Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro – The New Face of an Old Sound.

Some say funk is dead, but honey, I beg to differ. Starting back in 2003 Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro, a six man Japanese whirlwind of classic funk and ska, has been taking the world by storm.

To give you the gist of their sound, you’ve got Naohito “Temjin” Yomoda on trumpet, Takeshi Kurihara with the tenor sax, Naokazu “Bobsan” Kobayashi playing guitar, Yuki “MZO” Mizoguchi slamming it on the funky organ, Jun Nihongi on bass and Satoshi “Tiger” Okano bringing it all together on drums.

I first stumbled upon these fantastic lads from the land of the rising sun and their unique sound in a rather unlikely place – Woodford Folk Festival 2012/13, in a field, two hours’ drive from Brisbane, Australia while surrounded by hippies at midnight on the cusp of the New Year.

Now let me tell you, this band was so upbeat they had us dancing in the aisles and on our seats and smiling all the while. I’ve never really encountered their particular brand of funk. It’s got a little something extra that only that Japanese humor can give. Their enthusiasm is infectious and their joyous nature tangible, with a stage presence that just draws you in. Never will you find a soul touched by boredom at a Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro concert.

For all their antics and calamity these guys have real talent with five albums to back their claim to fame. These include the self-titled Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro which contains the iconic track “Baggy Pants,” 温故知新 (a cover album), Uhuru Peak, their fourth and my personal favorite album Perfect Times and their brand new album 壱弐参四伍録. All of which can be downloaded from iTunes or Amazon.

So if you want to find out more about these Japanese funky cool cats check out their website http://kilimanjaro.jp/ and get ready for a reinvigoration of a classic genre. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Rackle Beaman

Rackle is a first year ALT that can be found wandering the streets of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture like the directionless vagabond she is. When not hunting for new and exciting adventures she can be found hiding at her desk trying to cram in a few extra pages of her book before her next class starts. She has yet to master Twitter, but she does have a moderate addiction to Facebook so that’s where you’ll be most likely to find her lurking under her professional name Rachel Beaman.