Happy Monday! I was actually going to post this one up yesterday but then I got distracted by Keisuke Kuwata & His Friends' "Kissin' Christmas: Christmas dakara janai"（クリスマスだからじゃない）and the story behind it.
I found out about swinging jazz clarinet player Shoji Suzuki（鈴木章治）while I was listening to Scott's podcast "Holly Jolly X'masu" several days ago when he was profiling Suzuki's "Merry Christmas" album from 1963. His group back then was the Dixieland All-Stars and the Christmas stuff on the album did indeed sound like a Yuletide walk through New Orleans.
A couple of years earlier though, the Yokohama native had released a Xmas-themed album titled "Swingin' Christmas" with his Rhythm Aces. What leads off the album is the veteran chestnut "Jingle Bells" and sure enough, Suzuki takes the lead on his clarinet before giving way to the marimba and the piano. Everyone has their time to improvise but things are cut short and sweet at a little under three minutes.
Suzuki actually began his pro career as an alto saxophonist in 1947 and was a member of a number of bands until he led the Rhythm Aces. Depending on which article you read on J-Wiki or Wikipedia, the legendary swing man himself, Benny Goodman came to a Ginza club in 1951 or 1957 to listen to Suzuki and the Rhythm Aces perform and was very impressed with the band. Suzuki was releasing original albums between 1957 and 1992. He passed away at the age of 63 in 1995. Scott has just posted his latest podcast on the entire album, so have a listen to that through the link for the 1961 album above. As well, I posted a ROY article on Duke Ellington's iconic take on "Jingle Bells" last year so have a go at that one, too.
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