Terumasa Hino - 1980s - Part 1

Hey there. Back today to cover the 1980s from our friend Terumasa Hino. 

Like a lot of his contemporaries, the 1980s didn't age entirely well for Hino. Luckily, the damage is minimal. I also think we can squeeze this decade into 2 posts. Let's get to it.

We have more fusion to begin with the 1980 release Daydream. Another massive group of personnel spread out across the different tunes. A few names that stand out are Masabumi Kikuchi and Bob James on keys, Michael Brecker on sax and flute and Steve Gadd on drums. We even have a young Luther Vandross lending backup vocals, of all people to make an appearance. Please check the link for a full list.

The super groovy “Still Be Bop” opens this one up. I can see where this might not be everyone’s favorite sound but I simply love this tune. We have vocals on “Sweeter & Sweeter” and I’ve included an instrumental. A nice samba tune in "Antigua Boy" is here with nice playing from Brecker. "Gently" is a nice slower tune that also has vocals so I've included an instrumental for it, as well. 

Also in 1980 we have a Sadao Watanabe vs. Terumasa Hino record that features 2 songs from Sadao on side A with 1 tune from Hino on side B. Joining Sadao who brought his flute and alto and soprano saxes, we have Yoshiaki Masuo on guitar, Yoshio Suzuki on bass with Hirotami Tsunoda on drums. Hino’s group consists of Pete Yellin and Gary Pribec on alto sax and flute, Dave Liebman and Steve Grossman on tenor and alto saxes, with Steve also on flute. I don’t have a bassist listed and we have Moto on drums.

Sadao’s side is made up of “Pastoral” and “Round Trip Coming.” Both a little scattered, both a little groovy. I think I dig the latter, with it’s nice soloing from Masuo, over the former. Hino’s side consists of a very scattered “Journey To Air” that we’ve heard before.

Wheel Stone – Live In Nemuro Vol. 2 is next for us. Released in 1981, Hino again has Hideo Miyata on sax, Fumio Itabashi on keys, Kiyoshi Sugimoto on guitar, Tsutomu Okada on bass, Yuji Imamura on percussion with Moto on drums.

Back to what we’re used to here with 2 long tunes. We have “Speak To Loneliness” and “’Round Midnight.” Another excellent live recording while I do prefer the first tune to the second.

Also in 1981, Hino returned with Double Rainbow, released on Columbia. Another large personnel group here and we have quite a few big names present to support Hino. We have Masabumi Kikuchi, Kenny Kirkland and Herbie Hancock on keys, Anthony Jackson, George Mraz and Reggie Workman on bass, Steve Grossman on sax with Harvey Mason, Lenny White and Billy Hart on drums, to name a few.

This one opens terrifically with "Merry Go Round." "Yellow Jacket" is the other highlight here in another jazz-funk/fusion record. 

1982’s Pyramid is next up for us. A large personnel list again here with what looks to be mostly session musicians. We do have the late, great, David Sanborn here. RIP. More funky fusion here and we’re starting to get into the era where there are simply no guarantees on the quality of the music. Hino is continuing to deliver, as far as I'm concerned.

Highlights for this one are the fantastic "Think About It" and despite the somewhat annoying hand-claps, "Silent Slope." One of my favorite tunes we've heard is here in "Arcadia."

Into 1983 we go with New York Times. Similar situation here regarding personnel with a massive list of mostly session players. This one didn't age entirely well but Hino still carries the album on his playing alone. Highlights here for me are "Key Breeze" and "Freeland."

1984 brought us The Breeze & Sky OST. I can’t seem to have any luck with personnel so we’ll let the music do the talking. One odd thing here is that I found one large file for this that had to be cut down to tracks. I came out with 12. According to the discogs link we have 12 songs on side A with 9 songs on side B. If I recall correctly, I may have chopped a lost of useless noise out. I’ve included the original single file if anyone wants to dig deeper.

We have some vocals on a few of the tunes here and overall this is very much a 1980s bouncy jazz-funk sound. But there are some softer moments from Hino, as well. The second to last tune, track 11, is my favorite here.

That wraps up part 1 of the 1980s for Terumasa. We'll be back with part 2 soon.