Isao Suzuki with Tsuyoshi Yamamoto - Samba Club (1980)

A wicked, wicked set of tracks from Japan - one that blends together jazzy riffing and Brazilian rhythms, all played with a surprisingly soulful bent! Suzuki's on bass and piccolo bass, and Yamamoto plays not only electric piano but also a bit of electric harpsichord - which adds a cool feel to the album, and one that's almost like some lost European soundtrack. Rhythms are mostly in a breezy sort of style that mixes samba with bossa jazz - and Donald Bailey is in the group on drums, providing some very nice bottom to the set. The whole thing's great, with a really unique style - one that's so great it even transforms older numbers like "Night And Day", "Sweet Georgia Brown", "Greensleeves", and "La Vie En Rose". Also features an especially great take on Michel Colombier's "Overture". 

Paddle Wheel, K28P-6091, 1981
King Records, KICJ 2295, 2012
Recorded 17th July, 1980 at King Studio #2, Tokyo, Japan 

Musicians:
Isao Suzuki - Bass, Bass [Piccolo Bass]
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto - Piano, Spinet
Ichiro Doi - Electric Piano, Vocoder
Takayuki Kato - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Donald Bailey - Drums, Harmonica
Francis - Percussion, Vocals 

Tracks:
1. Overture {Michel Colombier} (6:01)
2. Tenderly {Jack Lawrence, Walter Gross} (7:22)
3. Night And Day {Cole Porter} (5:37))
4. Sweet Georgia Brown {Ben Bernie, Kenneth Casey, Maceo Pinkard} (4:37)
5. Greensleeves {Traditional; Arr. Isao Suzuki} (6:43)
6. La Vie En Rose {Louis Guglielmi, Édith Piaf} /
    Moon Glow {Eddie DeLange, Irving Mills, Will Hudson} (5:24) 

Total Time: 35:48 

Credits:
Producer - Isao Suzuki, Motohiko Takawa
Director - Shigeyuki Kawashima
Recording & Mixing Engineer - Hatsuro Takanami
Engineer [Assistant] - Takao Suga
Mastering Engineer - Shogo Sakamaki
Photography [Cover] - Pete Turner 

Bass play with a unique melody
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The recording was made in 1980, which is when Japan Fusion was at its peak. Isao Suzuki's bass is still a unique melody. feel well. The piano in this album is Mr. Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, but when I saw this title, I thought that I wanted to hear the collaboration with Mr. Naoya Matsuoka and Mr. Masaru Imada. ~ TOMOFIVE, Amazon.com. 

Tenderly