Hideo Shiraki

Bossa jazz from 60s Japan – a set recorded right around the same time that Verve first started hitting bossa grooves in the US!

The sound here is sharper than a Verve bossa album, though – with some of the same hardbop inflections you'd hear on other Hideo Shiraki albums from the time – thanks to flute and tenor from Sleepy Matsumoto, and trumpet from Hisaya Omata. The tenor and trumpet come together with almost a Blue Note-styled sort of sound – but the bossa vibe is still nicely maintained in some of the looser percussion touches in the rhythms – a great blend that makes the album a real standout in the Japanese jazz scene of the 60s!

PERSONNEL:

• Hidehiko Matsumoto - (tenor saxophone, flute)
• Hisaya Omata - (trumpet)
• Joe Sera - (piano)
• Hachiro Kurita - (bass)
• Hideo Shiraki - (drums)

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1 Tico Tico
• A2 Besame Mucho
• A3 Deux Step
• A4. Gypsy BlueV

• SIDE B
• B1 Sayonara Blues
• B1 Orfeo Negro
• B3 Groovy Samba