Hideo Shiraki Quintet + 3 Koto Girls - Sakura Sakura (1965) & Introducing Terumasa Hino

There are few artists we’ve listened to who’s catalogs touch on nearly every facet of jazz. The closest I would say so far would be our posts on Herbie Hancock.

Next we will begin a deep dive into famed trumpeter Terumasa Hino. His catalog spans 6 decades and we'll hear nearly every sound in jazz. To break things up a bit, we’ll cover each decade separately and work in some short posts in between.

Before we begin our quest, we’re going to start with an album from 1965 that features Hino as a sideman. It’s an album that I was unsure of as the first tune begins rather softly, but this album turned out to be a super pleasant listen.

Hideo Shiraki was a Japanese drummer mostly active in the late-50s and 60s. In 1965, as the Hideo Shiraki Quintet + 3 Koto Girls, he released an album titled Sakura Sakura. The quintet is made up of Hino on trumpet, our friend Takeru Muraoka on flute and sax, Yuzuru Sera on piano, Hachiro Kurita on bass with Shiraki on drums. The 3 Koto girls are Keiko Nosaka, Kinuko Shurane and Sachiko Miyamoto.

As I mentioned, this one starts off somewhat softly with the title track, which is mostly a koto and drums tune as far as I can tell. Muraoka is featured next and plays wonderfully on "Yosakoi-Bushi" which is a quintet only tune. "Yamanaka Bushi" features the entire ensemble and Muraoka again plays well with Hino also soloing quite nicely. We also get a nice drum solo from Shiraki. 

The peppy "Matsuri No Genzo" follows, and we get to hear Muraoka on the flute. Sera also plays quite well on this one and we get another drum solo. We get one of Hino’s signature tunes, and the title of our first album we’ll cover, in "Alone, Alone and Alone." As expected, Hino plays wonderfully. This one is also a quartet tune with Muraoka falling out. Same goes for the relatively tame "Suwu" that closes this one out. It develops about halfway through. A nice album to begin our journey. 

Next up. Terumasa Hino – 1960s edition.