Takeru Muraoka

Hello, everyone. Long time. I traveled all last week for work so it's been a doozy getting back into the swing of things. 

For today's post, we're going to look at saxophonist, Takeru Muraoka. We've encountered him a few times throughout our travels and we have some great albums to dive into.

First up, we have an album that technically isn't a Muraoka album as leader, but it pre-dates the other albums I have so this is where we'll start. Released as Shungo Sawada - Takeru Muraoka & The All-Stars, Hit And Hit In Bossa Nova was released in 1968. I don't have a full personnel list but on guitar we have Sawada, Muraoka is on sax, Hiroshi Suzuki is on trombone with Norio Maeda on vibes. 

What an excellent record to start us off. A very accessible and pleasant listen overall. Nothing earth-shattering when it comes to individual playing, but a great Sunday afternoon type of record. I mostly dig side B on this one but side A is also quite nice. "Koi No Tokimeki" and "Flower Necklace" are great tunes here. A nice start to our day. 

Next for us is the 1970 release, Takeru. Featuring some familiar faces we have Masabumi Kikuchi on electric piano, Yoshio Ikeda on bass with George Otsuka on drums. Another very pleasant, straight-ahead album here. 

Highlights for this one would be the final 3 tunes, "Fish", "Electric Zoo" & "Desperation." Not a bad album by any means.

The following year in 1971, Muraoka released an album alongside fellow saxophonist Takao Uematsu. Ride And Tie also features personal favorite Hiromasa Suzuki on keys (who is more than deserving of a post, just haven't hammered it out yet), Yoshio Suzuki on bass with Motohiko Hino on drums. 

A live recording dubbed the "Tenor Battle" we're off to a very bluesy start with "C.C. Rider." Good vibes continue as this one unfolds. Originals "Hot Sunday" and "Happy Birth" are solid and my favorite tune here is the closing Eddie Harris tune, "Listen Here." Good stuff.

Next up is the 1971 album Something, paying homage to the George Harrison tune of the same name. Released as Freedom Unity Featuring Takeru Muraoka, we again have Hiromasa Suzuki on keys, Hiroshi Suzuki on trombone, Kunimitsu Inaba on bass with Akira Ishikawa on drums. 

Muraoka starts this record off playing beautifully on "Capricorn." I'm not a fan of Beatles covers so "Something" wasn't my favorite tune, but we have more great playing from Muraoka and both Suzukis on "On A Sunny Day." Hiromasa Suzuki tune "Blue Soul" might be my favorite here. One of the shorter tunes but a great sound. Another solid album.

I have 4 more to share, so stay tuned!