Continuing to explore the Three Blind Mice label, which is a real treasure trove of great stuff. This one is by Japanese pianist Masaru Imada and was his second on the label. The first side features standards with Imada playing solo piano and on the second side we have a trio playing originals penned by Imada, with Isao Fukui joining in on bass and Masahiko Ozu on drums.
The solo side is beautiful and contains a great rendition of Mal Waldron’s “Left Alone”. I dig the trio performance on the second side the most though, with the group sounding superb together. Lovely compositions by Imada. My favorite is the seven minutes and change up-tempo ”Ascent”.
