Sanka (1972) Kaneto Shindô, Nobuko Otowa, Tokuko Watanabe, Jiro Kawarazaki, Drama

A really beautiful chapter in the career of reedman Sadao Watanabe - a batch of mostly original compositions, as you might guess from the title - and a double-length record that really showed an evolution of his talents! The sound is often highly lyrical - with Watanabe blowing alto, soprano sax, and flute in modes that are clearly informed by his bossa nova recordings of the late 60s, but which also spring forth in even more complicated styles - with echoes of French soundtracks, European jazz, and other sweet styles of the time. The group's a small one - with Yoshiaki Masuo on guitar, Kazuo Yashiro on acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes, Masabumi Kikuchi on piano, Yoshio Suzuki on bass, and Fumio Watanabe on drums.

Apparently a staple in Russia, the music of Taneyev exists on the fringes of the repertoire in the West, something that should be rectified–and will be if this superb CD made by a starry cast of performers gets the attention it deserves. He’s a Romantic composer, but hardly of the heart-on-sleeve variety, since he was a master of counterpoint and firmly encased his Romantic impulses in a well-fitted classical jacket. Sometimes he makes you think of a more modern, pungent Brahms with a Russian accent.

A great little session from this excellent Japanese alto player - and although the title and track list might make you think that the record's a straight run of classic bop tunes, it's actually got a lot of Watanabe's modal groove and a very nice edgey feel that pushes it way past the regular Charlie Parker tribute. The groove's pretty modern, and although the tunes are all bop classics - the group (which includes trumpeter Terumasa Hino and pianist Kazuo Yashiro) make the record sound a lot different than the source material.

Of all the reconstructions prompted by the 1991 Mozart jamboree, Philip Wilby’s recreation of the Violin and Piano Concerto of 1778 was the most worthwhile. Wilby skilfully completed the 120-bar fragment of the first movement and took the slow movement and finale from the unusually brilliant, ‘public’ D major Violin Sonata, K306. There are problems – not least of dates – with Wilby’s thesis that the Sonata is the ‘last resting-place’ of the projected double concerto. But the three movements certainly make a satisfying entity. Midori and Eschenbach give an immensely polished reading, phrasing with unfailing subtlety and sophistication.

Nobuko Imai has been a leading viola player since the early 1990s. She studied at Tokyo's Toho Gakuen Music School before continuing her training in the United States at both Yale University and the Juilliard School. Following her graduation from Juilliard, she triumphantly vanquished all competitors to win the highest prizes at the Munich and Geneva international competitions. She is a former member of the prestigious Vermeer Quartet, known for sharp performances of the Mozart and Beethoven chamber repertoire.

Ultimate & most wanted japanese rare groove recorded by the saxophonist Jiro Inagaki, one of the main actor of the Japanese Jazz Rock & Progressive scene. In 1963, Jiro Inagaki was recruited by Helen Merrill for her first album recorded in Japan, "In Tokyo" with the Takeshi Inomata's West Liners group, and later formed various jazz band as the All-Stars, The (Black) Rhythm Machine or, of course, The Soul Media. Recorded in 1969 and released under the famous Takt Jazz Series from Nippon Columbia, Head Rock includes psychedelic guitar effects, great drum breaks, acid & electronic organ sounds, performed by The Soul Media, featuring some future japanese jazz great names, such as Ryo Kawasaki (in his first professional appearance), Yasuo Arakawa, Masaru Imada or Tetsuo Fushimi. Titles includes cover & original songs from Hal Galper (The Vamp), and Willie Dixon (an amazing version of Spoonful), five composed by Ryo Kawasaki (Twenty One), Masaru Imada (High Jack), Yasuo Arakawa (The Ground For Peace) and Jiro (Head Rock). All tracks arranged by Jiro Inagaki.

Instrumental transcriptions of Johann Sebastian Bach's keyboard music have been legion witness just how many there are of The Musical Offering and The Art of Fugue and yet very few of them seem to catch on. One notable exception is violinist and conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky's 1985 trio arrangement of the Goldberg Variations, made to observe Bach's tercentenary and as a memorial to pianist Glenn Gould, more readily associated with the Goldbergs than perhaps any other musician aside from Johann Gottlieb Goldberg himself.