Sadao Watanabe Quartet – live in France

Motherlode! 

Not here, but over at Private Press, where Katonah has just posted some outstanding live (TV studio) footage of the Sadao Watanabe Quartet shot in France.

With him he's got Takehiro Honda on piano, Yoshio Suzuki on bass, and Fumio Watanabe on drums. They're all really on fire, especially Honda.

Katonah reckons it's from 1970. I think it's later, maybe 1973, since that was the time he was first recording with those other three. Plus Intersection (the third piece they play) wasn't recorded till that year (on Open Road). There's more on this over on Sadao's official site here…

That's probably my all-time favourite period in J-jazz, which makes it extra special. But whatever the year, it's brilliant. 

So what are you waiting for? It's over here…

And apparently there's more to come. I for one can't wait.

Ronnie Mathews - Trip To The Orient

barabara sounds sez:

Ronnie Mathews leading a trio on East Wind, recorded and issued in 1975. By then, he'd been around for almost 20 years, working with some of the major players but never making much of a name for himself. This was just his second album as a leader (the first was back in '63, on Prestige with Freddie Hubbard in the band). 

No doubt because it was on a "minor" label issued in "the Orient", this one has mostly fallen through the cracks... But it's well worth your time, especially the tracks Jean-Marie and, my favorite, the hip, slinky Manha do Carnival for which he moves to Fender.

     

Factoid: "Ichiban" literally means "first", or "number one". But back in the day it was slang (among non-Japanese) for "outstanding", "great", etc. All these tracks are ichiban.

There's more about Ronnie Mathews here on Wiki and from his obit in the NYT...

personnel:
Ronnie Mathews, piano; Yoshio Suzuki, bass; Louis Hayes on drums

tracks:
Ichiban; Manha do Carnival; Linda; K's Waltz; Jean-Marie; When Sunny Gets Blue; Summertime