Hideo Shiraki

Hideo Shiraki first played bossa nova all the way back in 1962 for Japanese label King; he did it again in 2007 on the album’s first reissue via Think!; and now, he plays the Brazilian masterstyle a whopping third time, on this second known reissue of the album by Jazz Room. An energetic foray through roomy shakers and boxy hits hears the Japanese drummer and Japanese jazz pioneer pin down bossa nova like a nail on a golden donkey, with the opening ‘Tico Tico’ opting for pure excitement, and relative oddities like ‘Orfeo Negro’ getting far noirer, sombrer with it.