Mikio Masuda -- Romantic Rain

As I type this, the ceiling lights in my room have burned out so I'm left with just the lamp on the filing cabinet providing me with illumination enough so that I'm not destroying my eyes from just viewing the computer screen. However, the atmosphere created is quite pleasant for some nighttime jazz. I only wish that I had made myself a cup of coffee.

So, on this Sunday night before the work week starts up again, I give you the mellow-as-a-glass-of-Bailey's Irish Creme "Romantic Rain" from jazz pianist Mikio Masuda（益田幹夫）. This track comes from his 1987 album "Smokin' Night", and it's a very comfy number with his group as if you're listening to it in the close confines of a jazz bar while the weather outside is spitting the titular precipitation. What I like about it is that "Romantic Rain" is rather reminiscent of what I remember from the late great pianist Vince Guaraldi who came up with all those wonderful melodies for the various "Peanuts" specials on TV.

I couldn't find any information on Wikipedia or J-Wiki on Masuda, and in fact, I had to use Google Translate to translate the German Wikipedia which did have an article on the musician. From what I could find is that he may be a hard-working genius since he largely taught himself how to play not only the piano but also the bass. According to his discography shown at Discogs, he's been releasing albums since 1974.