A totally fantastic live set from Japanese drummer Yoichi Kobayashi – a musician who's played on the scene for decades, and who has a way of bringing forward all the strengths of those years to his music! The set features appearances from American all-stars, but more on them later – as the core group is great enough to win us over on the first half of the set, with an updated take on a Blue Note-styled groove, but with inventive rhythms that really open things up too – as the drummer works with Yutarao Suzuki on trumpet, Tomonori Sakurai on tenor, Heitetsu Rin on piano, and Koji Yasuda on bass – plus koto from Makiko Goda, who echoes some older jazz Japan styles in a great way. The second half of the set also brings in Eric Alexander on tenor and Vincent Herring on alto – both players who are as strongly soulful as you might expect – on titles that include "Uncle Eddie", "Akita Rap", "Yama", "Eddie Harris", "Peace", "The Gypsy", "Encounter", and "Safari". CD

Mainstream funk tracks with a bit of a disco twist – featuring lots of keyboards upfront, and popping basslines in the bacground. Brass Construction appear to be giving Radice a hand on the album – and the record sounds a lot like some of their work from the time, although with less horns. The worst part of the record is Radice's vocals – which are kind of in a white boy funk mode – but the instrumentation isn't bad, and most tracks are long enough to have long instrumental passages. Titles include "Monky See Monky Do", "If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em", and "Here I Go Fallin In Love Again". LP, Vinyl record album