Prism
Prism (プリズム) | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1975-2018 |
| Labels |
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| Past members | Akira Wada Ken Watanabe Daisaku Kume Yoichi Haneda Masaru Fukuda Hideki Nakamura Yusuke Ono Toru (Rika) Suzuki Katsutoshi Morizono Koki (Corky) Ito Yasuhisa (Papa) Shirao Yasukazu Sato Masahiro Sayama Jun Aoyama Satoshi Nakamura Mansaku Kimura Jun Fukamachi Yoshikazu Matsuura Jiro Okada Cheru Watanabe |
| Website | prismjapan |
Overview
Prism (プリズム, Purizumu) was a Japanese Jazz Fusion band lead by guitarist Akira Wada. They are largely considered to have been the country's first fusion band, having formed in 1975. Their debut record was released in 1977 under Polydor records, titled PRISM. Since then, they have released a total of 35 records, including both studio and live albums.
Live Performances
History
In early 1975, guitarist Akira Wada, who had until then participated in local hard rock bands such as Snow Blind and Roadrunner inspired by pillars of the British rock scene Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, decided to form his own instrumental jazz-fusion band after becoming deeply inspired by Jeff Beck's transformative album Blow By Blow.
Listening to records from artists of the same jazz-fusion movement including Chick Corea's Return To Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Santana, Wada decided that a key component of the sound he was trying to achieve was the Fender Rhodes Piano. Seeking the band's first member, a friend had told Wada that there was a young keyboardist named Daisaku Kume who owned a Rhodes, who upon invitation agreed to participate despite having never been in a band before. Around the same time, Ken Watanabe, a bassist that had also participated in the same circle of local hard rock bands, most notably Ballerina, was also invited to join the band. At this point in time, the band had yet to have an official name, and would go by names such as "Akira Band", "Wada Akira Session" and "Wolf Boy Ken". During this period, members would also constantly change in a session-like format, but the trio of Wada, Watanabe and Kume would remain consistent.
In late 1975, the band officially adopted the name Prism, and by the beginning of 1976 they would establish their first known full lineup of members. Akira Wada on Guitar, Ken Watanabe on Bass, Daisaku Kume on Electric Piano, Yoichi Haneda on Organ & Synthesizer, and Masaru Fukuda on drums. Taking advantage of being the forerunners of the budding "Crossover" live music scene, Prism quickly became one of the hottest acts across Tokyo's live houses. Wada's virtuosic guitar technique and Watanabe's high-speed bass became a major selling point for the band. Around this time, Kazuyuki Nishikdao's music management agency Heavy Flight added Prism to their roster of artists.
Around of May of 1976, drummer Masaru Fukuda parted ways with the band, and was succeeded by Hideki Namura. Under the management of Heavy Flight, Prism found themselves with many golden opportunities for growth, such as a live stduio performance spot on NHK Radio's "Wakai Kodama (Young Spirits)" nation-wide broadcast, as well as several large hall performances alongside other bands associated with Heavy Flight. At the end of June in 1976, the drummers would once again change, with Hideki Nakamura leaving the band and being replaced by Yusuke Ono. On September 5th of the same year, Prism would once again perform at a Heavy Flight event at the Ichikawa City Civic Center, opening for John Yamazaki & The School Band, featuring Katsutoshi Morizono. This is likely where Prism were introduced to Morizono, whose popularity later played a key role in the bands rising success.
Between late September and November of 1976, keyboardist Yoichi Haneda would part ways with the band. Now acting as a four-piece, December saw another very successful month for Prism, with their first ever Television appearance taking place on December 4, 1976 for Chiba TV's Rock Inn live music program. On December 24, 1976, Prism held their first solo headline concert at the Masion Franco-Japonaise in Ochanomizu, with Katsutoshi Morizono appearing as a guest for the first documented time.
Members
The band's final line-up was composed of Jiro Okada (bass), Satoshi "Mansaku" Kimura (drums), Akira Wada (guitar) and Tatsuya "Cheru" Watanabe (keyboards, vocals) as of their suspension of activities in 2018. On March 28, 2021, Wada died at the age of 64.
Discography
Prism have released a total of 25 studio albums and 10 live albums since 1977. The band was signed to Universal Music Group in 2003, which re-released the band's first four albums, and remained their record publisher.
- Prism (1977)
- Second Thoughts/Second Move (1978)
- Prism III (1979)
- Prism Live (1979)
- Surprise (1980)
- Community Illusion (1981)
- Live Alive (Absolutely) (1981)
- Visions (1982)
- ∞（永久機関） (1983)
- Nothin' Unusual (1985)
- Dreamin (1986)
- Live Alive Vol. 2 (1987)
- The Silence of the Motion (1987)
- Mother Earth (1990)
- Rejuvenation (1991)
- A Personal Change (1992)
- Prism Jam (1995)
- Uncovered (1995)
- Prismania (1997)
- Whiter (1997)
- In the Last Resort (2001)
- Present I (2003)
- Present II (2003)
- 【Mju:】 (2003)
- 1977 Live at Sugino Kodo (2004)
- Homecoming 2004 (2004)
- 三位一体 (2005)
- Blue... (2007)
- Prism 30th Anniversary Live! [Homecoming] (2007)
- Prism Homecoming Vol. 3 (2008)
- Invite (2009)
- Palace in the Sky (2011)
- Mode:Odd (2013)
- Celebrate (2017)
- What You See (2017)
