Evening Groove // Gotta Knock a Little Harder

Have you heard of Cowboy Bebop? It was an anime series several years ago. Lasted for about 26 episodes I think. The series itself was ok, but the real treat was not the series itself, but the amazing music that came with it.

The Seatbelts are a Japanese jazz band lead by Yoko Kanno. Jazz was their main groove, but they also covered a huge variety of musical styles for the series and they did a pretty great job with all of them. Unfortunately the band broke up after Cowboy Bebop finished, though I think they have occasionally reunited for live performances.

Here is one of my favorites: Gotta Knock a Little Harder, with Mai Yamane as the lead singer, from their album Future Blues

Bonus Songs

Here is an abridgment of their song Tank, used for the opening to Cowboy Bebop. Does anyone else get a Saul Bass feel from the opening design?

One more. Rain, sang by Steve Conte.

There is also an excellent version performed by Mai Yamane

Ok, one more. Space Lion. If you like smooth jazz with a even smoother sax, you'll love this piece.

If you like these, just do a search on Youtube for "The Seatbelts" or "Cowboy Bebop" to find many many more. The did a numbers of albums, all of them amazing. Enjoy! See you, space cowboy!

---

title graphic made from this image which has been graciously released into the public domain

	David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time. More?