(Nu Jazz) Sleep Walker - Into the Sun - 2008, WAVPack (image+.cue), lossless

French label "Jazzmin" has released a new album from "Sleep Walker". Well, one might say it’s not a new album, but a collection of their previous 12-inches - either way, for the first time these tracks are officially available outside of Japan and in a digital format.
"Sleep Walker" are a jazz quartet around Hajime Yoshizawa, that already released two albums in Japan ("Sleep Walker" in 2004 and "The Voyage" in 2006) through Especial Records. "Into the Sun" mixes tracks from both albums and their more recent 12-inch singles.
The more prominent tracks are certainly "River of Love" with Bembe Segue, longtime partner of Mark de Clive-Lowe, and "Eclipse", cover of an early "Kyoto Jazz Massive" track. Wind features Yukimi Nagano on the vocals and gained some attention through "Sonar Kollektiv"'s "Neujazz" compilation, released earlier in 2008. Lastly I want to mention the track "The Voyage", which features Pharoah Sanders on tenor sax. The group got involved with Sanders on their first European tour, on which both played at London's Jazz Café for four consecutive nights - which eventually led to their collaboration.