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Hiroaki Katayama - Quatre
I reviewed this for Cadence last year & recently pulled it out again & was struck by how enjoyable it was. I don't think it's been noised about much at all so I thought it was worth mentioning here. It's certainly one of the strangest discs I've ever received--absolutely hysterically over-the-top performances, including a bellowing cover of an Edith Piaf tune, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", a tango, some bouncy disco beats, wild-eyed soul numbers, a ridiculous sock-hop blues, maudlin balladry, &c. Sometimes it sounds like Peter Brotzmann parodying David Murray. On other occasions it sounds like David Murray parodying Peter Brotzmann. Fans of Carlo Actis Dato might in particular respond to Katayama's funny, openhearted blowing. I don't know anything about him, except that he's worked with Aki Takase -- The pianist, Fumio Itabashi, is I gather one of Japan's best--he's got that pellucid, precious hyper-Bill Evans touch that you hear in other Japanese pianists like Masabumi Kikuchi; even as he also attacks the piano on other occasions with a Cecil Taylor/Yosuke Yamashita kind of aggression. He contributes the two most restrained compositions, "For You" & "Nairobi Star"--the latter is actually unexpectedly moving. All in all it's a very, very odd disc & it certainly won't be everyone's cup of (strong green) tea, but it's definitely worth hearing. Released on the Japanese label Studio Wee, which is I think available via North Country/Cadence. Incidentally, the review in _Cadence_ I did gets all the names backwards (they are printed lastname firstname, Japanese-style, on the sleeve)--I've put them in normal English order above.
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