A great bit of electric jazz from the Japanese scene of the 70s – an album that easily rivals the best CTI work in the US at the time! Trombonist Hiroshi Suzuki heads up a quintet here – one that's heavy on electric piano and keyboards, played in a stretched-out sort of groove that reminds us a lot of the energy on Freddie Hubbard's funkiest albums from the same period. The tracks are all quite long – and step out with a wonderfully rhythmic sensibility – spare at times, and very focused on the right rolling approach to the groove. Suzuki's trombone solos are matched by some equally great sax work from Takeru Muraoka – and rhythm is from Kunimitsu Inaba on bass and Akira Ishikawa on drums. Filled with great breaks and laidback jazzy grooves – and featuring tracks that include "Cat", "Walk Tall", "Romance", "Shrimp Dance", and "Kuro To Shiro". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent early album from Japanese drummer Masahiko Togashi, featuring a group that he co-led with trombonist Hiroshi Suzuki! The quintet's got a sound that's kind of a messed-up take on the Blue Note groove of the 60s – particularly the Lee Morgan rolling funky soul jazz sound of the middle part of the decade – and the record's got a unique tip that we really like a lot! Basically, the band starts out with a hardbop groove – but then will roll into solo moments that, while not entirely out, have a strange off-beat quality that's really fresh. Tetsu Sushimi is on trumpet – part of a trumpet/trombone frontline that weaves together nicely, along with some great piano work, and strong rhythm from Togashi. Titles include "Castle Cats", "Suzu No Uta", "Passion", and "Variation". LP, Vinyl record album