Takehiko Honda - 1973 - I Love You

Speaking of jazz from Japan, here's another little album that I come back to every now and then. This is a trio of piano, bass and drums. Takehiko Honda is the pianist and he's backed by Yoshio Suzuki on bass and Hiroshi Murakami on drums, all of them played on Kosuke Mine records. Unlike Kosuke Mine records this one is a much more relaxed set that is all standards. Honda leads the group pretty much throughout the set with mostly him soloing and the guys in the back chiming in every now and then. It's fairly good for what it is and that is an exercise in standards but if you're okay with that I think you should get enjoyment out of it. All players seem comfortable and relaxed giving this album a friendly and approachable atmosphere. The album cover is absolutely badass as well.

Dig it.

Takeo Moriyama & Shigeharu Mukai - 1978 - Hush-A-Bye

This album is a collaboration of sorts between Takeo Moriyama (drums) and Shigeharu Mukai (trombone) all backed by Moriyama's regular band. I'll be honest right at start and say that this album is absolutely nothing special or new. It's a very solid The Great Coltrane Quartet sound/style worship peppered with some basic standards. Mukai shines on the Lover Man ballad but otherwise isn't that much of a presence and his co-star while being a pretty good sounding drummer doesn't seem all very much interested in being at the front. Maybe he just wasn't feeling it much on this session. As with a lot of Japanese jazz records that I've heard these guys lack imagination but they compensate with intensity and energy. This is most evident in the opening and closing tracks which are incidentally also the longest ones on this record. Both of these tracks are carried by the pianist and the saxophonist and it feels like the album should have focused more on them rather than on the stars of the album. All in all this is a lovely record and you'll know immediately if you're into it or not. Not very essential but its accessibility and energy make it a good ride that you take every once in a while.

Get it in flac.