An African American author born in Tennessee in 1938. Ishmael Reed, a jazz lover who was friends with many avant-garde jazz musicians such as Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor, released a CD album in 2022 on New York’s “Reading Group”—and it has now been released as a long-awaited LP. It begins with a minimalist, meditative piece composed for a play about Jean-Michel Basquiat, followed by blues and evocative tracks, and concludes with an answering machine message left by his late daughter, Timothy. It possesses a simple, lived-in quality and distinctive sound reminiscent of the score Carmen Moore composed for the TV movie *Personal Problems* (produced by Ishmael Reed). The raw atmosphere of the live recording allows you to hear the rhythm, the turning of pages, and even the musicians’ breathing. The album also includes piano solos and ensemble pieces by Reed himself—who reportedly began studying jazz piano after turning 60—featuring his wife, Carla Blank, on violin, as well as close friends on flute, guitar, and vocals. The performances are simply wonderful—full of charm, as if the distinctive narrative style of a writer—whose work is sometimes described as “jazz you can read”—has been directly translated onto the piano. (Original Japanese text by Adachi)