Terumasa Hino - 2000s & 2010s

Hey there. Here's our look into the 2000s & 2010s for Terumasa Hino. 

First up for the new century is the 2000 release, Transfusion. Joining Hino we have legends Ron Carter on bass with Jack DeJohnette on drums. We have Roland Hanna on piano, as well.

Based on title alone I hoped this was a nice late fusion record from Hino but that’s not the case. Very pleasant, straight-ahead stuff here. This one picks up a tick with “The Time & The Place” which is the main highlight for me. Nothing wrong with this one, just nothing really stands out too much to me.

Hino returned the following year with 2001’s D.N.A. featuring the same quartet we heard on Transfusion.

This one starts off with a little more personality in “Black Jack” and we have mostly the same sound we’ve been hearing throughout the 90s. “Internet” is another solid tune and we’re on to the next.

2003’s Here We Go Again is next up and Hino is back in Japan for this one. Joining him we have Seiji Tada on alto and soprano saxes, Akira Ishii on piano, Hideaki Kanazawa on bass with Eiichiro Toyama on drums. Moto is here on drums for track 10, “Authentic.”

More straight-ahead stuff here although we do go a little harder bop on “Charles Tone” and “Quick Solution.” But my favorite here is the ballad, “Melancholy Daddy.” Another solid, albeit tame, release from Hino.

We have ourselves an OST for our next release. I have it translating as The Translucent Tree. This is a duo album from Hino and pianist Ishii released in 2004.

Very soft throughout with “Ember The Tree” being quite nice. Like with many OSTs, we have some recurring sounds as we go. The final 4 tunes are long versions of the bulk of the album, with “Ember” being the best of the bunch, in my opinion.

In 2005, Hino released Dragon with a similar group made up of Ishii on piano, Tada on alto and soprano saxes, Jung Chic Lee on tenor sax, Kanazawa on bass with Koichi Inoue on drums.

This one starts off with "Mongolian Dragon" which is a touch more scattered than what we've been hearing recently. Otherwise we mostly have straight ahead stuff here with other highlights being "Big Foot" and "Beam." 

Hino returned the following year in 2006 with Crimson. Again we have Tada, Ishii, Kanazawa and Inoue, with the addition of percussionist Tomoo Tsurutani.

Mostly more of the same here but I do really dig the ballads this album has to offer. The muted trumpet on the opening "How Insensitive" and "Susan" is my favorite sound on this one. We also have a little rendition of "Summertime."

Last for the decade we have 2008's Jakko. Here we have Tada as well as Joh Yamada on sax, we have Ishii on piano with Masahiko Satoh also playing piano on tracks 1 & 6. We have Kanazawa on bass with Kazumaru on drums. 

This one is also a little more scattered than what we've been hearing since the mid-90s or so. "AM PM" is the highlight here for me while "Santa Cristina" is also a nice tune. 

Into the 2010s we go with only 2 more albums before we finish the series. I again thought 2011's Aftershock might just be the late fusion record I was hoping for. Based on personnel, hopefully this one is a little more interesting. 

Joining Hino we have Ishii on piano, Masahiko Satoh on synthesizer, Yosuke Onuma on electric guitar, Takashi Sugawa on acoustic bass and tabla with Kenji Hino on electric bass. We have Ogimi Gen on percussion with DJ Honda on turntables. The drums here sound to be coming from either Satoh on synthesizer or from DJ Honda. There isn't a traditional drummer which is a disappointment. 

Electro-jazz-fusion perhaps? This definitely has a spacey, broken beat vibe as it opens with "Inert Motion." Hard to pin down a favorite as I really don't know what to make of this album. Not a sound everyone will enjoy, but it has some redeemable moments. 

Eight years later in 2019, Hino released Beyond The Mirage, which is the last album we have here for the legendary trumpeter. 

Joining Hino here we have Ishii on piano, Ippei Kato on guitar, Tomokazu Sugimoto on bass with Shun Ishiwaka on drums. Maybe this is my late fusion record I'm dying for. 

We open with the title track which features great playing from the young drummer, Ishiwaka. We move on to "Long Branch" and we get some nice guitar playing from Kato with Ishiwaka continuing to shine. Looks like we need to see what else this young man has been up to. 

Next up is "Shun" which naturally features tons of soloing from the drummer. Another great tune here is "Buttonwood" and we get to hear Ishii on a Hammond B3. We also get another version of "Still Be Bop" which we originally heard on 1980's Daydream. All in all a pretty rock solid record to close our journey.

I hope everyone found something within Hino's catalog that they enjoyed. We'll be back soon.