Ryo Fukui

Review: This majestic jazz love letter was written in 2015. It was Hokkaido pianist Ryo Fukui's last album and now gets an official reissue allowing us all to once again sink into his personal contemporary jazz offering. Fukui is celebrated for his delicate styles and miraculous albums such as 1976's Scenery and a year later, Mellow Dream. He was not only a player, but also a club owner having linked up with his wife Yasuko to open his very own jazz space, Slowboat, in Sapporo in 1995. In the years after he honed and perfected his craft, taking it to new labels as heard here.

Review: Japanese jazz pianist Ryo Fukui is one of the most delicate and skilled payers of his generation. The Hokkaido pianist also owned his own jazz club, Slowboat, with his wife Yasuko, and this month two of his bets loved albums are being reissued with a special half speed remastering job. This one is a recording of him playing in New York with Lisle Atkinson on bass and Leroy Williams on drums. It was laid down in 1999 and inspired by Ryo's mentor Barry Harris. There are plenty of poetic reworks of classics and glowing piano pieces that easily wander their way into your heart.

Review: Swiss imprint We Release Jazz (an offshoot of the more eclectic WRWTFWW) seems to specialize in reissuing rare and hard-to-find European and Japanese albums. Their latest release falls into the latter category. Originally recorded at Avatar Studios in New York in 1999 and released in Japan only the following uear, Ryo Fukui in New York is undoubtedly a little-known gem. With just bassist Lisle Atkinson and drummer Leroy Wlliams for company, it sees the virtuoso Japabese pianist offer up superb takes on bop and modal classics by such luminaries as Charlie Parker, George Gershwin and Cole Porter. The album also boasts an incredible re-make of his own 'Mellow Dream' that's infinitely better than his already impressive original recording.

Review: Earlier in the year, Japanese label HHV delivered a vinyl reissue of Ryo Fukui's final album, 2016's touching tribute to the jazz club in Soporo he co-founded, Showboat. Now Swiss imprint We Release Jazz have offered up the very same album on CD, at a price that will be far more attractive to listeners on this side of the world. It's worth picking up because in our opinion A Letter From Showboat should be considered a contemporary piano jazz classic. Fukui is on fine form throughout, and it's his fluid and expressive solos that make the album sing. The late pianist's accompanying musicians make their presence felt at just the right time, too, with their best work coming on the album's more up-tempo workouts (think 'Speak Low; 'Soultrane' and 'Sonora').