Tusk of Jaguar is the first solo studio album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 by Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 guitarist Akira Takasaki

Akira Takasaki

is the lead guitarist and founding member of the Japanese heavy metal band, Loudness.-Career:He started his career as a guitarist, winning a TV contest for young music talents at the age of 14. He was rapidly put under contract to be part of the pop-rock band Lazy, of which drummer Munetaka Higuchi...

, best known for his work in the bands Loudness

Loudness (band)

is a Japan-based heavy metal band formed in 1981 by guitarist Akira Takasaki and drummer Munetaka Higuchi. They were the first Japanese heavy metal act signed to a major label in the United States, releasing twenty-three studio albums...

 and Lazy

LAZY (band)

is a Japanese rock band founded in 1977 by the young classmates Hironobu Kageyama, Hiroyuki Tanaka and Akira Takasaki. The three founders soon found in their own school the drummer Munetaka Higuchi and the keyboard player Shunji Inoue to complete the line-up...

. It was released in 1982 only in Japan and reissued in 2005. The album is actually a joint effort of Takasaki and keyboard player Masanori Sasaji, who composed three tracks and arranged and co-produced the recording. A large contribution was given to the album by Takasaki's band mates in Loudness

Loudness (band)

is a Japan-based heavy metal band formed in 1981 by guitarist Akira Takasaki and drummer Munetaka Higuchi. They were the first Japanese heavy metal act signed to a major label in the United States, releasing twenty-three studio albums...

, who play in most tracks and collaborated to the musical arrangements. However, the music of Tusk of Jaguar is much more varied than in any Loudness' album, with its music ranging from hard rock

Hard rock

Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 to progressive rock

Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 to jazz fusion

Jazz fusion

Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...

, reminiscing of some Dixie Dregs

Dixie Dregs

The Dixie Dregs are an American band formed in the 1970s. Their mostly instrumental music fuses jazz, southern rock, bluegrass and classical forms in an often unique style.-Formation and early years:...

' and Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola

Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...

's works. The precise and fast guitar playing by Takasaki is anyway always present in every track and he even takes the lead vocal spot in the song "Ebony Eyes".

Track listing

1. "Tusk of Jaguar" (A. Takasaki) - 3:54
2. "Steal Away" (M. Sasaji, Milky Way) - 6:13
3. "Macula (Far from Mother Land)" (A. Takasaki) - 4:46
4. "Ebony Eyes" (A. Takasaki, Milky Way) - 5:31
5. "Wild Boogie Run" (M. Sasaji) - 3:17
6. "Gunshots" (A. Takasaki) - 3:07
7. "Mid-Day Hunter" (M. Sasaji) - 4:28
8. "Show Me Something Good" (A. Takasaki, Milky Way) - 4:59
9. "Say What?" (A. Takasaki, Milky Way) - 3:44

Musicians

• Akira Takasaki
  Akira Takasaki
  is the lead guitarist and founding member of the Japanese heavy metal band, Loudness.-Career:He started his career as a guitarist, winning a TV contest for young music talents at the age of 14. He was rapidly put under contract to be part of the pop-rock band Lazy, of which drummer Munetaka Higuchi...
  
   - electric and acoustic guitars, lead vocals on track 4, backing vocals, producer
• Masanori Sasaji - keyboards and synthesizers, producer
• Minoru Niihara
  Minoru Niihara
  is the original and current lead singer of the Japanese heavy metal band, Loudness.His first band was Earthshaker, in which he played bass and sang. His vocal style was influenced by blues singers, but he adapted quickly his voice to the high pitch tones requested in a heavy metal act...
  
   - lead vocals on tracks 2 and 8, backing vocals
• Masayoshi Yamashita
  Masayoshi Yamashita
  is the original and current bass guitarist of the Japanese heavy metal band, Loudness.He first started playing bass in a band called Black Rose...
  
   - bass on tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, backing vocals
• Munetaka Higuchi
  Munetaka Higuchi
  was the original drummer of the Japanese heavy metal band, Loudness.Since very young, he was considered a talented drummer. During his high school years, Higuchi played in seven bands. But he was not happy with this situation, wanting to focus his time on only one band...
  
  - drums on tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9
• Takayuki Hijikata - bass on track 2
• Reuben Tsujino - drums on track 2
• Kazuhisa Takahashi - drums on track 4
• Poker Face - strings on track 5
• Toshihiro Nakanishi - electric violin on track 5
• Milky Way - backing vocals