The band was initially formed under the name Klaskemik - combining the members names - in 1968 by Klavs Nordsø his younger brother Mikkel Nordsø and Aske Bentzon. The three was very young at the time ageing between 12-17 years. The trio wich instrumentally consisted of congas and two acoustic guitars copyed the latin music coming from Brazil at that period of time - eg. Sergio Mendes and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
At a summerschool of music at Vallekilde in 1969 which the three attended, they met up with the young Kasper Winding who could play jazz drums really well at the time. The band Buki-Yamaz was formed hereafter in 1969.
As the 70's moved along, the band changed the sound to be more funky, trying to combine jazz, rock and latin music. That was new to the danish audience wich consisted of either jazz or rock fans. Buki-Yamaz broke with the fusionless music-scene and made an outstanding effort to combine the genres including a latin touch. This made the music widely popular and they won a competition made out by the danish music union. The prize was 10.000 danish kroner and that ultimately led to an album release wich became their self-titled debut album Buki-Yamaz in 1975. This album is by many regarded as their best.
The band grew popular after their first release and in november 1975 the band was warming up for Weather Report at a Copenhagen concert. Kasper Winding partly left the group before their first release to persue his soloartistry, and was replaced by drummer Ethan Weisgard, who worked hard to learn the brazilian drums in wich Kasper was a master. The band played well over 200 concerts a year in Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden in the 70's. For instance they played severel times at the danish rockfestival "Roskilde Festival".
Buki-Yamaz stayed popular througout the 70's, but as the 80's came close, the band couldn't keep up, and their release in 1979 - Maybe We - with english vocals by the danish singer Debbie Cameron were to be their last. The band was disbanned in 1981.
Releases:
The band released 4 albums.
1975 - Buki-Yamaz
1976 - Segundo
1977 - Live
1979 - Maybe We feat. Debbie Cameron
And two 7 inch singles:
1976 - Gangsterens lærling/You Can Call Me What You Want (with danish singer Sanne Salomonsen)
1976 - Get Together/Your Beauty Is Divine
All of the above releases are only available on pretty hard-to-get vinyl though in 2001 the danish DJ's Master Fatman and Wunderbaum compiled a release with the most danceable tracks. The compilation was released as "The Best Of Buki-Yamaz". Buy it now! at cdon.com.
