East Wind

Masabumi Kikuchi - East Wind (1974) {DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9131 rel 2015}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 304 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 141 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1974, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9131
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

A brilliant set from Japanese pianist Masabumi Kikuchi – two long, leaping, loping tracks that almost feel like some of McCoy Tyner's best work! Kikuchi plays acoustic piano, and the group's a quartet with Terumasu Hino on trumpet, Koshuke Mine on tenor, Eric Gravatt on drums, and Juni Booth playing some really wonderful bass. Booth's bass leads the tracks with a soulful quality that you don't always hear on Kikuchi's other work – really giving the record a strongly-rooted vibe, while the musicians are still free to really open up and explore. The album's tracks, "East Wind" and "Green Dance", are both excellent examples of the soulful freedoms allowed in the Japanese scene of the 70s – side-long numbers that are different both from contemporary performances on both the US and European scenes of the period.

Dollar Brand - African Breeze (1974) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9132}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 220 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 96 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 141 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1974, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9132
Jazz / Post Bop / International Jazz / Piano

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. Dollar Brand playing solo – but with a vibrancy that hardly makes you miss the other instruments at all! Most of the record features solo piano, but there's also a bit of bamboo flute as well – leading off the set and establishing this great organic vibe to the whole thing, which is then followed by Brand's long-spun, completely hypnotic lines on piano! The recording quality is wonderful – very clear and strong, and quite resonant too – and the set features two side-long long suites – "Africa" and "Reflection" – with shorter passages that move through the warm range of moods you'd find in Brand's other strong work from the time. Titles include "Ancient Africa", "Msunduza", "Single Petal Of A Rose", and "African Sun".

Sadao Watanabe - Recital (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9178}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 324 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 126 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 159 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1976, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9178
Jazz / Post Bop / Neo Bop / Fusion / Saxopohone

A great live set from Sadao Watanabe – one that shows the wealth of influences he'd been drawing on, from post-Coltrane spirituality, to African-oriented rhythms, to a slight bit of funk! The group's great – with Watanabe on flute, alto, and soprano sax, Takehiro Honda on Fender Rhodes and piano, Kazumi Watanabe on guitar, plus added bass, trombone, and percussion – and we especially like Honda's keyboards, which make any session like this an instant treat! The album's got a warm, soulful feeling, but a sharper edge than most of Watanabe's smoother work of the time – and titles include "Hiro", "Maraica", "Wana Tanzania", and "Mathari Terbenam".

Oliver Nelson - Stolen Moments (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9144}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 260 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 85 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 144 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9144
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Jazz Group / Saxophone

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. One of the last sessions Oliver Nelson ever recorded – a genius batch of work recorded for the Japanese East Wind label, and maybe one of his greatest albums ever! The set's a wonderful link between the sophisticated large group sounds that Nelson did for Impulse Records in the 60s, and some of the more expansive styles he was trying out on the Flying Dutchman imprint in the 70s – a batch of work that both has that sense of majesty that Nelson could command at his best, but which still retains an earthy vibe overall.

David Friedman - Winter Love, April Joy (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9149}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 227 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 105 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 123 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9149
Jazz / Post Bop / Cool / Modern Creative / Vibes

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. A fantastic record from vibist David Friedman – spare, hip, modern, and very moody! Friedman's playing vibes and marimba alongside David Samuels, who plays the same – and this twin-vibes approach sounds fantastic – especially as the record has no drums, just additional bass, plus flute by Hubert Laws – a very loose, open style that comes across with a completely unique sound! The approach is super-dope for any fan of laidback 70s vibes – and the tracks are never too free or way out, just gliding with this airy quality that's really wonderful – one of the best demonstrations of Friedman's great talents on record. Titles include "Truce", "Nyack", "Brite Piece", "Island", and "Saraband".

Air Pocket (The Fowler Brothers) - Fly On (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 272 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 130 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9145
Jazz / Fusion / Light Bop

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. A warm and soulful set of fusion tracks – issued only in Japan, but recorded by a hip group from the US! Air Pocket features the Fowler Brothers – Walt, Bruce, Ed, and Steve – on trumpet, trombone, bass, and alto, respectively – plus drummer Chester Thompson, guitarist Mike Miller, and pianist Stu Goldberg, who really plays some great moog, clavinet, and electric keys on the set! Tunes are well-written – a bit choppy, but never too jamming, and really just done in this nice blocky way that creates a slightly funky approach, and a good degree of soul. Titles include "Elephant's Graveyard", "Hi Lo Redic", "Colors For Marvin", "Night's Move", and "Becky".

Andrew Hill - Nefertiti (1976) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9162}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 232 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 101 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 151 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1976, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9162
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Reissue with DSD remastering. Originally recorded for the Japanese East Wind label and only made available domestically on a 1979 Inner City LP, this trio outing by pianist Andrew Hill also features bassist Richard Davis and drummer Roger Blank. Hill performs six of his unpredictable originals ("Nefertiti" is his tune, not the more famous composition by Wayne Shorter) and, although the music seems slightly more conservative than usual for a Hill set, the music is consistently stimulating; too bad it's so difficult to locate.

Art Farmer - To Duke With Love (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9142}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 211 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 97 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 125 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9142
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Hard Bop / Flugelhorn

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. A pretty sweet 70s set from Art Farmer – ostensibly a tribute to Duke Ellington, but really more of a gently soulful session in the mode of Art's best work of the decade! The group is the Cedar Walton trio with Walton on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – all matching Art's lyrical work beautifully, in a soulfully swinging way that transforms familiar Ellington numbers into new vehicles for creative expression. Farmer's at the height of his powers, and tracks include "Love You Madly", "Lush Life", "In A Sentimental Mood", and "The Star Crossed Lovers".

Cedar Walton - Pit Inn (1974) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9139}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 330 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 128 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 134 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1974, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9139
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

A wonderful album from the great Cedar Walton trio that featured Sam Jones on bass and Billy Higgins on drums – a really beautiful group of musicians who completely transformed the sound of the piano trio in the 70s! The group played together often in the 70s, and they've never sounded better than on an album like this – freely soulful and dancing, with Walton in firm command of his talents – sometimes coming on with the strength of his early 60s material, but always opening up with a more exploratory vibe too. Walton worked often in this mode for the decades that followed this set – but this Japanese album is almost the start of that great legacy, and still one of the best from this group! Titles include "Con Alma", "Suite Sunday", "Suntory Blues", and "Fantasy In D".

Andrew Hill - Blue Black (1975) {2015 DSD Japan East Wind Masters Collection 1000 UCCJ-9159}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 220 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 87 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 142 Mb | 5% repair rar | DSD Mastering
© 1975, 2015 East Wind Music / Universal Japan | UCCJ-9159
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. A really great session from pianist Andrew Hill – and one of his few post-Blue Note sessions to feature a horn player! The style of the set draws from a few strands of Hill's career – in that Hill is playing in some freely exploratory piano modes, yet also manages to swing soulfully with the rest of the group, especially sax player Jimmy Vass – who makes a rare appearance here on soprano, alto, and flute. In a way, the album probably most closely resembles the Andrew LP on Blue Note – which is great by us, as it's one of his best sets! Titles include "One For", "Remnants", "Blue Black", and "Golden Spook".