I’ve been into the broad spectrum of jazz since I was in high school and joined my school’s jazz band. It opened my eyes to how versatile of a genre jazz is across the entire globe, with Ryo Fukui being one of my favorite pianists. Fukui was a Japanese jazz pianist based in Sapporo, where he performed regularly at the “Slowboat” jazz club, which he and his wife Yasuko owned.

Fukui unfortunately passed in 2016, but his music has seen a spark in popularity. I first discovered his sumptuous yet decorated playing last year and it’s been on a constant rotation for me since. If you want to take a deep dive into Ryo Fukui and his incredible music, above is an excellent compilation of all of his studio albums. Definitely check it out!

0:00 Scenery(1976)

41:24 Mellow Dream(1977)

1:33:03 My Favorite Tune(1994)

2:16:42 Ryo Fukui in New York [Live](1999)

3:00:04 A Letter From Slowboat(2015)