Heavenly grooves from Hiroshi Okazaki & His Star Gazers – a group who harmonize wonderfully on this set! Despite their Japanese origin, the Star Gazers sing in English – clearly drawing from a legacy that includes The Four Freshmen and Hi-Los – but they also scat wordlessly at points too, in ways that really transform the sound of the tunes! There's a wonderfully sparkling feel to the whole record – of the sort you'd find in the hippest 60s European soundtracks or Brazilian bossa albums – and although the group hardly cracked the market outside their native Japan, a session like this has strong global appeal all these many years later. Titles include "What Can I Do Dear", "Agua De Beber", "I Can't Find The Words", "Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars", "This Guy's In Love With You", and "The Last Waltz". CD

A great lost slice of easy from Japan – sweet vocal tracks that are sort of a groovy take on the Hawaiian sound of the 60s! The tracks include a lot of Hawaiian standards, sung by the Living Voices in a mode that's occasionally gentle and dreamy, but which at other times has a surprising groove underneath – not the sleepy Hawaiian music records you'd know from the American scene of the 50s and 60s, but a groovier style that shows the way that the Japanese market continued to explore the genre,a nd really make something different! The set brings together titles from 1970 and 1974 albums, and titles include "Beyond The Reef", "To You Sweetheart Aloha", "Mapuana", "Blue Hawaii", "Lovely Hula Hands", and "Around The World". CD