Blue Note, 1962
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.”
Tracklist
Side A
Side B
Blue Note Records’ Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series is produced by Joe Harley and features all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tape 180g audiophile vinyl reissues in deluxe gatefold packaging. Mastering is by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) and vinyl is manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI).
