Country Dream

Vinyl LP pressing. The scent of fresh green seems to rise from the plucked strings. Country Dream is the first album by Kiyoshi Sugimoto, recorded at Teichiku Kaikan Studio, Tokyo 7 Dec. 1969, one of Japan's leading jazz guitarists. Since turning professional in 1960, Sugimoto has been active in many sessions and recordings, and in the late 1960s he attracted attention by joining the groups of Hideo Shiraki, Akira Ishikawa, Terumasa Hino, and others. He has put everything he has cultivated up to that point into his music, and his enthusiasm for moving beyond hard bop is palpable. Country Dream spins the original Japanese landscape, "The Apple" is sharp and thrilling, and "D-51" is exhilarating and full of energy, like a gust of wind. This power, this suppleness, this freshness. All songs are masterpieces and masterful performances.