Brass and Bamboo

Capitol released Brass and Bamboo (ST-1345) in late 1959, arranged and conducted by Sacramento-born Takeshi “Tak” Shindo. He had studied Japanese music, worked on the Sayonara film score, and freelanced in Hollywood film and TV while writing about music for the Rafu Shimpo.

Sessions at Capitol Studio A in Hollywood put koto and shamisen (Kazue Kudo), bamboo flutes, temple gongs, and Japanese percussion inside West Coast brass charts with players such as Conte Candoli, Bud Shank, and Shelly Manne. Ten standards and two Shindo originals move from ballad to swing; Shindo noted that Asian instruments here were integral to the arrangements, not one-off solos.

Most mainland exotica fakes the East with bird calls and hotel vibes. Shindo wrote for the instruments themselves. The LP widens a Denny-heavy crate without leaving the genre — brass dance charts with a Pacific Rim edge.