Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio - Gentle Blues (2LP, Japanese edition)
ORDER LIMITED TO ONE ITEM PER CUSTOMER
Piano – Tsuyoshi Yamamoto [click here to see other vinyl featuring Tsuyoshi Yamamoto]
Bass – Hiroshi Kagawa
Drums – Toshio Osumi
Written by Roy Henderson (A1), Irving Berlin (A2), Richard Rodgers (A3), Douglas Cross (B1), George Cory (B1), Cole Porter (B2), Arthur Hamilton (B3), Mal Waldron (B3), Tsuyoshi Yamamoto (C1), Nat Simon (C2), Duke Ellington (D1), Juan Tizol (D1), Sugura Sasaki (D2)
2 LP, standard sleeve
Limited Edition
Original Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33RPM
Size : 12”
Venus Hyper Magnum Sound Direct Mix Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Japanese Pressing
Label : Venus
Original Label : Venus
Recorded at Sony Music Studios, Tokyo on January 23, 2013
Engineered by Takashi Sasaki
Mixed and mastered by Tetsuo Hara
Produced by Tetsuo Hara
Photography by Ayako Nagatsuma
Originally released in 2013
Reissued in 2024
Tracks :
Side A:
- Bye Bye Blackbird
- Cheek To Cheek
- My Funny Valentine
Side B:
- I Left My Heart In San Francisco
- I Love Paris
- Cry Me A River
Side C:
- Gentle Blues
- Poinciana
Side D:
- Caravan
- Tsuki No Sabaku
Reviews :
"Japanese pianist Tsuyoshi Yamamoto's Shade Of Blue is a classic trio outing, old school style. It sounds as if the ghost of Red Garland is hanging around, and Erroll Garner and Wynton Kelly are keeping him company. Yamamoto's trio, which includes bassist Hiroshi Kagawa and drummer Toshio Osumi—venerable musicians all—lays down a flawless set of familiar standards, a couple of Yamamoto originals and a pop tune from the Barbra Streisand songbook, all with a fine-tuned grace.
"Speedball Blues," a Yamamoto original, opens the show. The pianist's crisp and light touch is on full display. Kagawa and Osumi dig a deep groove, and the trio rolls with it. The sound brings back memories of 1950s piano trio jazz, when Ahmad Jamal and the previously mentioned Red Garland released album after album of first-rate piano trio offerings.
Kurt Weil's often covered "Speak Low" is up next. Yamamoto opens it with a dreamy delicacy that shifts into jaunty bustle as his trio mates enter. The momentum is cranked up high—Kagawa's brisk walking bass line and Osumi's irrepressible backbeat. Then a surprise, "The Way We Were," made famous by Barbra Streisand in 1973. Streisand's version was an anthem. Yamamoto's take here is deeply, beautifully sad. It is followed by the optimistic "Like Someone In Love," laid down with a pep in its step. Everyone has covered this tune. This trio rendition proves it swings, and that—done this deftly—it never gets old.
"Girl Talk," first recorded by Julie London in 1965, and later popularized by Tony Bennett, swings light and easy, and the ever-familiar "Bye Bye Black Bird" swings hard and strong. And there is much more: "Misty" from Erroll Garner, "Black is the Color" and "Last Tango In Paris," all laid down with a deep respect for the piano trio tradition." All About Jazz Review by Dan McClenaghan.
Ratings :
Discogs : 4.71 / 5