Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media = Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media

𝙅𝙞𝙧𝙤 𝙄𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙠𝙞 & 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙈𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙖’𝙨 “𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠” 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝-𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙧𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙅𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙟𝙖𝙯𝙯-𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙠 — 𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙫𝙚-𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙.

Released at the height of Inagaki’s collaboration with Soul Media, the album captures a band operating with absolute precision and fire. Hard-driving rhythm sections lock into muscular basslines and razor-sharp drums, while Inagaki’s tenor sax cuts through with a commanding, almost rock-like presence. The playing is virtuosic but never indulgent — every solo serves the forward momentum.

Funk, jazz-rock and cinematic tension collide throughout the record, with arrangements that feel tailor-made for late-night drives, urban backstreets and widescreen imagination. Electric piano stabs, wah-guitar accents and tight horn interplay give the music a distinctly international feel, while retaining a uniquely Japanese sense of discipline and clarity.

“Head Rock” stands today as one of the defining documents of Japanese jazz-funk: raw yet refined, aggressive yet deeply grooving. A cornerstone LP for collectors, DJs and anyone tracing the global evolution of funk-driven jazz in the 1970s.