Anzen Band

Anzen Band was a Japanese hard-rock/jazz-rock band that made two albums between 1975 and 1976 on Bourbon Records.

Members: Tamio Aizawa (guitar, vocals), Hiroyuki Nagasawa (bass, vocals), Junpei Ito (drums, vocals), Tomokuni Aizawa (guitar), Satoshi Nakamura (saxophone, keyboards)

Background

Anzen Band formed in March 1970 in Tokyo when bassist-vocalist Hiroyuki Nagasawa and drummer-vocalist Junichiro “Junpei” Ito teamed with fellow Toyo University music-club member Soeda on guitar. Nagasawa and Ito met on campus in 1969. That autumn, guitarist-vocalist Tamio Aizawa replaced Soeda, coming from the university jazz ensemble Groovy Sounds Jazz Orchestra.

Nagasawa was born on July 31, 1950, in Niigata, where he took up electric guitar during high school and formed several cover bands. He entered Toyo University in 1969. Ito was born on February 23, 1951, in Akita and joined the same university music club. Aizawa hailed from Nayoro, Hokkaido, and took up guitar at sixteen. He moved to Tokyo in 1968 for university studies and played jazz with Groovy Sounds.

Anzen Band played a November 1970 concert at Rikkyo University with the rock group M. An associate of the Urawa Rock ’n’ Roll Center heard the trio and introduced them to organizer Shuichi Takiguchi, who became their manager. In June 1971, Anzen Band joined Yonin Bayashi at the inaugural Mumei Band Sōkekki Shūkai concert at Urawa Civic Hall. They toured Japan that autumn with Blues Creation and Happy End. In 1973, the trio secured regular gigs at the Ginza club Three Point and appeared on the NHK television program Wakai Hiroba. Anzen Band also played the August 1974 One Step Festival in Kōriyama.

Saxophonist-keyboardist Satoshi Nakamura played in Damhouse, a jazz-rock group that shared an August 1973 NHK radio broadcast with Anzen Band. In 1974, he began accompanying the trio. Guitarist Tomokuni Aizawa, younger brother of Tamio, played in Hakodate bands before his 1972 move to Tokyo, where he joined jam sessions at Toyo University. In 1975, Tomokuni joined Anzen Band on rhythm guitar as its fifth member.

Takiguchi secured a recording contract through an InterSong representative named Yamamoto, who connected the group with Tokuma Ongaku Kogyo and its newly established Bourbon label. In February 1975, Anzen Band entered the refurbished 16-track Mouri Studio to cut their debut Album A.

Discography:

• Album A (1975)
• あんぜんバンドのふしぎな旅 (Anzen Band no Fushigi na Tabi) (1976)

References and notes

• Urawa Rock ‘n’ Roll Center — Anzen Band History, 1969–1977. Formation, Soeda replacement, early concerts, management connection, radio and television appearances, and festival chronology. (Historical archive)
• Urawa Rock ‘n’ Roll Center — Hiroyuki Nagasawa and Junichiro Ito profiles. Birth dates, early musical activity, university enrollment, and March 1970 formation. (Nagasawa; Ito)
• Urawa Rock ‘n’ Roll Center — Tamio and Tomokuni Aizawa profiles. Guitar backgrounds, Toyo University connections, family relationship, and entry into Anzen Band. (Tamio; Tomokuni)
• Urawa Rock ‘n’ Roll Center — Satoshi Nakamura profile. Damhouse affiliation and transition from auxiliary player to Anzen Band member. (Biography)
• BARKS — Takehiko Kogure interview with Shuichi Takiguchi and Hiro Nagasawa, January 2019. Firsthand testimony on the early management network, InterSong contact, Bourbon contract, and Mouri Studio sessions. (Interview)
• Urawa Rock ‘n’ Roll Center — Anzen Band Live! 1974–76. Contemporary concert tapes, expanded lineup, early arrangements, and February 1975 debut sessions. (Archival liner notes)
• Kioku no Kiroku — Anzen Band. Original Bourbon discography, May 1, 1975 debut date, and subsequent album chronology. (Discography)