Shakuhachi & Bossa Nova by Hozan Yamamoto, Shungo Sawada Quintet, released on Union Records in 1969.

"...Jazz and folk music tend to pair very nicely, and fusions of the two genres had been often attempted in the past. This album adds a taste of bossa nova to this mixture. While the distinctive feel of Japanese traditional / folk music remains very present, the velvety yet contrasting musicality of bossa nova comes together with Hozan’s resonant shakuhachi tones to create a profoundly exotic vibe...!

https://beatballmusic.bandcamp.com/album/shakuhachi-bossa-nova

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju-_QVNtLsI&list=RDJu-_QVNtLsI&start_radio=1

#Shakuhachi #Bossanova #HozanYamamoto #ShungoSawada #Jazz #JapaneseJazz #Music

Iberian Waltz by Sadao Watanabe & Charlie Mariano, released on Columbia as part of their Takt Jazz Series in 1969.

Nice hardbop with some modal playing from these two jazz greats.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DftvMZoWEL5w

#CharlieMariano #SadaoWatanabe #Jazz #ModalJazz #HardBop #Music #TaktJazz #JapaneseJazz #MasabumiKikuchi

Sadao Meets Brazilian Friends by Sadao Watanabe released on Columbia as part of their Takt Jazz Series, New Stream In Jazz in 1968.

Sadao Watanabe (渡辺 貞夫, Watanabe Sadao; born 1 February 1933) is a Japanese jazz musician who plays alto saxophone and sopranino saxophone. He is known for his bossa nova recordings, although his work encompasses many styles, with collaborations from musicians all over the world. - Wikipedia

Sadao is still with us at 93!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TcuL8OC4JE&list=RD_TcuL8OC4JE&start_radio=1

#SadaoWatanabe #Jazz #JapaneseJazz #Music #Bossanova #TaktJazz #Music

In Fiesta by Hideo Shiraki, released in 1961 on Teichiku Records.

"Hideo Shiraki is a drummer who shines a bright light in Japanese jazz history with his unique musicality and presence. One of his most representative works is this magnificent “In Fiesta” album, recorded in 1961 and released on Teichiku Records at the time. The starting track "In Fiesta / Matsuri no Gensou" is a miraculous masterpiece in which a Japanese melody is arranged into a cool jazz mode with a unique arrangement that uses the koto. Check also the thrilling "Just One Or Eight" tune with its exploding drums, and "Cherokee" and its amazing solo. The performances by masters such as saxophonist/flutist Hidehiko Matsumoto and pianist Yuzuru Sera are superb..."

Vinyl Reissue Notes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFpqNrpHZvE&list=RDIFpqNrpHZvE&start_radio=1

#HideoShiraki #Jazz #JapaneseJazz #Music #Koto #HidehikoMatsumoto #YuzuruSera #Drums

Guitar Method by Kiyoshi Sugimoto, released on Columbia in 1972.

Zen Surfer wrote on their blog:

"A Cover album of great rock/pop standards revisited by great japanese jazzmen, Kiyoshi Sugimoto (guitar) & Hiromasa Suzuki (keyboards) from Columbia Japan Method Series. The fusion of jazz & pop beats with electric guitar solo, psychedelic organ, strings section & horns big band. The Suzuki' arrangements reminiscent of the approach taken by Creed Taylor for his CTI label : a straight ahead jazz way. A touch of Jazz Rock with Santana' Everybody's Everything, Led Zeppelin' Black Dog, The Moody Blues' The Story In Your Eyes & T-Rex' Get In On without forgetting some vintage tunes & ballads pop from 60s/70s of John Lennon, The Carpenters, Cher or Elton John. Performed by Kiyoshi Sugimoto & The Hiromasa Suzuki Orchestra. All tracks arranged by Hiromasa Suzuki"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-gANQeHTqE

#KiyoshiSugimoto #Jazz #JapaneseJazz #Music #CoverVersions

Four Jazz Compositions -Based On Japanese Classical Themes by Toshiyuki Miyama & The New Herd, released in 1970 on Toshiba Records.

Snobb wrote on Jazz Music Archives:

"The album's opener, the ten-minute long "Mumyoju", is composed by Japanese leading avant-garde pianist and composer of the time, Masahiko Satoh, (he plays on it as well, but percussion, not piano). It begins with silence pierced with ascetic needles of percussion, minimal brass splashes and koto. Still silence (or "free air", as it is often called in Japanese avant-garde music) is the largest and most important composition component. The music here is near static, in moments meditative, but more often - quite dramatic and recalls early Western contemporary avant-garde compositions, just with an Eastern touch..."

https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/review/yotsu-no-jazz-composition-aka-four-jazz-compositions/247652

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvnBGv7oEpI&list=RDBvnBGv7oEpI&start_radio=1

#ToshiyukiMiyama #TheNewHerd #MasahikoSatoh #JapaneseJazz #Jazz #FreeJazz #ThirdStream #BigBand #Music #koto

Canto Of Libra by Toshiyuki Miyama And His New Herd, released on Columbia in 1970.

A really free-thinking set from the Toshiuki Miyama's New Herd -- an album-long suite of 5 tracks entitled "Canto Of Libra" -- penned by pianist Masahiko Satoh, who's also the lead soloist on the piece! The horn lines of the Herd are very criss-crossed here -- stating things boldly one moment, then breaking free in a flutter of colors and tones the next -- creating a nice balance between the album's gentler, more intimate moments, and some of the more dramatic passages of the piece. In a way, the record's almost like some of Gil Evans' most experimental work, taken up a few notches -- a well-conceived session that matches similar work from the European scene at the time. - Dusty Groove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4XGAoufyo4&list=RDd4XGAoufyo4&start_radio=1

#ToshiyukiMiyama #MasahikoSatoh #Jazz #JapaneseJazz #FreeJazz #Music

Amalgamation by Masahiko Sato & Soundbreakers, released on Liberty in 1971

".This preposterous piece of psychedelic avant-jazz sounds like the work of aliens, each with only one foot in our universe. Propelled by cacophonous brassy blasts, volleys of machine-gunning, ecstatically 'Light Fantastic' rhythms and moments of Teo Macero-style 'Mixing Concrète' (during which the whole track becomes consumed by waves of new sound); the result is the most singular mash-up of inappropriate sounds any listener is ever likely to hear...shaman Masahiko Satoh sends us through a sonic mind-field, baffling our senses and our sense of gravity. Located at the centre of Amalgamation's giddy sessions was the frantic Detroit drumming of hard-bop legend Louis Hayes, whose role it was to play the bubbling ever unfolding fundament on which Masahiko Satoh's whole trip proceeded, ..." - Soundohm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiTo0nkfTm8&list=RDjiTo0nkfTm8&start_radio=1

#MasahikoSato #LouisHayes #Jazz #FreeJazz #JapaneseJazz #Music #FenderRhodes

My Romance - Sadao Plays Ballads by Sadao Watanabe, released on Takt in Japan in 1967.

Haunting early work from Japanese reed legend Sadao Watanabe -- an artist who makes the record way more than just a set of familiar ballads! True, the set's a bit more mellow than some of Watanabe's other work of the time -- but his work on alto and flute really have this subtle sort of edge -- a melancholy quality that's different than the way that American players of the period might have hit the music -- and which shows just how much Watanabe and a few key players were transforming the style of the Japanese scene! Tracks are short, and the format is simple -- but the record's got an understated elegance that's every bit the best side of Sadao in his early years. . - Dusty Groove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXlaVda2AUU&list=RDhXlaVda2AUU&start_radio=1

#SadaoWatanabe #Jazz #Music #JapaneseJazz #AltoSax #Flute

Jazz Samba by Sadao Watanabe, released in 1967 on Victor as part of their Perfect Sound series.

Sadao Watanabe (渡辺 貞夫, Watanabe Sadao; born 1 February 1933) is a Japanese jazz musician who plays alto saxophone and sopranino saxophone. He is known for his bossa nova recordings, although his work encompasses many styles, with collaborations from musicians all over the world. - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uOTnVDZxvk&list=RD3uOTnVDZxvk&start_radio=1

#SadaoWatanabe #Jazz #Samba #BossaNova #Music #JapaneseJazz #AltoSax