Another from Motohiko Hino

Shortly after making my post on the drummer Motohiko Hino, I stumbled upon a copy of another live album of his: Flying Clouds. Recorded in 1976 but not released until 2022, we have essentially the same lineup as we saw on "Ryuhyo" - Sailing Ice, with the addition of percussionist Yuji Imamura. 

This release again starts off with "Ryuhyo" but this time it's 21 minutes long. Both sax players shine but the first part, which to me sounds like Mabumi Yamaguchi, is the highlight. My next post will be a look at 3 of his albums that I've been stuck on recently. 

Next up we have another 20+ minute track, this time it's the Watanabe tune, "Olive's Step" which we also heard on Toko. After each sax player shows out - Watanabe takes over - followed by a nice drum solo from Hino. Excellent fusion tune and I can't stress enough how great Watanabe is. 

We close with the title track and it too is a great fusion tune. Not quite 18 minutes in length, it has great tempo and showcases each player quite well. After Watanabe, Ino and Hino solos, we close with a touch of dualing saxes from Yamaguchi and Shimizu. Great stuff. 

Dive in.