Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Blues Piano
B-side
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Tsuyoshi Yamamoto began his professional career while still at university, touring Europe with Mickey Curtis and the Samurai before turning more decisively toward jazz. By 1973 he had formed his own trio, and in 1974 became the house pianist at Tokyo jazz club Misty — the same year his relationship with Three Blind Mice produced Midnight Sugar, Mistyand several other sessions.
Yamamoto’s playing is grounded in blues, swing and melody rather than complexity for its own sake. The piano is direct and strongly rhythmic, often using repeated figures, heavy chords and space between phrases. With bassist Isoo Fukui and drummer Tetsujiro Obara, that approach became one of the most recognizable trio sounds associated with Three Blind Mice.
MISTY / TOKYO JAZZ CLUB
In 1974 Yamamoto became the resident pianist at Misty, a small Tokyo jazz club that became an important setting for his trio. The relationship between club performance and recording was unusually close: the group played there regularly, and the same period produced Live at the Misty and Blues for Tee.
For Yamamoto, the club was more than a venue. It helped shape a music based on constant interaction between the same three players — relaxed, blues-heavy and responsive rather than formally elaborate.
SELECTED RECORDS
Midnight Sugar — 1974
Midnight Sugar reduces the formula to its essentials: piano, bass and drums recorded with extraordinary immediacy. The title track begins slowly and leaves large spaces between the notes, but Yamamoto gradually builds weight through repeated phrases and increasingly forceful chords. The music feels relaxed without ever becoming passive.
What makes the album distinctive for me is the combination of simplicity and physical presence. Isoo Fukui’s bass has real mass, Obara keeps the pulse understated, and Yamamoto uses the piano almost percussively when the music begins to rise. The Three Blind Mice recording makes every part of that interaction unusually tangible.
LISTEN / MIDNIGHT SUGAR
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto — piano
Isoo Fukui — bass
Tetsujiro Obara — drums
Produced by: Takeshi Fujii
Engineer: Yoshihiko Kannari
Recorded: March 1, 1974
Location: Aoi Studio, Tokyo
Original issue: Three Blind Mice, TBM-23, 1974
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto began his professional career while still at university, touring Europe with Mickey Curtis and the Samurai before turning more decisively toward jazz. By 1973 he had formed his own trio, and in 1974 became the house pianist at Tokyo jazz club Misty — the same year his relationship with Three Blind Mice produced Midnight Sugar, Mistyand several other sessions.
Yamamoto’s playing is grounded in blues, swing and melody rather than complexity for its own sake. The piano is direct and strongly rhythmic, often using repeated figures, heavy chords and space between phrases. With bassist Isoo Fukui and drummer Tetsujiro Obara, that approach became one of the most recognizable trio sounds associated with Three Blind Mice.
MISTY / TOKYO JAZZ CLUB
In 1974 Yamamoto became the resident pianist at Misty, a small Tokyo jazz club that became an important setting for his trio. The relationship between club performance and recording was unusually close: the group played there regularly, and the same period produced Live at the Misty and Blues for Tee.
For Yamamoto, the club was more than a venue. It helped shape a music based on constant interaction between the same three players — relaxed, blues-heavy and responsive rather than formally elaborate.
SELECTED RECORDS
Midnight Sugar — 1974
Midnight Sugar reduces the formula to its essentials: piano, bass and drums recorded with extraordinary immediacy. The title track begins slowly and leaves large spaces between the notes, but Yamamoto gradually builds weight through repeated phrases and increasingly forceful chords. The music feels relaxed without ever becoming passive.
What makes the album distinctive for me is the combination of simplicity and physical presence. Isoo Fukui’s bass has real mass, Obara keeps the pulse understated, and Yamamoto uses the piano almost percussively when the music begins to rise. The Three Blind Mice recording makes every part of that interaction unusually tangible.
LISTEN / MIDNIGHT SUGAR
Tsuyoshi Yamamoto — piano
Isoo Fukui — bass
Tetsujiro Obara — drums
Produced by: Takeshi Fujii
Engineer: Yoshihiko Kannari
Recorded: March 1, 1974
Location: Aoi Studio, Tokyo
Original issue: Three Blind Mice, TBM-23, 1974
