Jazz / Standards; Mainstream Jazz; Post-Bop; Hard Bop
Recorded: Jul 30, 1978, Denen Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan
When the right players and circumstances combine, leaderless bands can produce great music. The Red Norvo-Teddy Wilson-Harry James-John Simmons Just a Mood session of 1937 is one example; the 1956 Grand Encounter of John Lewis, Jim Hall, Bill Perkins, Percy Heath, and Chico Hamilton another. Carnaval is in that league. In 1978, alto saxophonist Sadao Watanabe, a jazz hero in his homeland, joined bassist Ron Carter, pianist Hank Jones, and drummer Tony Williams before a knowledgeable and wildly enthusiastic crowd in a Japanese auditorium. Everything clicked from the first tune to the last, with Jones and Carter at the top of their games and Williams surpassing himself with some of his hottest drumming. There was no hint of Watanabe's parallel existence as a purveyor of insipid crossover music. This night, he was a pure bebopper, burning bright.
Ron Carter - bass
Sadao Watanabe - alto saxophone
Hank Jones - piano
Tony Williams - drums |
