★Three Blind Mice
Maiden Voyage
"Five of Japan's most famous arrangers (Miki, Yamaya, Takahashi, Ueda, Maeda) have come together to create a rare big band work. Highlights include the title track with its electric sound arranged by Miki and the dynamic "Giant Steps" arranged by Mae…
Spanish Flower
“Spanish Flower” by Tee & Company, an all-star band assembled by producer Takeshi “Tee” Fujii, is an extended (nearly 19 minutes) modal workout very much in the mode of Coltrane or McCoy Tyner‘s 1970s solo work, but the tasteful guitar solo that appe…
Dragon Garden
Masayuki Takayanagi, a charismatic artist who relentlessly pursued new jazz. Three albums by Tee & Company, the strongest big combo of the 20th century under Takayanagi. This is their second album. Includes the fast-paced "Dragon Garden". The other t…
My Back Pages
"This is Kunio Ohta's second TBM album, known as a favorite of listeners who love the TBM label. The original "Umi to Taiyo (The Sea and the Sun)" features all the members in lively action, and Takano's melancholy tenor solo on the over 16-minute tit…
The World Of Shuko Mizuno
"This is a live recording of "Shuko Mizuno's World Evening" on the fourth day of "5 Days In Jazz 1976", which made the genius Shuko Mizuno known to the world. The massive, fast-paced jazz-rock piece "Concentration" and "Jazz Orchestra '75 Part II" ar…
Ode To Birds
"Hideto Kanai's first album is fairly hit-or-miss free jazz, but here he's in full-blown Black Saint and the Sinner Lady mode. There are twenty three musicians on this album (twenty three!), and while the undercurrent of free jazz is still running th…
Yokohama Concert
Stunning duo comprised of two of the most important musicians of the Japanese underground/avant-garde, Otomo Yoshihide in a duo with the great Japanese drummer, Hiroshi Yamazaki – who has Kaoru Abe among his extensive list of past collaborators, and …
Air
Reissue of the Japanese group Air featuring percussionist Yuji Imamura. Seems like half split between moderate Jazz Rock with monster improvised parts and outlandish Avant Jazz with strong percussion minimalism and tribal rhythms, the instrumental ar…
Orang-Utan
Bassist Isao Suzuki's popularity shot up to stratosphere with the release of Blow Up from the Three Blind Mice label. By the time he recorded this, fourth album for the label, he was actually the winner of the Swing Journal Readers' Poll. And this ra…
Blow Up
A fantastic electric album from one of the most unique bassists of the 70s – Blow Up is one of the most sough-after titles from the acclaimed Three Blind Mice catalog. Isao Suzuki's Blow-Up is virtuosity and class all rolled up into one. A great comb…
Ginparis Session
For the better part of the 50s and 60s, Masayuki Takayanagi was among Japan's best-respected jazz guitarists. But it wasn't until his experiments with tabletop guitar led him down the seductive path of sonic experimentation that he became the stuff o…
Lonely Woman
*2022 stock* Guitarist Masayuki "Jojo" Takayanagi (1932-1991) was a towering leader in the Japanese jazz world. His first influence was Lennie Tristano, but through the 1960s and 1970s he explored and pushed the boundaries in free form jazz, leading …
Green Caterpillar
Pianist Imada Masaru was 42 years old when he recorded this album in 1975. His adventurous spirit led him to use the electric piano for the first time in a recording, and thanks to his musicianship, he made it sound like he'd been playing the instrum…
Moon Ray
"Otomo is an alto player from the Jackie McLean school of tone and the Art Pepper institute for improvisation. In other words, his tone has an edge, but he always phrases and improvises melodically. With Tsuyoshi Yamamoto leading the rhythm section, …
cool jojo
Third volume in a series of Takayanagi reissues on this Japanese jazz label. As with the prior Free Form Suite, this features super deluxe hardbound book-like packaging and "extended resolution CD" sound. First reissue of this obscure album, original…