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Yuji Ohno: The Jazz Composer Behind the Iconic Lupin III Soundtrack
Join us this Friday in the Japanese Garden to hear the cosmic jazz-funk soundtracks of Yuji Ohno!
While not a household name outside of Japan, Yuji Ohno is a composer you’ve likely heard through his iconic soundtracks, specifically the bombastic jazz-funk theme song for Monkeypunch’s Lupin III anime series. Loosely based around French novelist Maurice Leblanc’s early 20th century stories, Lupin III is set in a fantastical world of master thieves and criminal gangs, somewhere between the original stories of Arsène Lupin, James Bond, and Japanese samurai shows. Ohno’s New York meets Japan cool jazz, funk, and cosmic disco sound is crucial to the uniquely smooth and stylish atmosphere of the show, and it’s one of those rare cases (much like the later Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo) where the music is just as well-known as the show itself.
Ohno has also composed for numerous films including 1977 hit crime drama Proof of the Man, its 1978 followup Proof of the Wild, mystery film Inugamike No Ichizoku, and the secret agent dog movie Ôgon No Inu (Golden Dog). Beyond film, Ohno has collaborated with all the top names in Japanese jazz and pop including Terumasa Hino, Hiroshi Suzuki, Kimiko Kasai, Joe Yamanaka, and numerous others. In 2023, French label WeWantSounds released the first-ever international compilation of Ohno’s works beyond film. Touch: The Sublime Sound of Yuji Ohno pulled from Ohno’s mid-‘70s to mid-’80s heyday with his Explosion Band and “bears his unmistakably signature take on jazzy funk: crisp and finely polished with a grand, wide-screen cinematic feel, all while retaining a zoned-out, space-age vibe.”
This Friday, we are teaming up with We Share Records’ Tsugu Itagaki to present a Film & Animation Soundtrack listening party dedicated to Yuji Ohno. Join us in Little Tokyo to listen to Ohno’s iconic soundtracks in the beautiful JACCC Japanese Garden with beer, whiskey, and a select food menu.
Tickets are available now: https://jaccc.org/events/japanese-film-animation-soundtracks-yuji-ohno-special-a-listening-party/
Below, 5 selects from our upcoming listening session dedicated to Yuji Ohno.
