Leeward, released in 1978 on Union record, is the second album by tenor and soprano saxophonist Mabumi Yamaguchi. Already in quartet formation for his previous album, "After The Rain", released two years earlier, Mabumi Yamaguchi changes musicians here to surround himself with Ikuo Sakurai on bass, Hideo Sekine on drums and Ichiro Doi on piano and electric piano.

Leeward opens with "Dawn" a long and slow piece led by a Fender Rhodes played in flanger mode, on which
Mabumi Yamaguchi expresses a certain melancholy, which we also find on “Dewdrop”, a duet piece with Ichiro
Doi at the piano. The rhythm picks up on "Distant thunder", a kind of jazz-funk samba in which Mabumi
Yamaguchi lets each of his musicians take a long chorus before ending by taking up the haunting theme of this
superb piece. The beautiful "Leeward" closes the album in a slightly more traditional but equally mastered style.
It is not known if the cover of this album contributed to its lack of success when it was released, but it is almost
impossible today to find an original pressing of this record.
A reissue was therefore more than necessary !

Tracklist
Side A
1. Dawn – 12:32
2. Dewdrop – 6:58
Side B
1. Distant Thunder – 10:33
2. Leeward – 9:32

Recorded January 20 – 27, 1978

Musicians :
Tenor Sax, Soprano Sax – Mabumi Yamaguchi
Piano, Electric Piano – Ichiro Doi
Drums – Hideo Sekine
Bass – Ikuo Sakurai