Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band - Road Time (Remastered) (Live) (1976/2024)

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Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band - Road Time (Remastered) (Live) (1976/2024)

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Road Time was the first live concert recording of the Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band. The recording was made at three concerts in Tōkyō and Ōsaka, during a 1976 Japan tour and the double album received a 1977 Grammy nomination in the "Best Jazz Performance - Big Band" category.

A great little live set from the glory days of the Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Big Band – a series of performances from Japan, recorded in 1976, all featuring the ensemble at its best! The double-length nature of the record takes the group even farther than usual – really letting them stretch out with the kind of bold tones and broad colors that made the group so great. Soloists include Bobby Shew on trumpet, Jimmy Knepper on trombone, and Gary Foster on alto sax – alongside leaders Lew Tabackin on tenor and flute, and Toshiko Akioshi on piano. Titles include a nicely dancing reading of the classic "Warning: Success May Be Hazardous To Your Health" – plus "Kogun", "Henpecked Old Man", "Tuning Up", "Since Perry/Yet Another Tear" and "Soliloquy".

"This double album, which, like most of the Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra's recordings, is currently out of print, gives one a definitive look at her 1970s orchestra. Akiyoshi's arrangements are colorful and swinging; the best charts on this two-fer are "Tuning Up," the nearly 23-minute "Henpecked Old Man," "Kogun" (which pays tribute to her Japanese heritage) and "Road Time Shuffle." This edition of the orchestra includes such major players as trumpeter Steve Huffstetter and Bobby Shew, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, altoists Dick Spencer and Gary Foster and Lew Tabackin on tenor and flute. It's highly recommended, if it can be found." (Scott Yanow)

Toshiko Akiyoshi, piano
Lew Tabackin, tenor saxophone and flute
Tom Peterson, tenor saxophone
Dick Spencer, alto saxophone
Gary Foster, alto saxophone
Bill Byrne, baritone saxophone
Steven Huffsteter, trumpet
Bobby Shew, trumpet
Richard Cooper, trumpet
Mike Price, trumpet
Bill Reichenbach Jr., trombone
Jim Sawyer, trombone
Jimmy Knepper, trombone
Phil Teele, bass trombone
Don Baldwin, bass
Peter Donald, drums
Guests:
Kisaku Katada, kotsuzumi (on "Kogun")
Yutaka Yazaki, ōtsuzumi (on "Kogun")