A funky 70s killer from Japanese arranger Norio Maeda – very different than his 60s material, and also different than you might guess from both the image on the cover, and the "samba" in the title! There's some Brazilian influence in the rhythms, but the approach is fuller, richer, and handled with lots of sweet CTI-style electric touches – including great keyboard work from Maeda himself, guitar from Shigeru Suzuki, and nicely strong bass
lines from Haruomi Hosono – quite a surprise on a set like this! Larger horn
lines really top the set in a nice way – and there's great percussion from Motoya Hamaguchi – on titles that include funky
jazz takes on "Wave", "Desafinado", "Constant Rain", "Manha De Carnaval", "Summer Samba", and "The Girl From Ipanema".
(Jazz, Japanese) (Great Japanese pressing – with obi!)