Recorded on May 21, 1976, this was the first studio album where Hank Jones, Ron Carter and Tony Williams performed together as The Great Jazz Trio. In this album, they back up renowned Japanese sax player, Sadao Watanabe.
Watanabe started playing clarinet and alto sax in high school. After moving to Tokyo, he joined Toshiko Akiyoshis bop-oriented group in 1953 and took over as bandleader after Akiyoshi moved to the U.S. in 1956. He attended Berklee School of Music in the mid-Sixties. He has recorded steadily primarily for Denon, Elektra and Verve and has worked with Chick Corea, Gary McFarland and Chico Hamilton. He is best known for his Charlie Parker- influenced alto playing. This is illustrated in his version of “Confirmation," which was done in one take.
Also included in this album are two by Billy Strayhorn - “3:10 Blues" and “Chelsea Bridge", and two originals by Watanabe himself “Episode" featuring him on flute, and “One for C," a theme song written for a popular Japanese TV drama series. The title track written by Johnny Mercer and Jerome Kern was made famous by the dancing of Fred Astaire with Rita Hayworth. The album may be old fashioned, but is still fresh today.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
