TBM triple whammy

barabara sounds sez:

If you've got off on some of the recent j-jazz gems I've posted in recent weeks, then you're going to love the latest post over at Orgy in Rhythm. It's a triple helping of rare 70s sides from the legendary Japanese record label, Three Blind Mice.

All three are highly recommended — especially the rare Fukumura Quintet album.

It's over here: now run, don't walk!

Isao Suzuki Trio - Black Orpheus

barabara sounds sez:

Sukuki is one of the j-jazz greats — and this is one of his top sessions, laid down for the TBM label in 1976. The album title is a bit of a red herring, since the only music from Black Orpheus is the first track, the classic

Manha De Carnaval. That's also the standout track — but the whole of the album grooves very nicely too, thanks to Yamamoto's nifty keyboard work, especially on the Rhodes, with Donald Bailey anchoring everything most effectively.

someone else (can't remember where I found this) sez:

Isao Suzuki is one of the most important recording artists on the TBM label. Until his last album “Touch!”, he usually recorded with Kazumi Watanabe on guitar and his old friend Kunihiko Sugano on piano. However, he thinks highly of Tsuyoshi Yamamoto on piano and at a joint concert with Kenny Burrell, Suzuki asked Yamamoto to join him. Yamamoto’s powerful technique and taste for swing are a good match for Suzuki.

While Donald Bailey is a really exciting drummer. Donald grew up in Philadelphia and has amassed a lot of experience, including playing with top organist Jimmy Smith for nearly eight years. Unique in his drums setting is that his snare is fixed extremely oblique and tom-toms were fixed close to the snare. In addition, various bells and chimes are usually hung up. His favorite style is jazz mixed with latin beat. His simple but exciting jazz beat is very attractive and influential in the group.

musicians:

Suzuki

Isao

bass & cello; Yamamoto

Tsuyoshi

piano & electric piano; Donald Bailey drums

tracks:

Manha De Carnaval; Angel Eyes; Who Can I Turn To; In a Sentimantal Mood; Blues

tbm-63 recorded in Tokyo, Feb.20 1976

Toshiyuki Miyama and his New Herd - Orchestrane

barabara sounds sez:

New Herd Play John Coltrane: the album subtitle is all you need to know. And it's big, bad, big-band brilliance. Just look at that line-up; four trumpets, four trombones, five saxes. Fasten your seat belt and hang on for the ride!

The three numbers on side one warm you up nicely, mixing some fine modal soloing with slick-smooth ensemble playing on those classic compositions. And then you're ready for side two: all four parts of A Love Supreme like you've never heard them before. Yamaki's charts are just superb. This is probably the best thing Miyama ever recorded with his New Herd. It's certainly one of my favorites – if only for that beautiful cover art. Bottom line: it's a barabara classic!

musicians:

Miyama Toshiyuki leader/conductor; Yamaki Kozaburo guitar/arranger; Takeda Kazumi 1st tp; Kishi Yoshikazu 2nd tp; Yamaguchi Kojiro 3rd tp; Kamimori Shigeru: 4th tp; Kataoka Teruhiko 1st tb; Uetaka Masamichi 2nd tb; Shiomura Osamu 3rd tb; Fukushima Teruo btb; Suzuki Koji 1st as; Shirai Atsuo 2nd as; Mori Mamoru 1st ts; Nukita Shigeo 2nd ts; Tada Kenich bs; Takano Kiyoshi p; Fukushima Yasushi b; Nakamura Yoshio dr.

tracks:

1. Impressions; 2. Naima; 3. Giant Steps;

4. A Love Supreme i) Acknowledgement; ii) Resolution; iii. Pursuance; iv) Psalm

rec. Mar/Apr. 1977; issued Denon YX-7566-ND; CD reissue 2005

Art Farmer - To Sweden With Love

barabara sounds sez:

Two reasons why Art Farmer is not as well known as he should be: a) he joined the jazz diaspora in Europe, settling eventually in Austria; b) while he may have blown a beautiful horn — flugelhorn in this particular case — he didn't write much memorable material of his own. That's not a problem here, because he's taken traditional Swedish folk melodies and rendered them in very cool versions that swing very nicely indeed. He's also got some top top sidemen with him here including Jim Hall and the great Pete LaRoca. Jazztime calls it a "minor masterpiece" and that's not overstating the case. Short (not much over 30 minutes) but sweet indeed.

cd universe sez:

…the band transforms the melodies, making each one swing gently, and opening up the tunes to intense, meditative explorations. Farmer's flugelhorn and Hall's guitar lines are perfect foils, unfurling quiet, complex lines around each other like twin wisps of smoke.

jazztimes.com sez:

After the 1962 breakup of the Jazztet that he'd co-founded with Benny Golson, flugelhornist Farmer formed a pianoless quartet with Jim Hall that made three LPs for Atlantic before disbanding in 1964. Recorded in Sweden with bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Pete La Roca, this inventive group rises to the challenge of playing a program of Swedish folk songs, all but one arranged by Farmer. The unfamiliar tunes means zero reliance on standard chord progressions and the sort of automatic reactions a familiar set of tunes might engender. The combination of Farmer's lustrous, lyrical horn with Hall's magical touch on guitar makes this short count CD the minor masterpiece it is.

amazon.com sez:

Farmer and his crew use Swedish folk melodies as the basis for each of the six songs here, and at points it begins to sound like modal jazz in the 1960s had some odd Nordic strain that's gone heretofore unremarked upon. Farmer's never allowed himself to be bullied or hurried, favoring wide swaths of tone over speed or even exactness. Hall's perfect at this game, playing clean and pristine single notes and then ripping into a grit-filled series of riffs that precede an unerringly risky solo of bent corners and blunted runs.

personnel:

Art Farmer flugelhorn; Steve Swallow double bass; Jim Hall guitar; Pete La Roca drums

Duke Pearson - Angel Eyes

barabara sounds sez:

By request, a re-up. Better bitrate this time, and improved scans of that groovy album cover.

dusty sez:

A rare pre-Blue Note session from Duke Pearson – very mellow, very soulful, and with a quality that's unlike most of his later work! The album's a trio side, recorded for the Jazzline label, and it features Pearson on piano, Thomas Howard on bass, and Lex Humphries on drums – the last of whom brings in some wonderfully lyrical lines on the kit, very much in the manner of the free, dancing rhythms used on records with Donald Byrd. Pearson's piano has a sharper edge than usual – these dark, moody tones that are totally great – almost a rougher version of his later sound, with a great sense of depth. Bob Cranshaw's bass and Walter Perkins' drums are featured on one number – and titles include a killer take on "Jeannine", plus "Say You're Mine", Le Carrousel", "Bags' Groove", and "Exodus". Plus the CD features 3 alternate bonus tracks!

track listing: 1. Bags' Groove; 2. Le Carrousel; 3. Angel Eyes; 4. I'm An Old Cow Hand; 5. Jeannine; 6. Say You're Mine; 7. Exodus; 8. Le Carrousel [alternate take]; 9. I'm An Old Cow Hand [alternate take]; 10. Say You're Mine [alternate take]

The original post complete with commentary and comments is still up here...

Mal Waldron - My Dear Family

barabara sounds sez:

The great Mal in somber mood here on this late-period (1993) offering. Apart from the opening track – a fine take on Footprints featuring some nice work by Grover Washington Jr (yes indeed) – just about everything is slowed down and very introspective. Just perfect for an overcast rainy-season afternoon or in the wee hours with a bottle of good whiskey at your elbow...

Allmusic seems to think it's a bit of a downer, but the cd universe reviewer gets it spot on. Make your own mind up, though. Note: this is the JP version that was issued on the Alfa label, hence the different artwork – if "art" is the right word for this handsome scribble with crayons :-)

a review on cd universe sez:

Yet another exemplary set by pianist and composer Mal Waldron. The core trio (Waldron, drummer Pheeroan akLaff, bass player Reggie Workman) is occasionally augmented by trumpet player Eddie Henderson and Grover Washington Jr. The opening number – the only one to include all five players – is a bracing arrangement of Wayne Shorter's Footprints. It's followed by Waldron's own Left Alone, a composition he originally performed with Billie Holiday in the '50s. The set is a judicious mix of Waldron originals and smartly surprising covers (including Jean Pierre by Miles Davis). The production is clear and warm, with a natural ambiance and full sonic range.

allmusic (matt collar) sez:

It is a joy to hear him (Washington) stretch out a bit on this straight-ahead session. His supple tone mixes well with trumpeter Eddie Henderson and both musicians take full harmonic advantage of performing with the moody and expansive Waldron. The only disappointment here is the overall somber quality of the selections. Despite an inspired version of Footprints and an unexpected choice in the funky Jean Pierre, the album lags... Waldron could have earned more kudos with his inclusion of the Japanese traditional song "Sakura Sakura" – an interesting foray into world jazz – if he had only bookended it with some bright up-tempo numbers. Still, this is a superbly performed album by stellar, world-class musicans and should please most hardcore jazz fans.

personnel:

Mal Waldron: piano; Eddie Henderson: trumpet, flugelhorn; Pheeroan akLaff: drums; also Grover Washington, Jr.: soprano sax

track listing:

Footprints; Left Alone; Sassy; Sakura Sakura; Here's That Rainy Day; Jean-Pierre; Red Shoes;My Dear Family

sleep walker - sleep walker + works

barabara sounds sez:

While I’m about it here, I might as well drop the other two Sleep Walker albums: the excellent self-titled debut; and the third, the “remixes/best-of/new bits and pieces” Works. Not the first time they've been out in the blogosphere. And there's not much more I need say about these bangers – except if you've not heard them before and you like a nice bit of premium club jazz, then your ears are in for a treat. Enjoy!

dusty sez (about Works):

…a collection of singles, remixes, and new tracks, all representing some of the best work from this ultra-hip club jazz combo! As with their full albums, the style here is jazz-based at the outset - played in a classic mode that has plenty of echoes of Impulse Records during the Coltrane generation – but forged into a tighter, leaner groove for the 21st Century – a mode that's sometimes rhythmic and aimed at the dancefloor, yet which never loses any sense of depth or creativity from a jazz perspective! Saxophonist Masato Nakamura contributes some incredibly great tenor and soprano work to the tunes – and Hajimi Yoshizawa's modal piano lines pulsate tremendously throughout. A few cuts are remixes, but still very much embody the Sleep Walker sound - with new instrumentation, as the group makes a live jazz take on the tracks they're supposedly remixing!

dusty sez (about Sleep Walker)

A monumental bit of club jazz – one of the best new records we've heard in years, with a sound that's right up there with the best of Impulse Records from the classic years! The album's a side project of Japanese producer/keyboardist Hajime Yoshizawa – and unlike his other records, which have a much stronger dance/soul approach, this set's almost purely straight jazz – done with majestically searching solos on both keyboards and sax, the latter of which is played by Masato Nakamura, who has a tone that almost recalls Pharoah Sanders! The whole thing's great – a brilliant piece of Love Supreme jazz, co-produced by Kyoto Jazz Massive, who give the record enough of a bounce to make it appeal to fans of recent work by them, Koop, or Jazzanova as well. An instant classic – and a mindblowingly deep record that we'll be playing for years!