On October 15, 1985, pianist Hank Jones, bassist Ray Brown, tenor saxophonist and flautist Sam Most and drummer Alan Dawson played Yubin Chokin Hall (the Postal Savings Hall) in Tokyo, on a tour promoted by All Art Promotion. Discogs and the Jazzdisco discography both date the recording to that night. The tour poster billed Jones and Brown, and the album that came out of it, Great Jazz Quartet Live in Japan, appeared on the All Art label: Discogs and All About Jazz say 1986, AllMusic says 1985, and the 1986 date is what this entry follows. Jones was already a fixture of the Japanese market, which kept releasing his work through the Great Jazz Trio and similar lineups, and the same pattern held here: a Japanese promoter, a Japanese hall, a Japanese label, and an American band. Be careful not to confuse it with the Hank Jones Trio's separate 1985 Live in Japan with Shelly Manne.
Hank Jones, photographed by Brian McMillen at the Monterey Jazz Festival, September 22, 1985. Photo: Brian McMillen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources: Discogs — Great Jazz Quartet Live In Japan (recorded October 15, 1985, Youbin-Chokin Hall, Tokyo; All Art, 1986) , Jazzdisco — Hank Jones Discography (Yubin Chokin Hall, Tokyo, October 15, 1985) , All About Jazz — Great Jazz Quartet Live In Japan (1986) , Concert poster listing — Hank Jones and Ray Brown, Shiba Postal Savings Hall, Tokyo, 15 October 1985, All Art Promotion
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