The desire to discover and delve into new and unexplored areas of music has
turned attention on the Japanese jazz scene of the 1970s, often regarded as its
gilded age. The recent groundbreaking sell-out BBE compilation J Jazz: Deep
Modern Jazz from Japan 1969–1984 threw much needed light on this fascinating
era and presented a range of artists and music that surprised and delighted all
who heard it. A key track on the compilation was one of the rarest and least
known: Dead Letter by the Tohru Aizawa Quartet, taken from an album that was so
elusive, some pondered whether it even existed. The album, Tachibana, was
recored in 1975 and, until included on the J Jazz compilation, was unknown
except to a small group of obsessive Japanese jazz collectors. The privately
pressed record was the only album made by the Quartet, four amateur musicians
who were university students at the time. The session was financed by a local
businessman, Ikujiroh Tachibana, who pressed up a few hundred copies to use as a
business card. In the intervening 40 odd years since its recording, few copies
have surfaced, making it an in-demand yet elusive artefact from the golden age
of Japanese jazz. BBE Records are honoured to present a fully authorised reissue
of this holy grail, licensed directly from the band themselves. Tachibana has
all the necessary components of a cult album: pressed in small numbers, a few
mysterious and vague details about its origins, languishing in obscurity for
decades and, above all, superb musical craftsmanship and skill. It can now be
enjoyed by a new audience around the world. The album opens with the dynamic
percussion workout Philosopher’s Stone written by the then law-student and
drummer Tetsuya Morimura. It propels along with the band at
full pelt, showcasing Morimura’s well-developed drumming style. For a teenage
amateur player to compose and perform such an accomplished and impressive piece
is a testament to the talent that the band contained. Philosopher’s Stone is
followed by Sacrament, an epic modal composition by saxophonist Kiyochiro
Morimura that fans of Wayne Shorter, Pharaoh Sanders and late-era John Coltrane
will appreciate. After an extended intro the band drop into a heavy, churning
groove, Morimura’s saxophone scorching above the volcanic rhythm
section.
Dead Letter, written by Aizawa himself, is an epic piano led symphony of
spiritual jazz. Think McCoy Tyner at his imperial finest and you’ll get a
favour: impact, emotion and power all suffuse to create a overwhelming
experience. Amazingly, this is still the only Aizawa composition yet to be
recorded. The Tachibana album also includes two cover versions, both Latin
favoured numbers delivered with élan and brio: La Fiesta by Chick Corea and the
classic Samba de Orfeu by Luiz Bonfá. So, just five tracks in total, the sole
existing evidence of an astonishing band, the Tohru Aizawa Quartet. The
long-awaited reissue of this mythic album will include new liner notes and
photos, plus fully translated notes from the original
Japanese text. The album will be presented in an authentic thick card gatefold
sleeve in a faithful reproduction of the original sleeve design.
