Hiroshi Fukumura Quintet - Morning Flight (1973) [Reissue 2013]

Genius work from Japanese trombonist Hiroshi Fukumura – working here at the helm of a twin-trombone group that also features the talents of Shigeharu Mukai – in a style that's filled with soul and free-thinking imagination! The two players work together beautifully here – avoiding any of the cliches of trombone-heavy groups from the past – and instead, using the open-ended Three Blind Mice label format to explore new ideas in jazz by hitting a spare, sensitive space that's really great. Sometimes tracks really take off and soar with the sort of inventiveness we'd expect from Slide Hampton at the time – at others, they work together more quietly to use the trombones as great shifters of sound and color. Tracks are all quite long, and other players include Hiroshi Tamura on piano, Tsutomu Okada on bass, and Shinji Mori on drums – on titles that include "Morning Flight", "Winter Song", "Cousin Mary", and "Soldier In The Rain". - Dusty Groove