New Direction Unit

New Direction Unit was the free improvising group led by the Japanese guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi (1932-1991). Takayanagi formed the first New Direction group in 1969, and the name later became New Direction Unit. Its music pushed free jazz toward loud, open forms built on feedback and spontaneity rather than on harmony and melody. The first trio had Takayanagi on guitar, Motoharu Yoshizawa on bass and Sabu Toyozumi on drums. Their March 1970 sets at the Station '70 club in Shibuya, with Mototeru Takagi on saxophone on one piece, came out on P.S.F.