One By One: East Wind

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Following the success of East Wind's 1973 debut album Freedom Is Frightening, Stomu Yamashta was asked to score the music for the motor racing documentary One by One. Re-released in 1978 as The Quick and the Dead, the movie was a spectacular failure, but it is still remembered for its phenomenal soundtrack, released in 1974 as East Wind's second album, One by One. The album's grandly cinematic scope vies with its musical diversity for attention. Unlike its predecessor, One by One abounds in classical moments, notably on Tangerine Beach, its companion piece At Tangerine Beach, and, of course, the short reprise of Vivaldi's Seasons. Latin beats patter down on Rain Race and the second half of Superstar/Loxycycle, while funk fusion (with soulful vocals from Sammi Abu) fires swathes of the rest of the set. And not only did the music mold seamlessly with the movie, it stands alone in its own right, as One by One showcased some of Yamashta's career-best most inspired and accessible compositions. ~ Dave Thompson, Rovi