Trumpeter Itaru Oki was a key figure in the Japanese free-jazz scene of the late 1960s/early 70s, collaborating with other pioneers such as drummer Masahiko Togashi and pianist Masahiko Sato. In 1974, he relocated to France, where he worked with European and US improvisers Axel Dörner, Noah Howard and Alan Silva – and where he remained until his death in 2020. This live set captures him on his first return visit to Japan in 1975, teamed with top-flight players who bring out his fearlessness and commitment, including the equally unpredictable saxophonist/flautist, Yoshiaki Fujikawa. There’s something reminiscent of the Art Ensemble of Chicago’s epochal live recording Baptizum in the stately, slowly unfolding drama of this performance. It begins with a kind of slow-burning free-jazz ballad with quietly seething drums and a dancing flute solo and ends up in a furious and exhilarating barrage of pulse-time high-energy music with Fujikawa’s alto straining at the highest possible limits of altissimo skronk. Along the way, Oki delights in the exploration of various extended techniques, from smears and strangled cries to something resembling an electric wah-wah effect. This outstanding 70-minute recording has verve and brio to spare.