{"product_id":"george-otsuka-quintet_loving-you-george_2021_mdl","title":"Loving You George","description":"THE JAPANESE QUINTET'S CULT LIVE ALBUM, BETWEEN MODAL AND SPIRITUAL JAZZ.Wewantsounds reissues George Otsuka Quintet's cult album, recorded live on July 19, 1975, at Nemu Jazz Inn. Released on the renowned Japanese label Bellwood, Loving You George features four superb performances oscillating between modal and spiritual jazz, led by Otsuka's drums and Fumio Karashima's Fender Rhodes. George Otsuka is one of the giants of the Japanese jazz scene. The drummer, who sadly passed away in 2020, played and recorded with Japan's biggest musicians and labels over a career spanning more than 50 years. Born Keiji Otsuka in 1937 in Tokyo, he joined Sadao Watanabe's Cosy Quartet in the late 1950s before moving on to Hidehiko Matsumoto's quartet, where he became known as one of the most promising drummers. In the mid-1960s, he formed his own trio with Hideo Ichikawa (piano) and Masaoki Terakawa (bass), recording several acclaimed albums and also playing with international stars such as Hampton Hawes and Roy Haynes. The 1970s were a productive decade for Otsuka, who enthusiastically embraced the jazz developments of the time, balancing tradition and avant-garde. After recording for the top Japanese labels, Trio, Three Blind Mice, and Nippon Columbia, the musician turned to Bellwood Records, a label launched by Koki Miura and responsible for the new Japanese folk and rock scene symbolized by Happy End and Haruomi Hosono. Otsuka recorded a live album at the Nemu Jazz Inn, located in the Nemu resort, south of Nagoya. The evening was special, to say the least: the musician's quintet, comprising Mitsuaki Furuno (double bass), Norio Ohno (percussion), Shozo Sasaki (saxophone), and Fumio Karashima (piano), shared the stage with the supergroup of Norman Connors, Eddie Henderson, and Gary Bartz, who also recorded a live album, Dance Of Magic, which has since become highly sought after. During the concert, Otsuka and his men were in great form and played four luminous tracks: \"Little Island,\" a beautiful original composition by Karashima, followed by \"Something Everywhere,\" a cover of Steve Kuhn's Brazilian-flavored track on which Karashima shines on the Fender Rhodes and Sasaki on soprano saxophone. Side 2 begins with a cover of Coltrane's standard \"Miles Mode\" ending with an Otsuka drum solo, followed by a superb, funky interpretation of Minnie Riperton's classic \"Loving You,\" serving as a springboard for some beautiful improvisations by Karashima, again on the Fender Rhodes. The vibrant album Loving You George shows George Otsuka and his musicians at the peak of their art, demonstrating a richness of improvisation rivaling their American peers. A rare and highly prized album by Japanese jazz fans that Wewantsounds is delighted to reissue for the first time since the 1970s in its original format, remastered from the original tapes by King Records in Japan.","brand":"George Otsuka Quintet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55311895560536,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/3700604728047.jpg?v=1760405723","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/george-otsuka-quintet_loving-you-george_2021_mdl","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}