Brilliant bossa from 60s Japan – a killer collection of sounds from some of the scene's hippest musicians! The late 60s Japanese scene was a real hotbed of bossa nova activity – home to some of the best bossa jazz outside of Brazil – with a care and quality to rival the best American experiments on labels like Verve or Impulse! This collection brings together some of the best of that bunch – rare Japanese cuts that you'll be hard-pressed to find otherwise – served up as a set that's a perfect introduction to this unique musical moment. There's loads of great percussion, acoustic guitar, flute, vibes, and more – and the set features 20 tracks that include "Summer Samba" by Kazuo Yashiro, "So Danco Samba" by Stargazer Hiroshi Okazaki, "One Note Samba" by Tokyo Cuban Boys, "Meditation" by Minoru Muraoka, "For Me" by 5 Brass Quintet, "Orfeu Negro" by Hiroshi Matsumoto, "Dindi" by Kazumi Watanabe, and "Berimbau" by Shigeru Mukai. ~ Dusty Groove
Soulful sounds from 70s Japan – a host of tracks that offer up fresh versions of American soul tunes – mostly done as instrumental numbers with lots of funky touches! There's a fair bit of Stevie Wonder tunes on the collection – as well as other Motown moments and Atlantic Records numbers too – all played by Japanese jazz musicians who really know how to open up the groove! Arrangements are all mighty nice – usually going for interpretations that are fiercer and more full-on than the original vocal recordings – which allows the soloists to really stretch out and do their thing. Styles run from late 60s soul jazz to tighter fusion – and the set features 19 tracks that include "Bird Of Beauty" by Eri Ohno, "Sunny" by Toshiyuki Miyama, "Living For The City" by Jiro Inagaki, "Sir Duke" by Terry Herman Trio, "Boogie On Reggae Woman" by Akira Ishikawa, "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" by Jiro Inagaki & Black Rhythm Machine, "Hold On I'm Coming" by Nobuo Hara, "Never Can Say Goodbye" by Sound Machine Drum, and "Love Child" by Toshiyuki Miyama. ~ Dusty Groove
Late 60s Beatles tunes – regrooved wonderfully by a host of Japanese jazz musicians! The set's a great illustration of the cool ways that Japanese jazz was changing during the 60s – picking up a real flair for larger arrangements mixed with tighter solos – and really starting to use some of the best new studio technology to further improve the sound! The result is a great batch of grooves like this – instrumental numbers that really push past the obvious modes you might expect – expanding the sound with lots of cool twists and turns – yet still keeping things pretty soulful overall – almost like some American soul jazz grooves of the time. Titles include "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" by Terumasa Hino, "Lady Madonna" by Kazuo Yashiro, "Get Back" by Tokyo Cuban Boys, "Come Together" by Nobuo Hara & Sharps & Flats, "Glass Onion" by Hiroshi Matsumoto & Sadanori Nakamure, "Long & Winding Road" by Kiyoshi Sugimoto, and "Ballad Of John & Yoko" by Toshiuki Miyama. ~ Dusty Groove
The music of The Beatles – served up by a fab batch of Japanese jazz musicians! This "red" set focuses mostly on the earlier tunes by the group – some of their jaunty numbers from the mid 60s, which turn out to be a perfect setting for instrumental jazz modes – as the players on the tracks really let loose with a range of Hammond lines, horn parts, and guitar riffs! There's a bit of vocals, but most tunes are instrumental – and most of them are plenty darn funky too – not kitschy takes on the tracks, but the same sort of smoking jazz versions of Beatle numbers you might find on late 60s Atlantic or Prestige records here in the US. Titles include "Hard Days Night" by Miyama Toshiyuki, "Norwegian Wood" by Ohno Eri, "Eleanor Rigby" by Hiroshi Suzuki, "Here There & Everywhere" by Norio Maeda, "And I Love Her" by Sadao Watanabe, "Rain" by Jiro Inagaki, and "Michelle" by Count Buffalo. ~ Dusty Groove
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