Konichiwa, J Jazz fans!
My latest haul has just come in and here are some brief notes on each:
My latest haul has just come in and here are some brief notes on each:
- Despite the faux Miles Davis logo, Hino is more like Hubbard on open trumpet. The Miles influence shows when he switches to mute. Either way, he’s an energetic player and all three albums are a happy mix of acoustic and electric instruments.
- Tenor saxophonist Uematsu’s Straight Ahead is anything but. Classic J Jazz fusion with a cool take on Coltrane’s Afro Blue.
- I opted for Vol. 2 of J Jazz as it’s a double album for the same price as the single disc Vol. 1. What can I say; I’m a cheap guy! Contains an amazing cross section of different styles.
- Planets is classic Imada with the addition of some great percussion on one track.
- Tachibana is a masterpiece! A bunch of college students are invited to record an album at the home studio of a jazz aficionado. What follows is an outstanding session of searing post bop, reminiscent of Coltrane’s fiery Live at Birdland. Pianist Tohru Aizuwa leads his cohort of brilliant classmates through a blistering set of originals and a Chick Corea classic. What a pity that he gave up jazz to become a doctor!
- Date in Daté is a live trio recording of standards in the best TBM tradition.
- Sunrise/Sunset was a blind buy as I couldn’t find sound clips anywhere. But Isoo Fukui was the bassist on Green Caterpillar, so I took a chance. Man, did I luck out! Fantastic album of classic J Jazz funk with electric guitar and vibes in the mix.
- An avant-garde J Jazz take on Concierto de Aranjuez? Yes, please!
- Wada isn’t Green, Burrell or Benson; but with Suzuki and Imada on board, who cares? Bluesy jazz at its finest.
- Alphonse Mouzon, George Cables, Steve Grossman and others join bassist Nakamura to create some hard hitting jazz fusion. Not your typical TBM fare.
- Toki features an unusual quartet of sax, guitar, bass and drums, and it works really well.
- Fusion, avant-garde, post bop; it’s all there on keyboardist Kikuchi’s album.
- Mongolian Chant is nothing like Suzuki’s other albums for TBM. Not exactly fusion, and not really world music, it’s simply a fun record. Touch, on the other hand, is a more conventional date.
- Check out this lineup: John Abercrombie on guitar, Miroslav Vitous on bass, Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, Steve Grossman on sax and Masabumi Kikuchi on keyboards. Drummer Ohtsuka delivers a unique take on jazz fusion.
- The companion album to Rock Joint Biwa (mentioned in an earlier post), Cither is a misspelling of Sitar. No, this isn’t a Shakti soundalike; it’s just great jazz funk fusion.
- Finally, two lesser known albums. The Blue Note has an unusual front line of trombone and baritone sax, giving the record a deep cavernous sound you’ll rarely find elsewhere. Very appealing! The CTI was Hubbard’s swan song for the label. Not essential, but still… it’s Freddie
