About

Hideo Shiraki travelled to the US from Japan in 1962 and was bowled over by Horace Silver and the Bossa Nova craze happening at the same time. When he returned to Japan he went straight into the studio and cut this Blue Note inspired Japanese Jazz Masterpiece. With a selection of tunes ranging from the 1940's stylings of "Tico Tico" through to the samba infused "Orfeo Negro" and arriving in Silversville with "Sayonara Blues" Hideo Shiraki has hit all the sweet spots. With sleeve notes translated into English for the first time and laid out in the Blue Note Style this release is going to be seen as a landmark re-issue. A special vinyl-only release on Jazz Room Records. - Label

"Bossa jazz from 60s Japan – a set recorded right around the same time that Verve first started hitting bossa grooves in the US. The sound here is sharper than a Verve bossa album, though – with some of the same hardbop inflections you'd hear on other Hideo Shiraki albums from the time – thanks to flute and tenor from Sleepy Matsumoto, and trumpet from Hisaya Omata. The tenor and trumpet come together with almost a Blue Note-styled sort of sound – but the bossa vibe is still nicely maintained in some of the looser percussion touches in the rhythms – a great blend that makes the album a real standout in the Japanese jazz scene of the 60." - Jazz Messengers