About

— The Analog Vault // Essential Listening —

Following a series of concert dates in Tokyo late in 1961 with his quintet, Horace Silver returned to the U.S. with his head full of the Japanese melodies he had heard during his visit, and using those as a springboard, he wrote four new pieces, which he then recorded at sessions held on July 13 and 14, 1962, along with a version of Ronnell Bright's little known ballad "Cherry Blossom." One would naturally assume the resulting LP would have a Japanese feel, but that really isn't the case. Using Latin rhythms and the blues as a base, Silver's Tokyo-influenced compositions fit right in with the subtle cross-cultural but very American hard bop he'd been doing all along. Using his usual quintet (Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor sax, Gene Taylor on bass) with drummer Joe Harris (he is listed as John Harris, Jr. for this set) filling in for an ailing Roy Brooks), Silver's compositions have a light, airy feel, with plenty of space, and no one used that space better at these sessions than Cook, whose tenor sax lines are simply wonderful, adding a sturdy, reliable brightness. 

The centerpieces are the two straight blues, "Sayonara Blues" and "The Tokyo Blues," both of which have a delightfully natural flow, and the building, patient take on Bright's "Cherry Blossom," which Silver takes pains to make sure sounds like a ballad and not a barely restrained minor-key romp. The bottom line is that The Tokyo Blues emerges as a fairly typical Silver set from the era and not as a grandiose fusion experiment welding hard bop to Japanese melodies. That might have been interesting, certainly, but Silver obviously assimilated things down to a deeper level before he wrote these pieces, and they feel like a natural extension of his work rather than an experimental detour. — via (Steve Leggett // AllMusic)
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Horace Silver’s 1962 tour of Japan had a profound impact on the pianist who returned to the U.S. and dedicated his subsequent album The Tokyo Blues to his fervent Japanese fans. Along with his quintet featuring trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, bassist Gene Taylor, and drummer John Harris Jr., Silver delivered an inspired 5-song set including his alluring originals “The Tokyo Blues,” “Too Much Sake,” “Sayonara Blues,” and “Ah! So,” as well as Ronnell Bright’s lovely ballad “Cherry Blossom.” Silver had noticed a love of Latin music among the Japanese jazz fans he met and in his compositions he sought to “combine the Japanese feeling in the melodies with the Latin feeling in the rhythms.”  — (via Label)

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About the Blue Note Tone Poet Series:

The Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series was born out of Blue Note President Don Was’ admiration for the exceptional audiophile Blue Note LP reissues presented by Music Matters. Was brought Joe Harley, a.k.a. the “Tone Poet,” on board to curate and supervise a series of reissues from the Blue Note family of labels.

Extreme attention to detail has been paid to getting these right in every conceivable way, from the jacket graphics and printing quality to superior LP mastering (direct from the master tapes) by Kevin Gray to superb 180g audiophile LP pressings by Record Technology Inc. Every aspect of these Tone Poet releases is done to the highest possible standard. It means that you will never find a superior version. This is IT.

This stereo Tone Poet Vinyl Edition was produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog master tapes, pressed on 180g vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI), and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket.

Vinyl Tracklist
A1 Too Much Sake
A2 Sayanora Blues
B1 The Tokyo Blues
B2 Cherry Blossom
B3 Ah! So

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Label: Blue Note
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, Gatefold, 180 Gram
Reissued: 2025 / Originally Released: 1962
Genre: Jazz
Style: Hard Bop

File under: TAV Essential Listening
File under: Jazz // Blue Note Tone Poet
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