Yoshio Suzuki

I couldn't begin to list all of the appearances Yoshio Suzuki has made over the years - but the Nagano-born bassist has a pair of albums, Friends and Matsuri, that we'll take a look at here. I believe the only appearance he has made on this page thus far is on Kohsuke Mine's 2nd Album. 

First up, we have 1973's absolute gem of an album in Friends. We will quickly recognize the names of his supporting cast in saxophonist Kohsuke Mine, pianist Takehiro Honda, drummer Hiroshi Murakami, and making an appearance on "Samba de Chico" is flautist, Hideo Miyata. We have 5 tracks here and as far as I can tell, all are original compositions from Suzuki. Personal favorites are the opening, title track, along with "Burning Point" and "K's Waltz." This album mostly has a hard bop vibe and the playing from everyone is superb throughout. 

Next, we have 1979's Matsuri, recorded in NYC in 1979. Accompanying Yoshio are a group of Americans in saxophonist/flautist Dave Liebman, pianist Andy Laverne, trumpeter Tom Harrell, percussionist Rubens Bassini, and legendary drummer Billy Hart. Six tracks here with my personal favorite being "Chappaqua." Laverne's part on this tune has an almost classical feel to it. Overall a solid release with less tempo and a calmer vibe than Friends. 

Into the 80's, Suzuki began playing more ambient sounding music and after a quick visit, I decided to stick with the 2 albums here. 

For the next few posts, I'll be working on sharing what I have from Isao Suzuki. We'll start with the first half of the 1970s.