{"title":"Three Blind Mice","description":"\u003cp\u003eTakeshi Fujii started Three Blind Mice in Tokyo in 1970 because Japan had no independent, owner-run label recording its own jazz players. With the engineer Yoshihiko Kannari he set out to capture bands exactly as they sounded in the room: no isolation booths, no equaliser tricks, everyone playing at once. The records that came out of that approach made stars of Isao Suzuki and Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, gave Mari Nakamoto and Hidefumi Toki their first albums as leaders, and ranged from piano trios and big bands to free improvisation. Suzuki's \u003cem\u003eBlow Up\u003c\/em\u003e and Yamamoto's \u003cem\u003eMisty\u003c\/em\u003e were its two biggest sellers and are still the label's best-known recordings.\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"motohiko-hino-quartet-1-featuring-mabumi-yamaguchi-ryuhyo-sailing-ice-2024-three-blind-mice-180g-vinyl-lp","title":"Motohiko Hino Quartet +1 featuring Mabumi Yamaguchi - Ryuhyo: Sailing Ice (2024 Three Blind Mice 180g Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMotohiko Hino Quartet +1 featuring Mabumi Yamaguchi - \u003cem\u003eRyuhyo: Sailing Ice\u003c\/em\u003e (流氷) | Vinyl LP - 2024 Three Blind Mice Premium Reissue Collection (MHJL 308, remastered and cut by Bernie Grundman, 180g pressing at Sony Music Solutions Shizuoka) \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRecorded live in Nemuro, the easternmost city in Japan\u003c\/strong\u003e, on a February night in 1976 with drift ice on the Sea of Okhotsk, three extended post-Coltrane performances by two tenor saxophonists, a young Kazumi Watanabe on guitar and Nobuyoshi Ino on bass\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThree Blind Mice Premium Reissue Collection\u003c\/strong\u003e, limited edition 180g vinyl remastered and cut by Bernie Grundman in Hollywood from the original master tapes, with 12-page booklet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMotohiko Hino's most celebrated recording\u003c\/strong\u003e, the drummer leading a quintet through pieces by Tadd Dameron and Steve Grossman alongside his own title composition, produced by TBM founder Takeshi Fujii\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRyuhyo means drift ice: the sea ice that flows south from the Sea of Okhotsk to the coast of Hokkaido each winter. Nemuro sits at the very eastern tip of the island, and this concert was recorded there on February 7, 1976 at the Nemuro Shimin Kaikan. The location is part of the album. Motohiko \"Toko\" Hino, younger brother of trumpeter Terumasa Hino, leads a quintet of two tenor saxophonists, guitar, bass and drums through three extended performances, none shorter than ten minutes. The title track opens Side A with Hino's own composition, a thirteen-minute piece where the two tenors (Mabumi Yamaguchi and Yasuaki Shimizu) establish a post-Coltrane intensity that Dusty Groove described as living up to the imagery of its title. Kazumi Watanabe, still in his early twenties and a few years away from international recognition, plays guitar with a clarity and aggression that cuts through the two horns. \"Soultrane\", Tadd Dameron's piece from Coltrane's 1958 album of the same name, follows at ten and a half minutes, the rhythm section of Hino and Nobuyoshi Ino providing the rhythmic foundation while the saxophone solos build.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"New Moon\", Steve Grossman's composition, fills all of Side B at over eighteen minutes. It is the album's centrepiece and the most rhythmically complex piece on the date. Hino's drumming, always the session's driving force, is at its most expansive here, responding to the soloists in real time with a sensitivity and power that places him alongside the best post-bop drummers working anywhere in 1976. The recording was engineered by Masayoshi Okawa with assistance from Shigeru Kadowaki of the Nemuro Hot Jazz Club and Toshiaki Kanazawa of Suzuki Denki, and originally cut by Mitsuharu Kobayashi at Toshiba EMI. Produced by Takeshi Fujii for Three Blind Mice (TBM-61), the label he founded in 1970 as a showcase for Japan's jazz musicians, known across the audiophile world for its recording quality. This Premium Reissue Collection edition was remastered and cut by Bernie Grundman at his Hollywood mastering studio, pressed on 180g vinyl at Sony Music Solutions in Shizuoka. Comes with obi and 12-page booklet with liner notes by Shun-ichi Morita and Tateo Fujii.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Three Blind Mice","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44407784570939,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/a1724116223_10.jpg?v=1791453066"},{"product_id":"hidefumi-toki-quartet-toki-2024-three-blind-mice-180g-vinyl-lp","title":"Hidefumi Toki Quartet - Toki (2024 Three Blind Mice 180g Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHidefumi Toki Quartet - \u003cem\u003eToki\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP - 2024 Three Blind Mice Premium Reissue Collection (MHJL 324 \/ TBM-46, remastered and cut by Bernie Grundman, 180g pressing) \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDeeply personal spiritual jazz from one of Japan’s foremost alto saxophonists\u003c\/strong\u003e, a guitar-led quartet with Kazumi Watanabe, Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and Steve Jackson on drums, recorded at Aoi Studio in Tokyo in 1975\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwo extended Toki originals alongside Ornette Coleman’s “Blues”\u003c\/strong\u003e, the Marvin Fisher standard “When Sunny Gets Blue” and the closing “Old Song Blues”, all played with a quiet intensity that draws comparisons to Coltrane’s later ballad work\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThree Blind Mice Premium Reissue Collection\u003c\/strong\u003e, limited edition 180g vinyl remastered and cut by Bernie Grundman in Hollywood, with 12-page booklet\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHidefumi Toki was born in 1950 and received classical training on clarinet in high school before moving to saxophone in college. He dropped out to play jazz full-time, and \u003cem\u003eToki\u003c\/em\u003e, recorded on May 17, 1975, is the album that established his voice. The quartet has no piano. Kazumi Watanabe’s guitar fills the harmonic role, and the absence of a keyboard gives the music an openness that suits Toki’s playing. His tone is raspy and warm, gentle on the surface but with a spiritual depth that one Discogs reviewer placed squarely in the lineage of Coltrane. “Lullabye for the Girl” opens at over eleven minutes, the longest track, with Toki on alto building his solo slowly over Ino’s bass and Jackson’s brushes. Watanabe comps with restraint before taking a solo that shows why Three Blind Mice kept calling him back, his clean, precise lines a counterweight to Toki’s breathier phrasing. “Darkness” follows at ten minutes, the title earning itself: Toki switches between alto and soprano, and the mood darkens without ever becoming aggressive. The whole first side is about patience and letting the music arrive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSide B opens with Ornette Coleman’s “Blues”, eight minutes where the Coleman influence is less about the free playing and more about the logic of the melody, Toki treating the piece as a composition to be explored rather than a vehicle for extended blowing. “When Sunny Gets Blue”, the Marvin Fisher and Jack Segal standard, is played as a ballad with Toki on soprano, and “Old Song Blues” closes the record with a return to the relaxed intensity of Side A. The rhythm section of Ino and Jackson holds the centre throughout, Ino’s bass particularly effective on the longer pieces where his walking lines give the soloists a steady frame to work against. Produced by Takeshi Fujii for Three Blind Mice (TBM-46), recorded and mixed by Yoshihiko Kannari at Aoi Studio with Masayoshi Okawa assisting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Premium Reissue Collection edition was remastered and cut by Bernie Grundman at his Hollywood mastering studio, pressed on 180g vinyl at Sony Music Solutions. Supervised by Koki Hanawa. Thick card sleeve with obi and two A5 inserts.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Three Blind Mice","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44415586664507,"sku":null,"price":75.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/a0713837413_10.jpg?v=1791495121"},{"product_id":"isao-suzuki-trio-quartet-blow-up-1979-japanese-three-blind-mice-vinyl-lp","title":"Isao Suzuki Trio\/Quartet - Blow Up (1979 Japanese Three Blind Mice Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIsao Suzuki Trio\/Quartet - \u003cem\u003eBlow Up\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP, 1979 Japanese Three Blind Mice Reissue (15PJ-1023, TBM Best 1500 Collection)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOne of the most sought-after titles in the Three Blind Mice catalogue\u003c\/strong\u003e, originally recorded March 29 and 30, 1973 at Aoi Studio, Tokyo, and awarded both the Jazz of Japan Award and the Jazz Disc Award by Swing Journal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSuzuki on bass and cello with Kunihiko Sugano on piano and Fender electric piano, George Otsuka on drums\u003c\/strong\u003e, and Takashi Mizuhashi joining as second bassist on the quartet tracks, allowing Suzuki to move between the two instruments freely\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTBM Best 1500 Collection reissue\u003c\/strong\u003e from October 1979, manufactured by Nippon Phonogram and cut by Tohru Kotetsu at JVC, with obi and insert\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIsao Suzuki learned to play bass on American military bases in occupied Japan, worked his way through the Tokyo jazz scene in the 1960s, then moved to New York from 1969 to 1971 where he played with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Ella Fitzgerald and Jim Hall. He returned to Japan and began recording for Three Blind Mice, the label founded by Takeshi “Tee” Fujii in 1970 that became synonymous with audiophile-quality Japanese jazz. \u003cem\u003eBlow Up\u003c\/em\u003e was the album that established his reputation. The trio tracks feature Suzuki on bass with Sugano and Otsuka, playing with a directness and rhythmic force that earned comparisons to no one in particular, because the sound was his own. The quartet tracks add Mizuhashi on bass, freeing Suzuki to play cello, and the tonal contrast between the two configurations gives the album its range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree Suzuki originals anchor the programme. “Aqua Marine” opens with a cool, pacing groove. The title track “Blow Up” is the centrepiece at seven and a half minutes, building in intensity through the ensemble. “Low Flight” closes side B. Between them sit two standards: “Everything Happens to Me” (the Matt Dennis ballad) and “I Can’t Get Started” (Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin), both played with more grit than sentimentality. The recording, engineered by Yoshihiko Kannari at Aoi Studio, has the clarity and presence that TBM pressings are collected for: each instrument occupies its own space, and the bass and cello are captured with a physicality that rewards good speakers. This is the October 1979 reissue in the TBM Best 1500 Collection series (catalogue 15PJ-1023). Manufactured by Nippon Phonogram. Lacquer cut by Tohru Kotetsu at the Victor Company of Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Three Blind Mice","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44595696402491,"sku":null,"price":165.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_9203.jpg?v=1792273642"},{"product_id":"tsuyoshi-yamamoto-trio-misty-1979-japanese-three-blind-mice-vinyl-lp","title":"Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio - Misty (1979 Japanese Three Blind Mice Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio - \u003cem\u003eMisty\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP, 1979 Japanese Three Blind Mice Reissue (15PJ-1026, TBM Best 1500 Collection)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eYamamoto’s second TBM album and one of the three most sought-after titles in the Three Blind Mice catalogue\u003c\/strong\u003e alongside \u003cem\u003eBlow Up\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eMidnight Sugar\u003c\/em\u003e, recorded in a single session on August 7, 1974 at Aoi Studio, Tokyo\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePiano trio format with Isoo Fukui on bass and Tetsujiro Obara on drums\u003c\/strong\u003e, playing six standards and one Yamamoto original through seven tracks that earned both the Best Engineering Award and the Jazz Disc Award from Swing Journal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTBM Best 1500 Collection reissue\u003c\/strong\u003e from October 1979, with the same production team as every landmark TBM session: Takeshi Fujii producing, Yoshihiko Kannari engineering, Tohru Kotetsu cutting\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTsuyoshi Yamamoto was largely self-taught as a pianist. He started playing professionally at 19 in 1967 and toured internationally with the Micky Curtis Band through France, England and Switzerland before settling into the Tokyo jazz scene. In 1974, he became the house pianist at Misty, a Tokyo jazz club whose name he shared with this album (and with the Erroll Garner standard that opens it). His debut for Three Blind Mice, \u003cem\u003eMidnight Sugar\u003c\/em\u003e, had been recorded in March 1974. Five months later he was back at Aoi Studio with the same trio for \u003cem\u003eMisty\u003c\/em\u003e. The programme is almost entirely standards, and Yamamoto’s approach to them is relaxed and melodic rather than technically aggressive. “Misty” itself runs over seven minutes, opening with a spacious reading of the melody before the trio settles into a swinging interpretation. “Yesterdays” (Jerome Kern) and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (also Kern) are ballads played with restraint. “Honeysuckle Rose” (Fats Waller) and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” (Rodgers and Hart) have more rhythmic drive. “Angel Eyes” (Matt Dennis) closes the album quietly. “Blues”, the only original, is a Yamamoto composition with a lighter, more playful groove than the title might suggest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIsoo Fukui’s bass playing is a particular strength. Several reviewers single it out: his tone and rhythmic placement give the trio its foundation, and Yamamoto’s relaxed style depends on having that solidity underneath. Tetsujiro Obara’s drumming is unobtrusive and precise. The recording, engineered by Yoshihiko Kannari at Aoi Studio, has the TBM clarity that audiophile collectors know: the piano is captured with a natural warmth, and the bass has a physical presence that rewards good playback. This is the October 1979 reissue in the TBM Best 1500 Collection series (catalogue 15PJ-1026). Manufactured by Nippon Phonogram. Lacquer cut by Tohru Kotetsu at the Victor Company of Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Three Blind Mice","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44595815612475,"sku":null,"price":125.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_9208.jpg?v=1792275074"},{"product_id":"isao-suzuki-trio-black-orpheus-1979-japanese-three-blind-mice-vinyl-lp","title":"Isao Suzuki Trio - Black Orpheus (1979 Japanese Three Blind Mice Vinyl LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIsao Suzuki Trio - \u003cem\u003eBlack Orpheus\u003c\/em\u003e | Vinyl LP, 1979 Japanese Three Blind Mice Reissue (TBM(P)-2563, 2500 Cat Series)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe TBM label’s two biggest artists on one record\u003c\/strong\u003e: Isao Suzuki on bass and cello leading a trio with Tsuyoshi Yamamoto on piano and Fender electric piano, and American drummer Donald Bailey, who was living in Japan at the time\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFive tracks of standards and one Yamamoto original\u003c\/strong\u003e, opening with an eleven-minute reading of “Manhã de Carnaval” (the bossa nova standard from the 1959 film \u003cem\u003eBlack Orpheus\u003c\/em\u003e) and moving through “Angel Eyes”, “Who Can I Turn To”, “In a Sentimental Mood” and a closing blues\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003e1979 reissue in the 2500 Cat Series\u003c\/strong\u003e (third press), manufactured by Nippon Phonogram, with the same production team behind every major TBM session\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the session where TBM’s two leading artists meet. Isao Suzuki and Tsuyoshi Yamamoto had appeared together on the label before (the \u003cem\u003eNow’s the Time\u003c\/em\u003e live set in 1974), but \u003cem\u003eBlack Orpheus\u003c\/em\u003e is the album that defines their partnership. The trio format leaves nowhere to hide. Suzuki moves between bass and cello across the five tracks, and Yamamoto plays both acoustic piano and Fender electric piano, with the Rhodes adding a warmer, more atmospheric colour to the acoustic piano’s clarity. Donald Bailey, who had moved to Japan in the mid-1970s after years as the drummer in Jimmy Smith’s trio on Blue Note, brings a swing and a groove sensibility rooted in the American hard bop tradition. He had also played with John Coltrane in their early Philadelphia years, with Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, and Hampton Hawes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe programme opens with “Manhã de Carnaval” at over eleven minutes, the longest track, building from a bossa nova pulse into something more open and exploratory. “Angel Eyes” (Matt Dennis) and “In a Sentimental Mood” (Duke Ellington) are ballads played with restraint. “Who Can I Turn To” (Bricusse and Newley) has more rhythmic momentum. “Blues”, a Yamamoto original, closes side B. The recording, engineered by Yoshihiko Kannari at Aoi Studio on February 20, 1976, captures Suzuki’s cello pizzicato and Yamamoto’s Rhodes with a directness that makes the interplay between the three instruments the centre of attention. This is the 1979 reissue in the 2500 Cat Series, noted as a third press. The original release was TBM-63 (1976, with an EMI-manufactured version following in 1977). Manufactured by Nippon Phonogram. Lacquer cut by Tohru Kotetsu at the Victor Company of Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Three Blind Mice","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44595877642299,"sku":null,"price":200.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/3203\/3339\/files\/IMG_9213.jpg?v=1792276457"}],"url":"https:\/\/lushliferecords.com.au\/collections\/three-blind-mice.oembed","provider":"Lush Life Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}