JACKSON BOX - Jaz [Japanese Import] JACKSON BOX

Jackson Box, a music unit formed by producer Aru-2 and trumpeter Asei Muraguchi that fuses elements of hip-hop and jazz, releases its debut album, Jaz, on the 9th of October, available on vinyl.

Jackson Box began with a session performance at "The D.O.G.s Longe," organized by Dogear Records in the summer of 2024. The duo subsequently continued recording while performing together at parties and festivals across Japan, eventually completing the album .Among the tracks, "Komazawave" features NEWLY on bass, while "Raw Dusk" features drum programming by BudaMunk. Across its 12 tracks, the album blends deep, groovy beats with jazz improvisation and beautiful melodies. Mixing and mastering were handled by Aru-2, artwork by Syu Miura, and record design by Kazuhiko Fujita.

Our activities as Jackson Box began with a session performance at "The D.O.G.s Longe," organized by Dogear Records in the summer of 2024. After that, we continued recording while performing together at parties and festivals around the country, eventually completing the album.

The album title "Jaz" means that while the music may resemble jazz, it is not JAZZ; it is music with something somehow missing from it. One day during recording, he, having studied jazz, began talking about how he could not call himself a jazz trumpeter. His humble attitude toward JAZZ, and the respect he has for the music that prevents him from treating the term lightly, left a particularly strong impression on me. It also made me reflect on my own frivolous attitude in everyday life, and in a way, I resolved that feeling by calling this work "Jaz."