Säju (サージュ): Säju (サージュ)

 

 

Saju - Saju (1997)

Saju @ discogs.com 

1.  Searchin’ For The Dream

 

Howling to the Heavens

 

Intro is Fmaj sus4, voiced on guitar as :      x8856x       x88565            x88555       x8858

Then lil vamp between A7sus and D7sus a few times.

 

Main verse:

 

||  Bb maj69            |  Bbmaj 69 / C in bass          |   D-              |    D-                         |

|   Bb maj69            |                                                  |                    |                                ||

              

               This is the main gist of it.  Lots of F major pentatonic melodic ideas from traditional Chinese music.

 

Variation part:

 

||  Bb  maj69              |                                           | C maj                |                                       |

|  Eb maj7#11             |   ****                               |D-                       |                                         ||

 

               ****  bass bumping between Eb and F notes.

 

Chorus:

 

||  Bb maj                     |  A-                      |  Bbmaj                          |  C maj                     |

|    Bb maj                     |  C maj                 |  D maj                          |  C maj                    ||

 

 

 

2.   I’m In You

 

               G minor vocals intro followed by Eb lydian riff playing off:    xxx886       xxx885

               Gurgly riff plays C to D, upwards F to G, back down C to D, then higher G to A.  Whole step pattern!

               Enter Bjork.

               Bass comes in with notes Bb, C, Eb, and F line, roughly.  Saju setting up F mixolydian vibe!

 

               Main chord changes.

 

||  F maj7                    |                            |  Db maj7                  |                              |

|   F maj7                     |                            | Eb maj7                    |  F maj7               |

|  Eb maj7 / F in bass |                            |  Ab maj7                   |                            |

|   F maj7                     |                            | Eb maj7                    |                            |

|    F maj7#11              |                            |  Eb maj7                 |                             ||

 

 

 

3.  Adios

 

               Intro:

 

||  Db7(b13)                  |  C maj69                         |  Db7(b13)                  |  C maj69                         ||

 

               Then:

 

||:  Bb maj7                     | A7(b13)                      | A-7                                   | D-7                              |

|    Bb maj7                     | A7(b9 b13)                 | A-7                                   | B7    C7                       :||

 

               Then:

 

||  G-7                               | C7                                 |  A-7                                 |  Ab7(#11)                     |

 |  G-7                               | C7(b9)                            |  A-7                                 |  D-7                              ||

 

               Form repeat!  Then sweet A – pentatonic/ F major pentatonic melody bit!  Focusing on melodic notes C, D, G, and A.  Then a wonky:

 

||:  Ab maj7                  |  F maj7                             |  BLURRY, C7alt?               |  F maj7                    :||

 

               Ending synth chord BIG OL’ Cmaj13 stacked straight up I believe, so that if played on piano would look like C  E  G  B  D  F#  A

 

 

 

4.  Lilac

 

 

               Melody outlining G major.  Vamp and enjoy lilac colored C maj7#11, G maj7.

 

 

5.  An Old Man Speaks So

 

 

               Trying to keep this simple, very similar chords as first song.

               Intro is D-7 and C major.

               Most of the verse is D-7, C major, Bb maj7, C major.  Like All Along The Watch Tower.

               A7 sus and F major pop up here and there.

               Chorus does F major, F major 7, Eb major, D-7.  Then Bb major, F maj/A in bass, Ab major 7, C7/G in bass.

              

 

6.  I Know

 

               Another straight forward harmony!

               Intro is E maj7 to B maj7 a few times, then G#-.

               Main bit of this tune hangs on G#- and bops between D#- and C#-.

               The end of the verse leading into the chorus, Saju NAILS G natural, setting up D#7.

              

Following bit is:  E major, F# major, G#-, B major. 

               Then A major,  F# major,  B major,  B maj7.

               Then E major, F# major, G#-, B major.

               Then A major, F# major, G#sus, G#major.

 

 

7.  Flying High

 

               Opening instrumental sets up C Japanese scale, using notes C, Db, F, G and Bb.

               When vocals come in , we hear (I think) vaguely F maj7, D-7, Bb maj, C maj.

               Chorus sounds like F maj,  Eb maj, D-7, Db maj Eb maj.

 

 

8.  Unknown! 

    What a mystery!

Daisaku Kume and Selah - 9 Picture Cards - The Ear of Marco Polo

 

 

Daisaku Kume and Selah - The Ear of Marco Polo

Kume @ discogs.com

  

1.  Jordan

              

               We have F major 9 vamp, followed by  A major vamp, and this repeats a few times.  Sometimes the bass plays F# root note over the A major vamp, implying F#-.  After some time we get to Bb major, then B major, repeat…then the B major holds on for a thunderstorm as a Bmaj7#11.  Then back to the top for keys SOLO!

               This is basically the form, with some nature jams happening for a few bars before the top of the song.

               2^nd nature jam is some Japanese A pentatonic thing, notes are A B D E G.

               3^rd nature jam, bird calls.

               F major vamp fade out!

 

 

 

2.  Dance Ternate

 

               Cutesty F#7 to F#7#5 riff!  Bass plays B, F#, E, G#, B.  Weird bass jam overtop the F# chords.  Not sure what tonality is being implied here, since B (the 11^th) doesn’t normally appear in a dominant 7 chord.

               Vocals come in A major chord, vocal line is A, E, D, C#, D, C#.

               Vocals modulate up to F# major, vocal line is A#, F, F#, F, F#, F.

 

               Bass tends to imply other harmonies over top of these vamps, a lot, throughout the album.

               Key board solo bounces between A major and G7#11.

               Synth Pad comes in playing D major, G7#11, D major, G7#11.

               Top of the form!

               A little later we get that vocal motif in the key of C major, then E major. 

 

 

3.  Nettai Yawa – Tales From Equatorial Nights

 

               This one is juicy!  Main riff is based on a G# major triad, with a low E in the bass, setting up this E major7 #5 harmonic/melodic minor mode type thing!

               Main melody is D#, G#, D#, G#, F#, F#, E, D#, C#.

               The next chord change is a good ol’ G#13, resolving eventually to C# maj69 chord, then repeat the funky top of the form.

               Jammy jam jazz part is ||G-  C7    |  F maj     |  G-    C7    |  Gmaj||

               Then:  ||A -7    D7     |G maj   E-    | A-7   D7 |  Gmaj         ||

               After a long while there’s a chromaticy riff that steps around, then back to the top G#maj/E to G#13 bit.  Eventually ultimately resolving to C#maj69 after some times through the form.

 

 

 

4.  Indigo Queen

 

|| D-7      |  E-7         | D-7                 |  E-7                |

| D-7       |  G7            | Cmaj7 #11     | Cmaj7#11   ||     

 

Then a chill F-7 to G-7, back and forth for a while.  Pretty straight forward.

Organ solo chord progress (F-7   G-7) will end on C- sometimes with some upward side steps.  Then eventually modulates to A-7   B-7

 

 

 

 

5.  Spanish Harlem

 

               Happy islands, G major and A- bopping back and forth with some crazy strings and slide guitar!

               Segment of A-.

               Some slight changes floating around to D major, G major, C major.

               Jammy segment in the middle back and forth between Eb13 and Ab13.

               Another strawberry of F-7  Bb13 funky fank.

 

 

 

6.  Tango Mania

 

               Basic idea is F# major to G7.  Next new section is some D major to G7#11 with lots half stepy things, sounds a little like Gutevolk. 

               Then theres liiike harmonic minor or mixolydian b9 stuff happening, or altered scale?

               Most of the song is based on that F# major G7 motif.

 

 

 

7.  Blue Canary

              

G minor I IV V stuff (G-, C-, D- or D maj).

               Modulates to G major I IV V stuff (G maj, Cmaj, Dmaj).

 

 

 

 

8.  Malabar Jubilee

 

               Dsus pedal, G maj69/D sus type of sound.

               Super cool minor 9 parallel harmonies!  G-9,  F-9,  Db-9,  D-9

               Keys solo in Bb major, modulates to Db major.  Hearing some Mccoy Tyner quartal voicings.

               Ancient tribal vibe, A13 to C13b9.  Illusions of Gaia Ankor Wat temple comes to mind.

 

 

 

9.  Coco and Perfume

 

               ||A -7             |  D7            |  Gmaj7           |  G maj7          ||

 

               ||Cmaj7         | B-7            |E-7                  |A7                     ||

 

               ||  A-7b5       | Gmaj7       |  A-7b5           |  G maj7           |

               |G dim7         | Abmaj7     |  D7sus          |  Bb-7  Eb9      |

               |  D7sus  D7 |                    ||

              

               Jazz town with these standard chord progressions!