Sunrise In Tokyo

Originally released in 1974 under the title Joe Henderson and Hino Kikuchi in Concert, Sunrise in Tokyo finds the saxophonist performing live in Japan in August 1971. Recorded the night after his other 1971 Japan date, detailed on Joe Henderson in Japan, Sunrise in Tokyo reveals a set of different song choices, and a wholly different lineup featuring trumpeter Terumasa Hino, pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, saxophonist Kosuke Mine, bassist Yoshio Suzuki, and drummers Yoshiyuki Nakamura and Hiroshi Murakami. As with most of Henderson's albums during this period, here he plays an aggressive and soulful brand of modal post-bop that seems tailor-made for live, free-blowing sessions like this one. Although they only play three songs, the Henderson-penned title track, Miles Davis' "So What," and the Kikuchi original "Get Magic Again," Henderson and the Hino-Kikuchi band go deep, pushing themselves to ever more intense levels with each chorus. ~ Matt Collar|