Ryukyu-no (Okinawan) Rock – JET

Guitar/vocals…Jimmy Ginoza
Drums/vocals…Koji (Kozi) Nagahama
Bass guitar/lead vocals…Taki Furugen

The musicians first played together in the early seventies in a band known as Kotobuki. Kochan (Koji) quit Kotobuki in 1972 and eventually joined Marie with Medusa. In the `80s he joined forces with George Murasaki in the band Okinawa, as well as Taki in Bullet in the mid-’80s, and in the `90s Katchan in Katchan Band.

Jimmy and Taki continued to play as Kotobuki, with various drummers, until their departure to Guam in 1976. In Guam they played Japanese tourist hotels as Prism.

Taki moved to the U.S. in 1978, playing and recording with STP (Steve Tingen Plus) in Washington D.C. and the surrounding areas. He returned to Okinawa in 1980 and helped form the band Bullet with Mimi and Eddie, which played the Okinawan military circuit and various local concerts throughout the `80s.

Jimmy remained in Guam until 1983, rejoining Taki in Bullet in 1988. Etsu Aguni of Condition Green, and a former Kotobuki drummer, hooked-up with Jimmy and Taki in 1994, leading to the formation of JET. Etsu quit in November 1996 and Koji finally rejoined Taki and Jimmy in March 1998.

Also heard on the CD is keyboardist Yutaka Tajima (seen here at the annual Peaceful Love Rock Festival).

Photos Courtesy of Hiroshi Hamaguchi

For those of you who may have missed the previous radio interviews concerning the Ryukyu Island rock band JET, there’s another chance to catch one more pre-recorded interview on Saturday, 25 February, at 8:00 p.m. on FM Okinawa (that’s 87.3 on the dial). The Japanese language interview is by local radio celebrity Tomisan covering the topics of the Ryukyu Island rock band JET and their new CD released in December 2005, “Rock ‘Till the Morning Sun”.

I upgraded the site to the new WordPress 2.0.1 today. I’m sorry if it caused any complications. If you do run across any bugs please let me know. Thank you.