A pretty incredible set from sax player Masato Nakamura, aka Masa – late
of the trailblazing Japanese jazzy explorers Sleep Walker – here leading a new combo and some fellow Sleep Walker alum on a set
of cover tunes selected by some
of his (and some
of our) favorite modern groove figures! The group brings fresh jazzy life a batch
of all great tunes by Yusef Lateef, Julius Hemphill, Mary Parks (and Albert Ayler), Milton Nascimento and others. Beautiful stuff with timeless soul jazz inspiration – here's hoping Deep Cover isn't simply a one off project and we'll hear much more from Masa Sextet! Song selectors include Kyoto Jazz Massive, Patrick Forge (who also produces the album), Yoshihiro Okino
of Kyoto Jazz Massive, Dilip Harris
of Two Banks Of Four, Jurgen V Knoblauch
of Jazzanova, Shuya Okino
of Kyoto Jazz Massive and Gilles Peterson. Many
of the numbers skew to the long side, with 7 great tracks the run a total
of 55 minutes. Includes "Waiting For Marvin", "Look Into Tomorrow" and "Healing Is The Healing Force
Of The Universe" (both with vocals by Bembe Segue), "Winds
Of Change", "The Hard Blues", "Nem Premisou Mais Um Sol", and "Before Dawn".