Yosuke Shimonaka Shares ‘Private Jet’

New album from Japanese fusion maverick out Aug. 19

July 1, 2026July 1, 2026 Ron Hart 0 Comments 2026, Fusion, Japan, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever, Space Shower Music, Tokyo, Weather Report, Yosuke Shimonaka

Yosuke Shimonaka (Image: Space Shower Music)

All hail the crate diggers who search record stores, yard sales and swap meets all over the world to remind music fans of the hidden treasures beyond our own shores.

One such discovery in recent years is the resurgence of Japanese fusion music from the 1980s, inspired by American groups like Weather Report, Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra who often traveled to the Land of the Rising Sun for sold-out concerts in the 1970s and early ’80s.

Tokyo guitarist Yosuke Shimonaka channels such predecessors as Masayoshi Takanaka and Kazumi Watanabe on his dazzling new album, Shimonaka.

Working alongside an ace studio band featuring So Ebihara on drums, bassist Toyo, Yu Taniguchi on keyboards and synths and percussionist Kazuhiko Masumura plus legendary vocal group Three Amazons (known for their work with the aforementioned Mr. Takanaka), Shimonaka taps into the tonality of vintage ’80s Japanese fusion across these eight new compositions. The lead single of which, the disco-adjacent city pop instrumental “Private Jet,” can be heard below in this exclusive American premiere.

Yosuke Shimonaka *Shimonaka*, Thaian Records/Space Shower Music 2026

“‘Private Jet’ was the first song I wrote with the intent to honor the legacy of Japanese Fusion, Shimonaka tells Rock & Roll Globe. “Working on this track felt like flying around a summer resort; something I’d fantasized about many times while living in a small Tokyo apartment. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it.”

Inspired by a conversation with never young beach bandmate and label owner Yuma Abe, Shimonaka created this solo album with the goal to “reimagine the future as it once was” for the contemporary listener, bathing his sound in references to midsummer light, urban nights, tropical humidity, and the inherently nostalgic rush of music pouring from a car stereo. The result is a an innovative callback to tropical instrumental music, one that fans of Light in the Attic’s Pacific Breeze series will most certainly want to check out.

The album was mixed by Takuro Okada, whose most recent album, Konoma, was released through LA label Temporal Drift and acclaimed by both critics and fans worldwide. Mastering was handled by LA-based engineer Dave Cooley.

The album will be released Aug. 19 via Thaian Records, the independent label founded by singer-songwriter Yuma Abe, a close collaborator and longtime creative counterpart of Shimonaka.

Preorder here.