Toshiko Akiyoshi ''Just Be-Bop''

Toshiko Akiyoshi

''Just Be-Bop''

( Discomate Records, 1980 )

Cat # DSP-8102

Tracklisting:

"Kelo" (Johnson) – 5:02

"But Beautiful" (Van Heusen) – 5:15

"Serpent's Tooth" (Heath) – 5:25

"Mobious Trip" (Huffsteter) – 4:29

"Con Alma" (Gillespie) – 8:10

"I Thought About You" (Mercer, Van Heusen) – 4:39

"Joy Spring" (Brown) – 7:38

Personnel:

CHARLES McPHERSON(as)

STEVEN HUFFSTETER(tp,flh)

TOSHIKO AKIYOSHI(p)

GENE CHERICO(b)

BOB BOWMAN(b)

ROY McCURDY(ds)

Recorded:

Mar 24&25, 1980 at Sage & Sound studio, Hollywood

Limited Edition Japanese pressing of this album comes housed in a miniature LP sleeve. 2008

Andy's Note:

Here's a great album kindly sent to me by another UK Jazz Radio presenter Ray "The Jazz Rep" Porter.It's so good I just had to share it!

Review:

One of the coolest sessions we've ever heard from pianist Toshiko Akioshi – a great US session that features Charles McPherson on alto sax! The album definitely lives up to its bebop title, but it's also far more than that too – and really shows the depth in Akioshi's playing in the years since she first cracked the US scene in the 50s as a big devotee of Bud Powell's style. Although some tunes are boppish, there's a nice degree of sensitivity in the music too – and McPherson's alto sax really helps bring this side in strongly – as the album's almost that same mix of modes that he was showing in his great late 60s work as a leader for Prestige. Toshiko produced the session herself, and other players include Steven Huffsteter on trumpet and flugelhorn, Gene Cherico or Bob Bowman on bass, and Roy McCurdy on drums. Titles include "Serpent's Tooth", "Mobius Trip", "Con Alma", "Joy Spring", "Kelo", and "I Thought About You". © 1996-2011, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

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By Andy