After stints at Juilliard and in the Army during the '40s, clarinetist
Tony Scott
rose to prominence in the '50s as a respected
jazz
soloist. His resume at the time included work with
Sarah Vaughan
,
Ben Webster
Dizzy Gillespie
Bill Evans
Billie Holiday
, and
Claude Thornhill
, among many others. In addition to these sidemen dates,
Scott
also cut several solo albums. His subtle phrasing eventually found a perfect niche in the smattering of meditation and yoga dates he cut in the mid-'60s for
Verve
. Fueled by his burgeoning interest in Far Eastern culture,
hooked up with two Japanese master instrumentalists for this classic 1964 date. And while
, koto player
Shinichi Yuize
, and shakuhachi player
Hozan Yamamoto
produce nine cuts that sound classically Japanese and really nothing like
, they do actually improvise pretty much throughout the entire set. If you'd like to levitate to music with some unexpected twists, then
's
Music for Zen Meditation
is for you. ~ Stephen Cook