Jazz from Japan, part 5
Three more album picks!
After a nearly week-long battle with severe food poisoning that found me deliriously humming ‘confutatis’ and ‘lacrimosa’ from Mozart’s Requiem, feeling not unlike Mozart himself depicted in ‘Amadeus,’ I’m happy to say I’m on the road to recovery.
It can be a bit strange ‘losing’ a week to illness, but these things happen and life goes on (or, in some unfortunate circumstances, it doesn’t). While I continue to regain my strength and sanity, diving back in with another selection of Jazz albums from Japan seemed like a great distraction...
Masaru Imada Solo & Trio - Poppy (1973)
This is a wonderful album from the legendary pianist Masaru Imada. Side A of this album (on vinyl, at least) features four fantastic solo takes on important jazz standards, while the second side features three original compositions done by his trio, consisting of the great Isao Fukui on bass and Masahiko Ozu on drums.
The album opens with a beautiful solo rendition of the evergreen ‘Misty,’ which is my personal favorite standard. Imada plays three other standards, including the melancholy ‘Left Alone’ before finishing out the side. The B-side picks up in energy a bit with the addition of the rest of the trio, though never launches off to the point where it would be jarring. For me, the album’s closer ‘Ascent’ is the highlight on this album.
Hidehiko (Sleepy) Matsumoto Quartet - Sleepy (1976)
A solid album from the ‘Sleepy’ Matsumoto Quartet, featuring Hidehiko Matsumoto on tenor sax and flute, Hideo Ichikawa on piano, Nobuyoshi Ino on bass, and Motohiko Hino on drums. The album features four original compositions by Hidehiko, along with two standards - ‘My One and Only Love’ and ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is.’
Hidehiko was an early figure in Japanese jazz, beginning in the bebop era in the 1940s, staying active up into the 90s (he passed in 2000), even at one point playing with John Coltrane on a few dates in Japan in 1966.
This album showcases Hidehiko’s wonderful play and versatility as he seamlessly switches between tenor sax and flute on different tracks. The album’s opener, ‘Duke’s Days’ is a great original composition with Sleepy on tenor, though he immediately switches to flute on the second track, playing a fabulous version of the standard ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is.’
For me, I have a hard time picking a particular track to share, but ‘Duke’s Days’ and ‘My One and Only Love’ are two favorites (though, nothing beats the Coltrane/Hartman version of the latter, to me, which is absolutely in my top 10 jazz recordings).
Ryo Fukui - Scenery (1976)
Anyone even casually interested in Japanese jazz has likely stumbled on this album at some point, as it’s one of a handful of fairly popular releases outside of Japan — especially as of late. For instance, one video of the full album on YouTube has nearly 14 million views! The album has also seen quite a few contemporary repressings and is available for sale today at fairly reasonable prices, which goes to show that accessibility is a big problem with Japanese jazz. Original pressings sell for upwards of $1000.00, however!
Anyway, this is a fantastic album that is definitely worthy of hype and praise, though I do have a bit of a small gripe with it: it was recorded a bit too ‘hot’ and can be a bit intense and shrill at times. It’s not terribly distracting though, and the music makes up for it!
The title track and album closer ‘Scenery’ is my favorite track from the album, and it is also the only original composition by Ryo on this release.
Some unrelated things of interest:
If anyone uses StoryGraph and would like to add me as a friend, feel free!
Check out the organic ceramic work from Swedish artist Eva Zetrhraeus.
Something I did while I was feeling sick to help calm down to fall asleep was watch POV scenic drive videos. I enjoyed this one from Norway.
A lovely shift in perspective.
Again, thank you to everyone who has subscribed! I can’t believe how many have followed along in just two short months.