This week I'd like to draw your attention to four notable Japanese jazz musicians whose CDs I've just uploaded to Eastwind Import website. As usual, you can click the links below for more details and sample audio files.

Naoko Terai / Thinking of You
Naoko Terai / Live
How many jazz violinists do you know? Chances are, you can count them with one hand -- great ones, anyway. Now I think you should put the beautiful Naoko Terai on that list. She doesn't sound like any other jazz violinists, because instead of listening to Stephane Grappelli and Ray Nance, she would listen to Charlie Parker, Bill Evans and Miles Davis in her formative years and thought, "How can I play violin like that?" I have two of her CDs: the debut album Thinking of You [Rec.1998] and an exciting Live album with Lee Ritenour and other top LA musicians [Rec. 2000].

Sadao Watanabe / My Dear Life - 50th Anniversary Collection
Arguably the most well-known and beloved Japanese jazz/fusion musician in the world, alto saxophonist Sadao Watanabe celebrated his 50th year as a professional jazz musician in 2001, and released this very special 2-CD compilation of his best recorded tracks across many different labels. If you are a fan of Sadao, you've got to own these very special CDs. If you don't know him yet, this is a great place to start. [Rec. 1978-2001]

Makoto Ozone Trio / First Decade
Here's another special compilation celebrating an important milestone of an important artist. Ozone (pronounced as "oh-zoh-nay") is a piano virtuoso and a wonderful composer/arranger (he graduated the Berklee School of Music's composition department with top honors) who led the same trio for 10 years! This compilation represents the best of "The Trio" with James Genus on bass and Clarence Penn on drums. Guest musicians include the late Michael Brecker and Branford Marsalis. [Rec. 2000-2006]

Chihiro Yamanaka / Lach Doch Mal
Fiercely creative, New York-based pianist and composer, Chihiro Yamanaka is very popular in Japan, and all her CDs have climbed to the top of jazz charts without fail. She made this particularly strong trio album, the title of which means "Just Laugh" in German, with a superb rhythm section: Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard (of the Brad Mehldau Trio). This is an exciting, cutting-edge piano trio album. [Rec. 2006]

Coming soon…
Helen Merrill & Stan Getz / Just Friends
Enrico Pieranunzi Trio / The Night Gone By
Enrico Pieranunzi Trio / The Chant of Time