Toshiyuki Honda’s Spanish Tears album (1980)
Featured track: Shakin’ Funk
This album was among the first few Japanese jazz fusion albums I purchased. In fact, I remember buying it along with Toshiyuki Honda’s 1978 Burning Waves album at a record shop in London. Unlike the Burning Waves album, which featured the American band Seawind, this album was supported by Japanese musicians, although trumpeter Freddie Hubbard makes a guest appearance on one track. For this album and the next (Boomerang, 1981), Honda chose to name his band Burning Waves after the title of his first album. The band included Soichi Noriki on keyboards, who has gone on to release a number of albums under his own name. Katsutoshi Morizono, who had been the guitarist with Prism in the late 1970s, was a guest artist on the album and is featured on this track, Shakin’ Funk, which includes a catchy bass line from Tetsuya Inoue, while Honda plays the flute.
Toshiyuki Honda (saxophone, flute)
Soichi Noriki (keyboards)
Tetsuya Inoue (bass)
Shigaro Hirayama (drums)
Tetsuaki Hoashi (percussion)
Katsutoshi Morizono (guitar)
Sadao Watanabe’s How’s Everything album (1980)
Featured track: Mzuri
I began listening to Japanese jazz fusion in the late 1970s, but the first album I bought by a Japanese artist was Sadao Watanabe’s “How’s Everything.” This epic double album released by Columbia was recorded live at the Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo on July 3 and 4, 1980. Together with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and a band of American musicians conducted by Dave Grusin, I have never tired of listening to this album. In fact, I’ve worn out at least one vinyl copy and two CDs!
This track, Mzuri, has a nice Japanese feel to it and shows the true talent of Sadao Watanabe as well as the band. Interestingly, of the eleven tracks on the album only My Dear Life had been recorded before as the title track of his 1977 album. Nine songs were Watanabe compositions while All About Love and Sun Dance were Grusin compositions. Sadao Watanabe was 47 at the time of this recording and continues to make music at almost 90!
Sadao Watanabe (saxophone, flute)
Dave Grusin (keyboards, arranger, conductor)
Richard Tee (keyboards)
Eric Gale (guitar)
Jeff Mironov (guitar)
Steve Gadd (drums)
Anthony Jackson (bass)
Ralph MacDonald (percussion)
Jon Faddis (trumpet)
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra