Hiroshima ~ Warriors 1980 Jazz Funk Purrfection Version

Right after the disco boom, the local economy collapsed and finding a job was incredibly difficult as everyone seemed to be reducing staff all over. I ended up going home and getting a job with my Dad in the office of a paper warehouse and distributor that he was the managing director.

I had a lovely co worked named Glenda who brought a radio in and she would play this Detroit Jazz R&B station that played tons of music I knew like Earth Wind and Fire and Heatwave. I learned about Jazz Funk from that station with other less known artists they played like Judy Brown "The River Must Flow" and this uptempo ode to a hero, "Warriors" by Hiroshima. It's a joyous celebration of Jazz Funk punctuated by the wonderful sounds of Japanese traditional instruments that set it apart and gave it a distinct sound.

Formed in 1974 Dan Kuramoto had been playing in a band on the weekends and met June, who was born in Japan but raised in Los Angeles and played the koto, a Japanese stringed instrument similar to a guitar. His idea was to combine the sounds of Earth, Wind & Fire and Santana to create a band that would represent Japanese Americans and named it after the city of Hiroshima which was destroyed by an atomic weapon at the end of World War II.

Their first album generated enough interest to secure a second LP in 1980 named "Odori" which means dance. The first single issued to R&B radio was "Winds Of Change" that garnered the band a Grammy Nomination for Best R&B Instrumental. The second was "Warriors". Neither song appeared on the Hot100 nor the R&B listings.

Three members are still with the band today, Dan and June Kuramoto and Danny Yamamoto who handles drums. Their most recent LP "2020" was released on their own label Hiroshima in 2021.