Searing, soulful energy from this overlooked Japanese combo of the 70s – a crack quartet led by drummer Ryojiro Furusawa, working here with some great guest work on trombone from Shigeharu Mukai! The tunes are often very simple, but with a groove that's totally great – a bit of a modal vibe at times, and some spiritual jazz undercurrents at others – really making the record feel like some lost Strata East album, thanks to electric piano lines from Toshiyuki Daitoku and some tenor and soprano sax from Tomoki Takahashi. Most tunes are long, and very openly grooving – and titles include "Yellow Cherry", "You Wanna Rain", "For Heavens Sake", "Snake Walk", and "Acoustic Chicken". CD

A soulful, almost spiritual set at points – with Mukai on trombone, Kazumi Watanabe on guitar, and Fumio Itabashi on piano! Titles include "Impressions", "Afro Blue", "Old Folks", and "Stella By Starlight". LP, Vinyl record album

A real lost treasure from trumpeter Terumasa Hino – a warm and wonderful live set, and one that's neither too free, nor too smooth – just perfectly set up right down the middle to open up on these beautiful long performances! The lineup is all Japanese – a great array of players that includes Shigeharu Mukai on trombone, Hideo Miyata on tenor, Sadao Watanabe on alto sax, Motohiko Hino on drums, and Fumio Itabashi on Fender Rhodes – part of a slightly larger ensemble who can be tight at times, but still allow plenty of room for open freedom on the solos. Hino's only part of the picture, as the other soloists get in some great space too – and the set includes the 23 minute groover "Logical Mystery", the long soulful original "Into The Darkness", and a sweet mellow take on "Round Midnight". CD

A nicely bold record from pianist Masaru Imada – one of his most strongly-grooving records of the 70s, and a set that features some great hork work as well! The core trio features Kunimitsu Inaba on bass and Fumio Watanabe on drums – both of whom bring out a more soulful groove than on some of Imada's other albums of the time – which then gets really expanded by some excellent work from Seiichi Nakamura on tenor and Shigeharu Mukai on trombone – both very welcome players here, who really make the album shine! Titles include "Seeking Blue", "Piko", "Wake Up", and "Morning Sunrise". CD

The J Masters are Japanese Jazz Masters – a really great sextet with key members from a few different generations – all coming together here in a really wonderful performance! The group is grounded by work from Yoshio Suzuki on bass and Shingo Okudaira on drums – and features tenor from Kosuke Mine and trombone from Shigeharu Mukai – both players who gave us killer albums from the 70s – alongside pianist Soichi Noriki and trumpeter Tomonao Hara. Tracks are nicely structured, different than you might expect from the "jam session" title – and tunes include "Cleopatra's Dream", "EJ Blues", "Norwegian Wood", "Night In Tunisia", "What A Wonderful World", and "Ellen David". CD

The "J Masters" here are all Japanese jazz masters – particularly some players from the 70s who we really appreciate hearing from again! The group's an all-star assemblage, working in a nicely loose, live setting – without any one ego taking the lead, and instead this spontaneous flowering of energy between all the players. Musicians include Kosuke Mine on tenor, Shigeharu Mukai on trombone, Tomonao Hara on trumpet, Fumio Karashima on piano, Yoshio Suzuki on bass, and Hiroshi Murakami on drums – and titles include nicely swinging takes on "Recado Bossa Nova", "Moment's Notice", "Five Spot After Dark", "Norwegian Wood", and "Round Midnight". CD

A soaring collection of rare jazz from the Tokyo scene – all music originally recorded by the Japanese branch of Columbia Records – the same imprint that put out some exclusive and very hip Japanese-only albums from Miles Davis, Roy Ayers, and Herbie Hancock! The musicians here are all Japanese, and play with a vibe that definitely lives up to the label's legacy with American artists – mixing spiritual jazz, funky styles, and other soulful modes in a really great way – with a sense of variety that not only makes the collection a stellar listen throughout, but also really opens up your ears to the wealth of excellent Japanese jazz recordings that were never issued in the US! Titles include "Trial Road" by Tomoki Takahashi, "A Muddy Muffin" by Masahiko Sato, "Toppu" by Shigeharu Mukai, "Scramble" by Hiromasa Suzuki, "Samba De Negrito" by Takashi Mizuhashi & Herbie Hancock, "Ogi Denju Shiki" by Toshiyuki Miyama & His New Herd, "The Ground For Peace" by Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media, "Chakkiri Bushi" by Nobuo Hara with Hozan Yamamoto, "Mickey's Samba" by Mikio Masuda, and "Jones Street" by Kiyoshi Sugimoto. LP, Vinyl record album

An ear-opening set of Japanese jazz from a time when that nation's scene was really taking off – a period in the 70s when all sorts of new artists and new ideas were really flying around – and leaving behind a huge recorded legacy that's been mostly out of reach for us in the west! Japan always had a few big names in jazz that got exported overseas, but the work here is from some of the smaller names who were still turning out incredible music – much of it only issued on vinyl, and not reissued later – brought together here with copious notes that really tell you a heck of a lot about the music! There's definitely a post-Coltrane vibe going on – lots of spiritual elements, mixed with both moments that are funkier and more soulful, and others that are a bit more freewheeling – often stretched out on extended tracks that really let the artists take off and find their space. Titles include "Black Nile" by Hideyasu Terakawa, "Kirisame" by Ryusei Quartet, "Honey Sanba" by Katsuyuki Itakura, "Cumulonimbus" by Shigeharu Mukai, "Song Of Island" by Yasuhiro Kohno Trio + One, "Phoebus" by Hiroshi Murakami & Dancing Sphinx, "Morning Tiede" by Kohsuke Mine, "Kemo Sabe" by Masao Nakajima, "Song For Hope" by Aki Takase, "Planets" by Masaru Imada Trio + 1, "1/4 Samba" by Tatsuya Nakamura, "Acoustic Chicken" by Koichi Matsukaze, and "Cumorah" by Eiji Nakayama. CD features bonus tracks – "Wolf's Theme" by Seiichi Nakamura, "Burning Cloud" by Ryojiro Kurusawa, and "Groovy Samba" by Hideo Shiraki. CD

Genius work from Japanese trombonist Hiroshi Fukumura – working here at the helm of a twin-trombone group that also features the talents of Shigeharu Mukai – in a style that's filled with soul and free-thinking imagination! The two players work together beautifully here – avoiding any of the cliches of trombone-heavy groups from the past – and instead, using the open-ended Three Blind Mice label format to explore new ideas in jazz by hitting a spare, sensitive space that's really great. Sometimes tracks really take off and soar with the sort of inventiveness we'd expect from Slide Hampton at the time – at others, they work together more quietly to use the trombones as great shifters of sound and color. Tracks are all quite long, and other players include Hiroshi Tamura on piano, Tsutomu Okada on bass, and Shinji Mori on drums – on titles that include "Morning Flight", "Winter Song", "Cousin Mary", and "Soldier In The Rain". CD

A mighty soulful set from the group of bassist Takahashi Mizuhashi – served up in a really strong range of sounds that are spun out over the album's very long tracks! The set begins with a soulful rendition of "When A Man Loves A Woman", but then soars into freer jazz territory at the start of "So What" – which begins with one of the most outside readings of the Miles Davis classic we've ever heard! The album really sparkles – thanks to some strong work on alto from Yoshio Otomo, and piano from the great Fumio Karashima – and side two features guest trombone from Shigeharu Mukai and tenor from Seiichi Nakamura – who really help things stretch out on an 18 minute take on Stanley Turrentine's classic "Sugar". CD

One of the boldest sessions we've ever heard from this amazing Japanese pianist – way more so than you might guess from the cover! Features some great alto from Akira Sakata, plus Hitoshi Okano and Kenji Nakazawa on trumpets, and Yasuaki Shimizu on tenor and Shigeharu Mukai on trombone. LP, Vinyl record album

A soaring collection of rare jazz from the Tokyo scene – all music originally recorded by the Japanese branch of Columbia Records – the same imprint that put out some exclusive and very hip Japanese-only albums from Miles Davis, Roy Ayers, and Herbie Hancock! The musicians here are all Japanese, and play with a vibe that definitely lives up to the label's legacy with American artists – mixing spiritual jazz, funky styles, and other soulful modes in a really great way – with a sense of variety that not only makes the collection a stellar listen throughout, but also really opens up your ears to the wealth of excellent Japanese jazz recordings that were never issued in the US! Titles include "Trial Road" by Tomoki Takahashi, "A Muddy Muffin" by Masahiko Sato, "Toppu" by Shigeharu Mukai, "Scramble" by Hiromasa Suzuki, "Samba De Negrito" by Takashi Mizuhashi & Herbie Hancock, "Ogi Denju Shiki" by Toshiyuki Miyama & His New Herd, "The Ground For Peace" by Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media, "Chakkiri Bushi" by Nobuo Hara with Hozan Yamamoto, "Mickey's Samba" by Mikio Masuda, and "Jones Street" by Kiyoshi Sugimoto. CD

A really wonderful shift in sound for pianist Yosuke Yamashita – material that's still as full of energy and life as some of his groundbreaking trio sessions of the 70s, but which pitch the spirit in a slightly different way! Volume one of the set has songs that are maybe a bit tighter and more composed overall, but which still bristle with the kind of brilliant energy that Yosuke can bring to the piano – as he works in a quartet with lots of excellent work on tenor from Kazunori Takeda, plus drums from Shota Koyama, and bass from Katsuo Kuninaka – the latter of which is an instrument that Yamashita didn't always use in the 70s, but which really adds a lot here. Titles include "Chattering", "One For T", "Nimufa Star", "Jugem", "K's Lullaby", and "Chattering". Volume 2 has an approach that's even more different than usual for the piano of Yamashita – a larger combo that has guitar from Kazumi Watanabe and trombone from Shigeharu Mukai – both players from more mainstream sides of the jazz spectrum, but who provide some compelling sounds next to the much more freewheeling piano work of Yosuke! The album also features tenor work from three different players, each of whom play on different tracks – Kazunori Takeda, Seiichi Nakamura, and Yasuaki Shimizu – and with bass and drums in play, the original material by Yamashita is spun differently than on other sessions, but still very much with his trademark approach. Titles include "Jugemu", "Motion Picture", "First Bridge", and "Drifting On D". CD