For all the room and breath to be found in the studio, sometimes there’s nothing like a live set to bring the sense of wonder jazz provides directly to your brain pan. Terumasa Hino might be one of the more well-known Japanese exports, his trumpet playing blazing in his own lineups along that of other luminaries since the mid-60s. In Concert is a blazing live set, three tracks that blend the fusion rock Miles Davis brought to the world along with a firmer sense of rock and melody thanks to an expanded lineup including trombone, tenor and alto sax, electric guitar, Fender Rhodes, and plenty of additional percussion. It’s one foot in the current scene and one foot firmly entrenched in a more traditional approach, and they blend seamlessly over the course of the live show.

It starts with the instant groove of Hino’s “Logical Mystery” which at 23 minutes is the biggest , most expansive track on In Concert. From a production standpoint (this is again on East Wind records) it’s magnificent, huge sound separation allowing every nuance of the congas and percussion to come through as each soloist take a turn at the spotlight. Being the guy I am, I was instantly taken with the electric rock tone of guitarist Kiyoshi Sugimoto, mixing shredding hard rock leads with some great across the neck chords. There’s also plenty of Coltrane “sheets of sound” inspiration in the horn solos, and similar to what I discovered in my listen of Masabumi Kikuchi’s East Wind, weird and hilarious grunting coming from…someone. Maybe it’s a culture thing, vocalizing to indicate how “into it” you are? It’s not nearly as distracting here, and I appreciate its addition to help capture that live flavor even more. The entire track is a propulsive blast of fun, alone well worth the cost of the import.

“In the Darkness” is a more somber affair, throwing back to the 60s and featuring a beautiful understated melody from Hino before the other horns come in. Really great bass from Akira Okazawa; he plays around the notes, bringing his own melodies to weave in and out of the mix while also providing the foundation for the other soloists. My continued appreciation for percussion and drums continues as well: Motohiko Hino – Terusama’s brother – sounds huge, instantly connecting to the material and benefiting from the sharp, crystal clear mix. Crowd noise is minimal, you can hear a few exclamations and “whooo!”s here and there, and I can’t say I blame them.

Finally there’s a horn-forward cover of Thelonius Monk’s “‘Round Midnight” and hearing Hino’s breath ache through the trumpet’s horn and the applause rise as the recognition sets in is lovely. Accompaniment is skeletal and sparse, practically non-existent except for Sugimoto with light chords and arpeggios and keyboardist Fumio Itabashi with some truly ominous strikes and pings toward the end. If I’m being honest at 11 minutes it’s a little too sparse for my tastes: Hino is an excellent soloist and his tone is luscious, but at 11 minutes I get a little bored.

Doesn’t stop the rest of In Concert being a stellar live document of the scene in the day.