Terumasa Hino - 1970s - Part 5

Hey there. Back today with our next 5 from Terumasa Hino.

First up for today is the 1975 release, Speak To Loneliness. Back with a quintet made up of Miyata on tenor and soprano saxes, Itabashi on keys, Okada on bass with Moto on drums. Additional support is here with Sugimoto on tracks 1 & 3, Mukai is present for tracks 2 & 3, tenor saxophonist Suetoshi Shimizu is here on tracks 2 & 3, percussionist Guilherme Franco is on track 2 with Imamura on 3.

Same blueprint here in 3 long tunes. This time around we open with the title track, followed by “Little Lovers” and “Hi-Nology.”

The title track starts off a little softly here but develops quite nicely with Miyata shining on soprano. "Little Lovers" is a nice ballad with some softer than usual playing from Sugimoto. An excellent rendition of "Hi-Nology" closes this one out with more great playing from Sugimoto and Hino.

                                  

Into 1976 we go with Hogiuta. Recorded in NYC, this one looks to be a quartet made up of Hino on trumpet and flugelhorn, Cecil McBee on bass, James M’tume on percussion with Moto on drums.

This one has a touch of aimlessness but starting with the third tune, "Yuhwa", it begins to pick up. The two following tunes are also quite nice in the title track and "Yuhkyu." The drums are relatively soft here with the percussionist adding some nice support. I would almost describe some of these tunes as spiritual jazz, or at least adjacent to that. Pretty solid release.

Now Hear This with Hal Galper was released the following year in 1977 with Hino technically a sideman. Again recorded in NYC, joining Hino on trumpet and Galper on piano, we again have McBee on bass with legend Tony Williams on drums.

All originals from Galper here with the exception of “Bemsha Swing” from Monk. This one starts off very well with the title track. Galper and Williams both set the tone, in my opinion.

After a soft tune in “Shadow Waltz” we finish very strong with “Mr. Fixit”, “First Song In The New Day”, “Bemsha Swing” and my favorite, “Red Eye Special.” Great album through and through.

Also in 1977, Hino released May Dance with a fantastic line-up of John Scofield on guitar, Ron Carter on bass with Williams again on drums.

Scofield plays wonderfully on the nicely paced opening tune, "Wind Blows Your Skin." The soft and quiet pleasant "The Wild Lady" follows, again with great pace and Hino shining. Things pick up with "Big Celebration" and my favorite tune of the album in "Free Land" follows. Scofield has a riff setting this one up. After two more strong tunes in "Moss On The Rock" and "Lovin' May," we have another great album in the books.

Next we're going to squeeze in another 1977 album from the Ken McIntyre Sextet titled Introducing the Vibrations. Featuring Hino as a sideman, McIntyre brings a variety of instruments along with an alto sax, flute, bass clarinet, oboe and bassoon. Richie Harper is on piano, Alonzo Gardner is on bass, Andy Vega is on percussion with Andrei Strobert on drums.

A nice little album here coming in right at 40 minutes. "Clear Eyes" is the highlight here for me with great playing between McIntyre on oboe and Hino on trumpet. "Now Is The Time" is another nice tune. Nice stuff from McIntyre.

That's a wrap for our next 5 from Hino. We'll be back soon. 

LaMont Johnson

We are going to take a small break from Terumasa Hino and give a listen to the fantastic soul-jazz, jazz-funk composer and pianist, LaMont Johnson. Born in NYC, Johnson primarily played with saxophonist Jackie McLean but also released a handful of pretty stellar solo albums. His recordings feel like albums, whereas occasionally we run into recordings that just sound like a handful of tunes thrown together. Cohesiveness and consistency are on display throughout. Great stuff.

For his solo career, the first album we’ll dive into is 1972's, Sun,Moon And Stars. Joining LaMont we have Charles Owens on flute and sax, Sal Marquez on trumpet and flugelhorn, Yusef Rahman on trombone, Art Johnson and Mike Deasey on guitar, Reggie Johnson and Stan Gilbert on bass, Pondaza on percussion with Ray Pounds and Mel Lee on drums.

More of a jazz-funk, jazz-rock sound to this one at times. For me, this will be one of my least enjoyable releases from the catalog, strictly due to the synthesizer (listed as an EX-42) LaMont uses on a few tunes here. It’s sounds like a drunken keyboard of some sort. But that’s not to say that we don’t have some gems. “Medusa’s Meandering” is a stellar tune with Owens playing great on tenor. “That’s Not The Way You Do It, Beverly” is another excellent tune, synth part notwithstanding.

This one closes with a slightly tamer sound on the back end with “Europa”, “Andromeda” and “Libra’s Longing” with LaMont relying mostly on an acoustic piano. “Libra’s Longing” also brings us Owens playing quite well on the flute. Not a bad intro to the pianist, but the best is still ahead.

Before we move on to the bulk of Johnson’s catalog, let's take a quick stop in 1973 to squeeze in the Score From Thunderfist, which features LaMont playing with Blue Mitchell. This one is pretty quick with 4 short, what I would call funky soul-jazz, tunes in, “Offspring”, “Teeth’s Theme”, “Chow Chun’s Theme” and finally the “Thunderfist Theme.” This all sounds like something Madlib would sample, if you’re familiar with the producer. Not bad stuff by any means.

Next up, and largely considered to be Johnson’s magnus opus, is the 1976 release, Nine… A Mystical, Musical Allegory. We have a pretty sizeable personnel group that features Ronnie Laws on tenor sax and flute and Blue Mitchell on trumpet and flugelhorn. Please check the link for the full list.

This one starts off wonderfully with the super funky “Benign Beginning” followed by the title track which is a suite made up of “Philosopher’s Stone”, “Alchemy” and “Touchstone.” Excellent funkiness throughout this one. “Alchemy” is a highlight here with Johnson playing terrifically on the Rhodes. “Calypso After Nine” is another excellent tune with more fantastic Rhodes play and a nice touch of strings from The Karmazyn String Ensemble.

“The Cat And Nine Tomorrows” is slightly airy tune with great soprano play that gets credited to Rudy Johnson, who we heard on Habiba, and features more great playing from LaMont. Rudy has a couple of solo albums floating out there that’ll I’ll try to find for a follow-up post. The super groovy “Dare To Be Different” follows and features more great play on the Rhodes from LaMont and Laws on tenor.

This one closes with the nice solo tune “No, I Never End” and a fantastic listen is in the books. Be careful if you have a copy of this one already, many copies have the tracks mis-tagged.

As The LaMont Johnson Sextette, 1979 saw the release of Aces on Johnson’s Masterscores label. Joining LaMont, we have Gary Pack on trumpet & flugelhorn, John Rekevics on sax and flute, Bill Coleman on guitar, Gunnar Briggs on bass with Tim Shea on drums.

I’m not sure why, but at first glance at the album cover, I expected a super funky album. This one starts off very scattered with the title track that calms down about halfway through to a very nice melody. The relatively tame “Virunga Dancesong” follows with nice soprano play from Rekevics. The fantastic melody, or something very close, we heard on “Aces” picks back up here with my favorite tune maybe from the catalog in “Nina.” We have more great playing from Rekevics, as well as from Pack. To me, this is soul jazz at it’s finest.

“Second Hand Child” is also a very nice tune with Pack’s muted trumpet and Rekevic’s flute adding some nice touches. Also the first time I really notice guitarist Coleman. We get to hear some brisk playing from LaMont on “Midnite Mind Mosaic” before we close with “Life Is A Sweet Thing.” I really dig this one.

1980 brought us New York Exile which features quite a few names for me. We have Hollis Gentry on flute, plus alto and soprano sax, CharlesMcPherson on tenor sax, Nathan East on bass, Ronnie Stewart on percussion and drums.

This one starts off more straightforward than we’ve heard so far, but entering the 1980s I’ll take straight-ahead over the possibility of smooth jazz, etc. Pleased to report that we never take that turn here with LaMont. We hear some great playing from LaMont on “Slugs In The Far East” and we hear some nice flute play from Gentry on “Sydenham Square.” My favorite here might be the funky “Mount Morris Park” where we get Gentry on the soprano and LaMont on the synthesizer.

The rest of the 80s for LaMont was playing with McLean on 2 of his albums, and it’s not until 1991 that we get his next solo album as leader. Burned By The Passion was released in 1991. I’ve been unable to locate the personnel list for this one so we’ll jump right into the tunes. Although we do have a trumpeter, a guitarist, an electric bassist, a percussionist, and a drummer.

I would describe this as soul-jazz with a little straight-ahead bop mixed in with LaMont primarily employing the acoustic piano. We open with the title track that settles into a nice groove and closes with a funky change-up. “Espace Glace’” is another excellent highlight here with LaMont playing beautifully, as well as the guitarist. “Oliver Revolves” and standard “Nature Boy” are other highlights here in more of the soul jazz light. A nice album on the back end of LaMont’s career.

Next for us is an album with the excellent guitarist, KennyBurrell. Collaboration was released in 1995 and features a relatively large personnel group without any additional names jumping out to me. Check the link for the full list. 

This one starts off pretty softly and with vocals on “Sunset Time.” Followed by the relatively tame “Empty Water,” with Burrell playing quite well. The theme throughout is pretty easy going and the remaining tune I really dig is LaMont tune, “Aidiju Dumee.” It has the briskest pace on the album and also features some nice soloing from the group and some big band sections. Not much to bring me back to this one, however. But not a bad album if this is a sound you dig.

The last release for us and the final release before LaMont’s death in 1999 is 242 E. 3rd. Released in 1998 on LaMont’s Masterscores label, we have Jimmy Greene on tenor sax, Don Sickler on trumpet, Howard Johnson on tuba, Tim Ries on flute, Daniel Sadownick on percussion, Lonnie Plaxico on bass with Marcus Baylor on drums. On Google Maps, this address in NYC is a Dominican bakery. I wonder what it was at the time of it’s significance to LaMont.

This one starts off with a great composition in “Jester’s Game” and after some nice soloing from Greene we get some great playing from LaMont. The very rhythmic title track follows with great tempo and support from Sadownick and Baylor, including more great playing from Greene. “Charismatica” develops into a nice tune and LaMont shows us he hasn’t lost a step on piano.

We have another great composition and a Spanish vibe on “Tio Hespano” which is followed by one of my favorites from the catalog in “Membrane Solace.” The muted trumpet from Sickler opens with a great melody. “Bebe Djhain” is a relatively tame tune but features another great melody from the muted trumpet of Sickler. “Visions On A Chaise” continues the theme with muted trumpet and almost a dragnet vibe to it. We close well with “Fang Dancer,” an upbeat tune that features a nice bit on flute. 

And there you have it. I hope you guys have enjoyed this catalog as much as I have. LaMont is one of my all-time faves.

We’ll be back with 5 more from Terumasa Hino very soon.

Terumasa Hino - 1970s - Part 4

Let's get to our next 5 for trumpeter Terumasa Hino.

Locked in the vault until 2012 but recorded in 1973 is Mr. Happiness & Slipped Out. Joining Hino we have Masuda on piano, Ikeda on bass, Imamura on percussion with Moto on drums. 

The opening tune “Pre-Dawn” closes quite nicely with Hino playing solo. “Mr. Happiness” follows and once it develops it turns out to be a great tune. Scattered at times, swinging at times. Much like we’ve heard before.

Things slow down a touch as we start Slipped Out with “Feeling Blue As You Feel.” We start off a little clunky with “Slipped Out” which alternates to a break neck speed. This one closes with “Stella By Starlight” and we’re on to the next.

The following year in 1974, Hino returned with Journey Into My Mind. Returning we have Masuda on keys, Uematsu on tenor sax and Moto on drums. We also have Hideo Miyata on flute and tenor sax, Eiji Toki on soprano and alto saxes, Shigeharu Mukai on trombone and Tsutomu Okada on bass.

All originals on this one aside from standard, "My Funny Valentine." An excellent duo between Masuda and Hino of the classic. This one doesn't really take off until the B side. "Reve Provencale" is the highlight here, along with "Sky." The latter swinging more than anything we've heard in a few albums at least, with nice solos from Miyata and Masuda.

1974 also saw the release of Into Eternity. A double LP checking in at a little over 90 minutes. Essentially the same group returns, give or take. We have Masuda on keys, Uematsu and Miyata on sax, Okada on bass, Imamura on percussion with Moto on drums. We also have Isao Suzuki present on bass with bow in hand for "Ode To Workman."

An excellent, albeit long, album here with more of the post-bop, sometimes free, sound we’ve heard throughout the 70s so far. Favorites here would be another rendition of the aforementioned “Ode To Workman” and “Horizon.”

Next for us and released in 1975 is Mas Que Nada, also known as La Chanson d’Orphée. Up to this point, I would describe Hino’s 1970s albums as being very serious jazz. Not always the most accessible and not a lot of what we’ve heard has had much swing to it. Enter this nice little Latin album with Los Robelos and percussionist Masami Kawahara.

Mostly some quick hitting tunes here, we have a very nice rendition of “Summertime”, “The Girl From Ipanema” and “Watermelon Man.” Not a ton of virtuosic playing on this one, but great sounds all around.

Also in 1975, Hino released a live album titled Live in Concert, recorded at the Yuhbinchokin Hall in Tokyo. We have a pretty impressive group of personnel here with Sadao Watanabe on alto sax, Hideo Miyata on tenor sax, Shigeharu Mukai on trombone, Kiyoshi Sugimoto on guitar, Fumio Itabashi on keys, with Akira Okazawa on electric bass, Tsutomu Okada on acoustic bass, Imamura and Masahiko Togashi on percussion with Moto on drums.

Three long tunes here again and we start with Hino originals “Logical Mystery” and “In The Darkness.” We close with “’Round About Midnight.” 

We open with great tempo and Itabashi sets the tone with some nice play on keys. About 5 minutes in it breaks wide open and we might be in the midst of our best moments so far in the catalog. Miyata absolutely screams out of the gate on tenor. Miyata leads to some excellent soloing from Mukai and Sugimoto. All the while Moto is just banging on the drums at his typical feverish pace. Such great stuff here. 

Looks like Miyata played quite a bit with Sadao Watanabe, who also has a massive catalog. I’ll see what I can find to add to the other Sadao albums I have here for a future post.

“In The Darkness” follows and while it tones down the tempo a touch, it’s another great tune with Watanabe playing wonderfully on alto and eventually Hino coming in quite nicely. We close with a nearly solo Hino “’Round About Midnight” and we’re moving right along.

We will break from Terumasa Hino for our next post this week. Stay tuned.

Terumasa Hino - 1970s - Part 3

Here for our next 5 from Terumasa Hino. We'll stay in the 1970s for our next few.

Reminiscent Suite with Mal Waldron is next. Joining Hino on trumpet and Mal on piano, we also have Takao Uematsu on sax, Isao Suzuki on bass, Yuji Imamura on percussion with Moto on drums. 

Released in 1972, we again have 2 long tunes here in the title track and “Black Forest.” The title track however is made up of “Dig It Deep Down Baby”, “Echoes” and “Once More With Feeling.” While I prefer the second tune here, the last third of the title track is quite nice.

The same year brings us the release, Fuji, recorded at Masabumi Kikuchi’s Victor Studio in Tokyo. A sextet this time around and we have personal favorite Mikio Masuda on keys, Sugimoto on guitar, Uematsu on sax, Yoshio Ikeda on bass with Moto on drums.

This one starts off with another version of “Be And Know” we heard recently, this time featuring some hard playing from Uematsu and nice soloing from Sugimoto. More of the same here for the most part. The post-bop, sometimes still swinging, sometimes scattered sound we’ve heard so far this decade. Excellent stuff. I really dig Masuda’s playing on the title track.

We have our first vocal jazz album in 1973 with Hartman Meets Hino. Joining the legendary Johnny Hartman and Hino, we have Masuda on piano, Ikeda on bass with Moto on drums.

“S’posin’” and “Shadow Of Your Smile” are the highlights here for me. I did not make instrumentals for this one, but if anyone would like me to, don’t hesitate to ask.

A live record is next for us, conveniently titled Live! and released in 1973. Joining Hino we have Masuda on keys, Ikeda on bass, Imamura on percussion and Moto on drums. 

Only 3 tunes here, standard “Stella By Starlight” and originals “Sweet Lullaby” and a massive, 28.5 minute rendition of “Be And Know.” Which is mostly why we’re here as the first 2 tunes are a little boring to me. 

Recorded in Munich and released in 1973, Taro’s Mood features the same group as we heard on Live!. Masuda, Ikeda, Imamura and Moto. 

This one opens nicely with Masuda getting in some solo piano work on “Alone, Alone And Alone” before Hino comes in quite tastefully. The slightly scattered title track follows with great playing from Masuda, Moto and Hino. The original release closes with an excellent 25-minute “Pre-Dawn” but the copy I have here is the 2006 reissue with another 4 tunes.

The reissue blesses is with a nice version of Masuda tune "Black Daffodil." A softer song that naturally features great soloing from Mickey. A nice change of pace. The remainder of this one is a little tamer than what we've been hearing. A great record.

Enjoy!

Terumasa Hino - 1970s - Part 2

Back again for our next installment into the Terumasa Hino's 1970s catalog.

I got a little ahead of myself with our first 1970s post. We’re going to step back into 1970 for the Daylight Raid OST. Joining Hino we have Takeru Muraoka on sax, Hiromasa Suzuki on keys, Kunimitsu Inaba on bass with Moto on drums. As with many OST, we have a lot of quick tunes here. “On The Corner (Snake Hips)” starts us off quite well, with “Pistol” and “Telephone” also being nice highlights.

The bulk of this album is the 12-minute closing tune, “Getaway”, although the quicker hitting tunes are the best on this one.

We also have a live album previously covered during our Masabumi Kikuchi series titled, In Concert. Recorded and released in 1971, we have tenor giant Joe Henderson, Kohsuke Mine on alto and soprano saxes, Yoshio Suzuki on bass, with Hiroshi Murakami and Yoshiyuki Nakamura on drums. You'll be hard pressed to find a more talented group.

3 lengthy tunes here and we start with the Henderson tune "Sunrise In Tokyo" and everyone plays wonderfully. Next up is the tune "So What" from little known trumpeter Miles Davis. The closing tune "Get Magic Again" is a little scattered but overall a nice live album.

We remain in 1971 for Peace And Love, and this time the quintet is made up of Kiyoshi Sugimoto on guitar, Hideo Ichikawa on keys, Reggie Workman on bass, Teruo Nakamura on percussion with Moto on drums.

Two long tunes here like we’ve seen so far. “Gongen” opens and Sugimoto again plays great. More of the hard bop, bordering free jazz sound we heard on Love Nature, although the title track is a little more avant-garde I guess than “Gongen.”

Again in ’71, the trumpeter released Hino Meets Reggie Workman: A Part. Mostly familiar faces here with Takao Uematsu on sax, Ichikawa on keys, Sugimoto on guitar, Workman on bass, Yuji Imamura on percussion with Moto on drums.

This one starts off very well with the title track and the sound is more of what we’ve heard throughout the 70s. One thing I notice is Imamura’s percussion is more pronounced which is a nice touch. Sugimoto’s presence on the title track continues to shine as he’s done thus far. It’s a 26-minute journey that explores a lot of sounds. Including a nice solo from Moto. A truly impressive drummer.

Side B continues with good stuff as we get another version of “Ode To Workman” which is maybe the best tune of the bunch, with great soloing from Hino and Uematsu. And “Be And Know”, a nice relatively tame tune. This is definitely an early candidate for best album. Nice stuff all around.

Next for us is the 1971 album, Vibrations, recorded in Berlin and I’m assuming during his visit for the Jazz Festival,  A quartet here made up of Heinz Sauer on tenor sax, Peter Warren on bass with Pierre Favre on drums.

This one is what I would describe as free/avant-garde. “Crackling” is my favorite here but obviously this is a niche sound that works for some, not for others. 

And with that, we have our next 5 albums from the 70s. See you guys soon in 1972.