Requisites
Scenery ~ Ryo Fukui | By Eddie Carter
This morning’s record from the library holds a special place in my heart because two Christmases ago, my nephew Kyle, knowing how much I love trio albums, introduced me to pianist Ryo Fukui. A Letter From Slowboat and Mellow Dream instantly became favorites of mine. Submitted for your consideration in this discussion is his first release from 1976, Scenery (Nadja PA-7148). It initially hit the Japanese stores that year, and his bandmates on this date are Satoshi Denpo on bass and Yoshinori Fukui on drums. My copy is the 2018 We Release Jazz Swiss Half-Speed Stereo reissue (WRJ001).
Side One opens with a jazz standard from the forties, It Could Happen To You, by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. Ryo makes the first move with a solo introduction leading to the trio’s sprightly theme. The pianist soars cheerfully through the song’s only interpretation while his colleagues’ accompaniment keeps pace, leading to the closing chorus and ending. I Want To Talk About You is a gorgeous ballad by Billy Eckstine that starts softly with a touching piano introduction, segueing into the group’s elegant melody. As the featured soloist, Fukui delivers a reading of quiet finesse preceding the climax.
Early Summer by Hideo Ichikawa grabs the listener from the opening notes of the pianist’s introduction to the trio’s lively theme. Ryo is up first and catapults into a swinging statement. Satoshi takes flight next with an exhilarating interpretation that soars skyward until Ryo’s closing remarks lead to the theme’s restatement. Ann Ronell’s Willow Weep For Me gets the second side underway with the trio’s bluesy opening chorus. As the song’s only soloist, Fukui serves an enjoyable performance with a down-home flavor. Satoshi and Yoshinori provide the foundation before the theme’s reprise and the song’s conclusion.
I first heard Autumn Leaves by Joseph Kosma, Johnny Mercer, and Jacques Prevert many years ago on Somethin’ Else and have been captivated ever since. The trio’s version of the jazz standard opens with a brief introduction that eases into their joyous melody. Ryo’s opening statement is as comforting as a visit to an old friend. Satoshi’s contribution takes a delightful stroll toward the closing chorus. The title tune, Scenery, highlights Ryo’s ability as a composer. His gentle introduction sets the mood for the trio’s delicate melody. In the song’s only solo, Fukui creates a canvas of tender beauty complemented by Satoshi and Yoshinori’s elegant accompaniment until the theme returns.
Scenery was produced by Masataka Ito, supervised by Olivier Ducret and Stéphane Armleder, and engineered by Kunio Arai. Music Matters Mastering mastered this reissue from the original reels at half-speed. The album sounds fantastic, with a superb soundstage transporting the musicians into your listening room. The first time I listened to this album was on a rainy evening, and the music seemed to transport me to a serene, picturesque landscape. If you’re in the mood for a terrific trio album, I invite you to check out Scenery by Ryo Fukui on your next record-shopping trip. It’s worth every penny for a spot in any fan’s library and should give its owner many years of listening pleasure!
~ A Letter From Slowboat (HMV Record Shop HRLP 103), Mellow Dream (Trio Records PA-7182), Somethin’ Else (Blue Note BLP 1595/BST 81595) – Source: Discogs.com
~Autumn Leaves, It Could Happen To You – Source: JazzStandards.com
© 2025 by Edward Thomas Carter
More Posts: choice,classic,collectible,collector,history,instrumental,jazz,music,piano
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Raymond Michael Pizzi was born January 19, 1943 in Everett, Massachusetts. His first instrument was clarinet and he attended the Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music in the 1960s.
Pizzi taught in Randolph, Massachusetts public schools from 1964 to 1969 before relocating to California. In the 1970s he worked with Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Frank Zappa, Shelly Manne, Willie Bobo, Moacir Santos, Mark Levine, and Dizzy Gillespie.
The Eighties saw him accompanying Nancy Wilson and was a sideman for Milcho Leviev and Bob Florence. He worked with the American Jazz Orchestra into the early-1990s. Ray recorded as a leader, including in a quartet called Windrider.
As an educator he joined the faculty at the Henry Mancini Institute at the University of Miami in 1997.
Saxophonist, bassoonist, and flautist Ray Pizzi, nicknamed Pizza Man, died on September 2, 2021.
More Posts: bandleader,bassoon,educator,flute,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
Daily Dose Of Jazz..
Bernard Cash was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England on January 18, 1935. Music became his religion and he began his musical career as a trumpet player, gaining a reputation playing with different bands around the United Kingdom. At 25 he took up the double bass under the tutelage of Peter Ind. To earn a living he moved to London, England in 1961 with his wife, where he became involved in the jazz scene, and played with many musicians of note.
Returning to Yorkshire he founded the Light Music Course at Leeds College of Music. Recruiting his friend and mentor Ind, the two went about establishing the first real jazz course in the UK of which jazz guitarist Dave Cliff was an alumni. Leaving the academia of college he moved his family to Bridlington, on the East Yorkshire Coast, and worked as a peripatetic instrumental teacher. He continued to make regular trips to London to play jazz and organized jazz gigs in the North of England with many of the great players he had met.
He studied music at Hull University from 1974 to 1977 and while there Bernie organized numerous jazz gigs that included Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. He continued to work in music education and maintained his own career. He held the position of Deputy Music Advisor for the Hull area, created the big band Great Jazz Solos Revisited, and scored some of his favourite artists’ solos, including Lester Young, Charlie Parker and Charlie Christian.
The big band enlisted the heavyweights of British jazz, Peter Ind, Peter King, Bob Burns, Art Morgan, Jim Livesey, Kathy Stobart, John Holbrooke, and Dave Cliff. He went on to create in conjunction with English playwright Alan Plater the jazz opera “Prez” based on the life of Lester Young. With the education system losing its luster he returned to London in 1986, playing jazz and being a traveling instrumental teacher.
He joined the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, Yorkshire Opera and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and toured with them. While on tour with the Royal Philharmonic in Germany, bassist Bernie Cash, who was an accomplished flautist, saxophonist and trumpeter, collapsed and died of a heart attack on October 7th, 1988.
More Posts: bandleader,bass,educator,flute,history,instrumental,jazz,music,saxophone
Daily Dose Of jazz…
Larry Sonn was born in Woodmere on Long Island New York City on January 17, 1919. He graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in New York and began his career with the Southern Symphony Orchestra in Columbia, South Carolina. He took the first trumpet position, but later turned to the popular idioms of jazz and the big band sound. He was soon playing trumpet and arranging for the top orchestras in the United States including Glenn Miller, Teddy Powell, Bobby Byrne, Charlie Barnett, and Vincent Lopez.
In the early 1940’s he moved from New York to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then to San Antonio, Texas. While performing there an executive from the new Hotel Reforma in Mexico City heard him play. Impressed by Larry’s virtuosity, he offered him a short-term contract at the hotel’s Ciro’s Nightclub that lasted nine years.
Returning to America for a stay late in the1950’s but still Mexico called. Larry came back to form one of the foremost big bands in the country, touring, doing radio shows for XEW, and recording for RCA Victor, CBS, Cisne, Peerless, Sonart and other labels.
Retiring from music in 1972 Sonn relocated forty miles south of Mexico City, opened a popular book store specializing in US editions for English-speaking residents and tourists. After several years he retired completely. Trumpeter, arranger, composer and bandleader Larry Sonn at 91, is alive and well in the City of Eternal Spring, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
More Posts: arranger,bandleader,composer,history,instrumental,jazz,music,trumpet
The Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is flying east for another visit to the Motor City and some atmosphere and jazz at Cliff Bell’s. Starting out as a pub, turned speakeasy during Prohibition, it has become one of the premier jazz venues in the Midwest. I’m going to stop by Hitsville U.S.A. and take a nostalgic walk down the soul music memory lane before hitting the club.
I will be checking out a musician I have never heard before but is one who is keeping the tradition alive. He is a Grammy nominated saxophonist who goes by the name of De’Sean Jones and he brings his trio with him for the night. I’ll be catching the second set, as usual, just in case he decides to give anything extra.
The cover charge is $25.00 and Cliff Bell’s is located at 2030 Park Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48226. For more information visit cliffbells.com.
More Posts: adventure,club,genius,jazz,music,piano,preserving,saxophone,travel