''Insights'' is the fourth studio recording of the

Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band The Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band was a 16 piece jazz big band created by pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and tenor saxophone/flutist Lew Tabackin in Los Angeles in 1973. In 1982 the principals moved from Los Angeles to New York City a ...

and was voted "Jazz Album of the Year" in the 1978

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

magazine critic's poll. It received the Swing Journal magazine 1976 Gold Disk prize in Japan and was nominated for a 1978 Grammy award in the USA for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance by a Big Band. All tracks from this album are also included on the 2008

Mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

3 CD compilation, '' Mosaic Select: Toshiko Akiyoshi - Lew Tabackin Big Band''.

Track listing

:All songs composed and arranged by

Toshiko Akiyoshi is a Japanese–American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. Akiyoshi received fourteen Grammy Award nominations and was the first woman to win Best Arranger and Composer awards in '' Down Beat'' magazine's annual Readers' Poll. ...

: LP side A #"Studio J" – 6:07 #"Transience" – 4:40 #"SUMIE" – 7:55 LP side B #"Minamata" (suite) – 21:36 ##"Peaceful Village" ##"Prosperity & Consequence" ##"Epilogue"

Personnel

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

Lew Tabackin Lewis Barry Tabackin (born March 26, 1940) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and flutist. He is married to pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi with whom he has co-led large ensembles since the 1970s. Biography Tabackin started learning flute at age ...

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

and flute *Tom Peterson – tenor saxophone *Dick Spencer – alto saxophone * Gary Foster – alto saxophone * Bill Perkins – baritone saxophone *Steven Huffsteter –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

* Bobby Shew – trumpet * Mike Price – trumpet *Richard Cooper – trumpet (except on "Minamata") *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...

– trumpet (on "Minamata") *

Bill Reichenbach Jr. William Frank Reichenbach Jr. (born November 30, 1949) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, ...

–

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

*Charlie Loper – trombone * Britt Woodman – trombone *Phil Teele – bass trombone *Don Baldwin – bass *Peter Donald – drums Guest Artists: *Hisao Kanze – utai /

Nō is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

chant (on "Minamata") *Tadao Kamei –

ōtsuzumi The , also known as the , is an hourglass-shaped Japanese drum. It is a larger version of the tsuzumi, or kotsuzumi and is used in traditional Japanese theater and folk music. Its appearance is slightly different from that of the tsuzumi, and th ...

(on "Minamata") *Hayao Uzawa –

kotsuzumi The or ''tsuzumi'' is a hand drum of Japanese origin. It consists of a wooden body shaped like an hourglass, and it is taut, with two drum heads with cords that can be squeezed or released to increase or decrease the tension of the heads respec ...

(on "Minamata") * (Monday) Michiru Mariano – voice (on "Minamata") * Hiromitsu Katada – kakko (on "SUMIE")

References / External Links

*RCA Victor Records RVC RVP-6106 *

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

br>1978 Down Beat critic's poll award winners
*1978 Grammy nomination, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance - Big Band
LA Times link
*1976 Swing Journal Gold Disk Prize

References

Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band albums 1976 albums {{1970s-jazz-album-stub