Misty Morning Flight

On his first solo album, Creation guitarist Kazuo Takeda lets a lighter groove through than you might expect from his harder, rockier band recordings. The instrumentals are especially rewarding. “Amarillo / Daybreak” eases into an unhurried, romantic line that this setting gives him room to develop.

“Tokyo Sally” brings a sharper edge: clean, funky guitar cutting against a colored, late-night arrangement. It occupies some of the same territory as other Japanese resort-fusion guitar records of the period, but Takeda's playing keeps its own cool, taut character. Even a listener who knows him from the louder side of Creation will hear a different kind of confidence here.