Nagoya Blue Note (Aichi)
March 4 – Billboard Live OSAKA (Osaka)
March 5 – Billboard Live OSAKA (Osaka)
March 6 – Billboard Live OSAKA (Osaka)
March 10 – Blue Note Tokyo (Tokyo)
March 11 – Blue Note Tokyo (Tokyo)
March 12 – Blue Note Tokyo (Tokyo)

Koshi Inaba News

In a series of tweets responding to fans, American guitarist and frequent Koshi Inaba collaborator Stevie Salas has revealed he is currently in Japan contributing to the B’z singer’s latest solo output. Koshi’s recent commercial tie-in “YELLOW” will likely be part of this upcoming release, but no other details are available at this time.

In addition to being the guitarist for Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, and Justin Timberlake at various points in his career, Salas has also made his name as a solo artist. His first recordings with Koshi Inaba came in the year 2004, culminating in him appearing on most of the tracks from Peace Of Mind as guitarist. One such song, “Shoumen Shoutotsu“, was co-written with Koshi and would later become the subject of an English rendition re-titled “Head On Collision” in 2006, which featured both artists on vocals. Salas’s association with B’z began long before after he became acquainted with the duo in in the early 90s, during which time Tak Matsumoto attributes Salas with assigning his longtime moniker “Tak”.

Stevie Salas with current Koshi Inaba support guitarist Duran

UPDATE: The original tweet has been removed but has been screen-capped and preserved below:

Koshi Inaba News

The official announcement for Stevie Salas’ new cover album “Jam Power” has been posted on B’z Official Website. As we previously reported, it’s going to be released on October 20th, 2010 priced at 2500 Yen in Japan. It looks like it is going to be available internationally as well, since the Japanese edition contains a bonus track which is exclusive to Japan. Koshi Inaba is going to be the lead vocalist on the track “Police on my back” which was originally recorded by the band The Clash.

Also, as posted on HMV.co.jp in the song credits, there’s a story associated with it:

After I had dinner with Koshi Inaba in Beverly Hills, we went back to his place in my car. When I switched on the radio a song by The Clash was playing and Koshi really had to turn up the volume as he enjoyed the song. One year later, while we were in the car again, a song by The Clash was playing on the radio. Seeing how Koshi was singing along to the song hitting all the notes and getting the lyrics right, he told me he’s a great fan of them! So when we went to record for “JAM POWER”, I asked him if he could sing a song from The Clash. “In English?” he asked. “Yeah” I replied. Then I checked out a bunch of my favorite Clash tunes to find the one I liked best. As you all know I’m a big fan of funk, so I gave “This Is Radio Clash” a try, but Koshi’s voice was not suited for such a song.

When I met Koshi in Hawaii again, we were barbecuing steaks and once we listened to “Police On My Back”, we said “This is it!!” When I was in high school in San Diego, the band I was in performed that song numerous times, so I knew the song quite well. After Jara Slapbak added the funky style to the rhythm track, I flew over to Tokyo to record the vocals with Koshi. When I came back to LA, King’s X singer Doug Pinnick sang the chorus for the song and, with that, polished it.

(Translated from Japanese)

And here’s the tracklist as well as cover:

01. Tell Me Something Good (Chaka Khan)
02. Girls Got Rhythm (AC/DC)
03. Police On My Back (The Clash)
04. Disco Lady (Johnnie Taylor)
05. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey (The Beatles)
06. This Is Radio Clash (The Clash)
07. No Air (Jordin Sparks)
08. Getaway (Earth, Wind & Fire)
09. Only Happy When It Rains (GARBAGE)
10. Moonage Daydream ～Live in New York version～ (David Bowie)
11. Ondularte ～Fading Out～ (Gandhi) * Japanese Bonus Track

Koshi Inaba News

Koshi and Stevie in Japan

Rock virtuoso Stevie Salas is currently recording his new cover album “Jam Power”. His last cover album “Electronic Pow wow” was released in 1993, in which he covers songs that influenced him as a musician featuring celebrity guest artists, to much critical acclaim. Now, in 2010, he’s teaming up with artists such as Koshi Inaba, Slash, The Crystal Method, Juan Alderete (Mars Volta), Zakk Wylde and many, many more to record his latest cover album “Jam Power”.

In August this year, before heading to the Fuji Rock Festival, Stevie met with Koshi Inaba to record a new track for his album. As always, it was a great experience for him to record with Koshi. They get along very well!

The album is going to be released in Japan on October 20th, 2010 and will be priced at 2500 Yen. A tracklist has not been unveiled yet.

Source(s): Tower Records Online (JP), Stevie Salas’ Myspace