INDEX
Legendary Jazz, Easy and Unwinded
The first time I visited, the album playing was Pres & Sweets by Lester Young and Harry Edison. Lester Young was a tenor saxophonist known for his collaborations with Billie Holiday, while Harry Edison was a trumpet player famous for being a member of Count Basie’s big band. Both were exceptional players active before the bebop era. Released in 1956, this album is outstanding in content, yet it’s somewhat of a “mellow” piece. It’s not one of those landmark jazz albums, nor is it something that’s been re-evaluated due to some trend. It’s unlikely to be the kind of record that drives up prices in the second-hand market. For me, it has the vibe of an album an old jazz enthusiast might listen to, but I was amazed at how beautifully it resonated. It didn’t sound like a niche, obscure record but rather like incredibly beautiful music.
That day, The Great American Songbook by Carmen McRae was also playing. I had once bought it many years ago as part of my jazz studies, but I don’t recall listening to it intensely. However, here, it felt incredibly friendly, as if the weight of its status as a classic album had been lifted, and I was able to fully immerse myself in it.
Other albums by Red Garland and Kenny Burrell were playing as well, but strangely, they all felt fresh. Albums that would typically be found in jazz guidebooks felt lighter here than when heard at a jazz café, and I found myself enjoying them with an unexpected sense of ease. Sometimes, records I had never heard before were played, but it was interesting how there was no sense of a DJ or collector-like, obsessive atmosphere.
What stood out to me especially was how the café made albums—like those by famous artists, but not their well-known releases—sound incredibly appealing. For instance, I was deeply moved by an album by Oscar Peterson, a pianist known for releasing countless piano trio albums, that wasn’t one of his major works but was still a high-quality gem. It was also here that I discovered a cool, lesser-known collaboration between the famous pianist Vince Guaraldi (known for his Snoopy’s Christmas album) and Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete.
