Mabumi Yamaguchi

Leeward by the Mabumi Yamaguchi Quartet is an album that builds slowly, nearly refining itself with every passing chord change, blossoming with soulful intonations that manifest in nearly spiritual searching solos.

Leeward is a difficult album to describe, comprised of merely four tracks featuring reed instrumentation, brought to life using both the soprano and tenor saxophones, then balancing things with a dynamic Fender Rhodes organ / piano, along with a bass and drums that weave intoxicatingly throughout the entire event. That said, there’s an undefined wondrous nearly poetic power relayed here, where the rhythms slowly, nearly magically, ebb into full blossoms right before your eyes.

PERSONNEL:

• Mabuchi Yamaguchi- tenor, soprano sax
• Ichiro Doi - piano, Fender Rhodes
• Ikuo Sakurai - bass
• Hideo Sekine - drums

Recorded January 1978

TRACKS:

• SIDE A
• A1. Dawn
• A2. Dewdrop

• SIDE B
• B1. Distant Thunder
• B2. Leeward