The first part of the Three Blind Mice “Great Three” is bassist/cellist Isao Suzuki’s inventive, hard-swinging debut Blow Up. Available for the first time in pristine 24K gold compact disc, this adventurous set finds Suzuki and his band mates (drummer George Otsuka, pianist Kunihiko Sugano, and bassist Takashi Mizuhashi) working through three originals and three classic standards (“Everything Happens To Me”, “Like It Is”, and “I Can’t Get Started”), merging classic hard bop principles with unusual touches (scratching cello and found percussion sweeps on “Aqua Marine”), all captured with the kind of supreme fidelity Three Blind Mice would later be heralded for.

Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the same sources as the classic Cisco/Impex 45 rpm vinyl, you can bring one of TBM’s early greats into your listening room, your car, or computer playback system, with the assurance of quality Impex is also heralded for.

Impex has created a dynamic package for this Japanes jazz chestnut, with hardcover book package, new design elements and photos and “Rhythm Planet” host Tom Schnabel’s liner notes, written especially for this release.