Insights

The title of this article is ambiguous. For further meanings see Insight .

Insights
Studio album by Toshiko-Akiyoshi - Lew-Tabackin -Big-Band
Publication (s)	1976
Label (s)	Victor (Japan), RCA Victor
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	jazz
Title (number)	4th
running time	40:21
occupation	Trumpet : Steven Huffsteter, Bobby Shew , Mike Price , Richard Cooper (1–3), Jerry Hey (4) Trumpet : Bill Reichenbach, Charlie Loper, Britt Woodman Bass trombone : Bill Theele Tenor saxophone , flute : Lew Tabackin Tenor saxophone: Tom Peterson Alto saxophone : Dick Spencer , Gary Foster Baritone saxophone : Bill Perkins Piano , arranger: Toshiko Akiyoshi Bass : Don Baldwin Drums : Peter Donald Utai: Hisao Kanze (4) Tsuzumi , vocals: Hayao Uzawa (4) Voice: Michiru Mariano (4) Kakko: Hiromitsu Katada (3)
production	Hiroshi Isaka
Studio (s)	RCA Studio "A", Hollywood
chronology Road Time (1976) Insights March of the Tadpoles (1977)

Insights is a jazz album by the Toshiko-Akiyoshi - Lew-Tabackin- Big-Band. It was recorded in Hollywood on June 22, 23 and 24, 1976 , and released on the RCA Victor label.

description

Since 1972 the Japanese pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and her husband, the saxophonist and flautist Lew Tabackin have been working with a 16-member big band in California. a. famous musicians like Bill Perkins , Bobby Shew and Britt Woodman played. Already on the first album Kogun , which was written for RCA in 1974, the integration of traditional Japanese music as well as its musicians and instruments was new compared to conventional big band instrumentation. This also happened on the studio album Insights , which was made in June 1976 . Its central composition was the suite-like "Minamata".

The album opens with "Studio J," which Toshiko opens with a piano introduction and refers to her early years in Boston; “It was the room where we had an improvisation class when I was studying at Berklee School of Music . It was one of the pieces I wrote for a trio in 1957 - Gene Cherico on bass, Jake Hanna on drums and me. The rough draft of my orchestration for this new version follows that of the original, ”says the band leader. The following "Transience" highlights the baritone saxophonist Bill Perkins and the trombonist Britt Woodman as main soloists. “Sumie” - originally rehearsed for four flutes and bass clarinet - is a feature for Lew Tabackin on the flute. "The concept of the melody is repeated three times, and with each chorus the intensity increases," wrote Yoshíko.

Yoshiko wrote the suite "Minamata" with the parts "Peaceful Village", "Prospertity & Consequence" and "Epilogue" in 1975 as a composition commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts ; it is a composition “interwoven with fragments of Japanese folklore and Japanese tonalities”. “Peaceful Village” begins with a short vocal introduction by the then 13-year-old daughter of the band leader Monday Michiru , who made her recording debut here. After Mike Price plays the theme on the trumpet and Tabackin's flute, Bobby Shew has an impressive solo on the flugelhorn , accompanied by Peter Donald's cymbal playing. Finally, the tension (and the beginning of “Prosperity”) is lifted by the rhythm section , which drives the ensemble into a swinging up tempo game. The soloist here is initially Lew Tabackin on tenor, with the saxophone group in the background, then Dick Spencer on alto and finally trombonist Bill Reichenbach.

In addition, the swinging “Consequence” features the Japanese hand drummer and Nō specialist Hayao Uzawa, who can also be briefly heard several times with his voice; Soloists are Tabackin, Steve Huffsteter and Bobby Shew as trumpeters. "The influences of Noh theater can be explained by the fact that Toshiko's father played in such a theater."

Reception and awards

The critic Ken Dryden described Insights in Allmusic as one of the best albums by the Toshiko Akiyoshis-Lew Tabackin Big Band.

In 1978, Insights was named Jazz Album of the Year by Down-Beat magazine . It was the same year the gold record by the Japanese Swing Journal and was nominated for the Grammy Award in the category Best Jazz Instrumental recording a big band nominated

Track list

Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabackin Big Band: Insights
(RCA Victor Records RVC RVP-6106; RCA R32J141)

1. Studio J - 6:08
2. Transience - 4:40
3. Sumie - 7:55
4. Minamata - 21:36
   1. "Peaceful Village"
   2. "Prospertity & Consequence"
   3. "Epilogue"

All compositions and arrangements are by Toshiko Akiyoshi.

Web links

• Insights at Allmusic (English)
• 1976 Swing Journal Gold Disk Prize (Japanese)

Remarks

1. ↑ Quoted from Leonard Feather on the liner notes
2. ↑ Gudrun Endres: Toshiko Akiyoshi / Lew Tabakin, in: Dies. Jazz podium. Musicians about themselves Stuttgart 1980, pp. 176–181
3. ^ Lew Tabackin, in Gudrun Endre's Jazz Podium , p. 178
4. ^ Past Winners Database. In: The Envelope. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006 ; accessed on June 8, 2016 .