(1970) Tokyo Bound ****1/2

 

With: Mal Waldron (piano), Yasuo Arakawa (bass), Takeshi Inomata (drums)
Record date: February 7 & 12, 1970

In 1970 Mal made his first trip to Japan, a country where jazz had not yet been fully take over and was still very popular. When Coltrane arrived on the Tokyo airport four years earlier he thought he was traveling with some kind of movie star, seeing a huge crowd from the airplane window. It was only when he came closer, he realized those fans were there to welcome him. In Japan, Mal rose to almost celebrity status and is still widely appreciated. And as much as the Japanese loved Mal, so much he loved Japan. After this first trip he was to return lots of times sometimes residing multiple months in the country. He loved Japan, but did not feel like settling permanently he once stated: the country was too neat and there were too much rules. He did meet his second wife there and owned several apartments. Anyway, his visits were mostly very productive and resulted in many records. On his first visit he recorded two records: ‘Tokyo Bound’ and ‘Tokyo Reverie’. Nowadays, lots of his music is still only available as Japanese release only. So are these two releases.

For ‘Tokyo Bound’, Mal selected two not very known but talented musicians: bassist Yasuo Arakawa and drummer Takeshi Inomata. Arakawa was a much in demand bassist in the Japanese jazz scene. Both of the musicians make a fine appearance here but Arakawa stands out most of the two. And although he doesn’t match the level of Isla Eckinger, Reggie Workman or Jimmy Woode he provides a very solid base to solo on for Mal.

Again, this is an album full of Waldron’s originals. Each track was inspired by his stay in the land of rising sun. The first track is also the highlight of the album. ‘Japanese Island’ starts with a dreamy atmosphere with Arakwa and Inomata providing gentle support to Mal’s beautiful eastern oriented melody. Than from that melody the music slowly moves in an uptempo hard swinging Waldron composition. ‘Rock One for Jinbo San’ has a more funky feel with Mal’s little walk in the low register of the piano. ‘Atomic Energy’ is again a more uptempo very repetitive composition with lots of energy explosions. ‘Mount Fujiyama’ has a more relaxed atmosphere and gives Mal and Arakwa a good change to exchange ideas en interact with each other. All in all this is classic ’70’s Mal with a great band an beautiful compositions. It’s highly recommended.

Tokyo Bound was released once on cd and that one is not very easy to find. There are more copies available on vinyl and pricewise there isn’t a lot of difference. I’ve got the 1970 Victor vinyl version which sounds great and comes with a beautiful multiple page booklet with pictures from Mal’s first stay in Japan. There are also photo’s from the session itself. The liner notes are extensive but unfortunately as with many of my Mal cd’s and vinyl I am not able to read them…