Jazz

Girod Records · July 2026

Drummer Paul Yonemura recorded four of his own compositions on a demo tape in 1984 and meant to leave it there. Saxophonist Larry Honda added two tunes of his own and pianist Rick Helzer one more, and the thing came out on vinyl in July 1985 on Jazz Mind. The digital edition has taken forty-one years, and it arrives with two Helzer pieces that had been left off: “Seeking the Kingdom”, recorded in 1985, and “Spirit of Light”, from 1988.

Honda’s “Happy Feet” opens with the most energetic theme of the nine and stakes out the ground. The best stretch is “Monterey Peninsula”, where solos from Helzer and Honda’s soprano lean on a rhythm section that never slackens, Yonemura well forward in it; “Intuitions”, also Honda’s, takes its time with the tenor out front and the piano tucked neatly underneath.

The two recovered pieces are the ones with guests: Kim Richmond puts soprano sax on “Seeking the Kingdom” and Mary Fettig alto on the other.

The material comes from sessions spread between 1984 and 1988, with three different bassists and two pianists, and the sound shifts from track to track: you notice it listening straight through, above all in the move from the original vinyl’s pieces to the ones added later.

Of the nine tunes, only four are Yonemura’s: three are Helzer’s and two Honda’s.

Rating: 7/10

Text by Aina Torrents