Tak-Shindo - Brass And Bamboo (1959)

What separates Tak Shindo from rival exotica maestros like Les Baxter or Martin Denny is authenticity: Shindo's Japanese heritage lends an unmistakable sense of truth and experience to his recordings, which benefit equally from his long career as a composer and arranger in the west. As its title portends, Brass and Bamboo marries traditional swing arrangements with Far East-flavored percussion and textures, transcending the dreamy conventions of the exotica genre to create music that is far more energetic and visceral. Shindo's expert, imaginative cocktail of kitsch -- one shot saxophone, one shot samisen -- boasts a subtlety often absent from records of this ilk, and manages to anticipate the scope and ambitions of world fusion decades before the term even entered the vernacular. The remarkable "Bali Ha'i" alone is worth the price of admission.~Jason Ankeny