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My Journal / May-Jun 2003
Hokkaido Tour and Sugadaira Jazz Festival |
 My CD promotion tour to Hokkaido last April was a blast! This time around I was invited to play small venues which inspired me to play with piano/wood bass unit. To make sure I do it right, I, of course, asked Manabu Oishi and Shinichi Satoh to join me. Having in mind the new CD repertoire, this combination was pretty challenging but true to my expectations, it turned out to be one of the best performances I've had. Less the drums, there was a lot of creative tension and wonderful mingling of sound among the three of us. It definitely raised our music to another level.
Thank you to all of you who came out and filled the clubs for all nights. The first venue was a cozy place called Live & Bar Coo in Sapporo. We played to an enthusiastic audience who loved listening to jazz. Oishi and Satoh played beautifully and enticed some cheering and whistles from the audience after some very inspired playing. Everyone really seemed to light up that night. In Asahikawa, we played at Take Five, another club with a character. As the name suggests, it runs a long history and has been a great supporter of jazz. The owner who also plays the saxophone has made a lot of efforts to keep the music happening in that area.
 Then finally in Kitami, we were in for a real treat! We played at Jazz Fool, a hotel/livehouse setup. With a self explanatory name, this place was where we had the best audience and turnout. I was here first in 1997 for the city's 100th year inaugural event, the pictures pasted on the walls of the club reminded me of those fun times. The general manager of the club, Konno san, made sure the place was jampacked! We had such intimacy with the audience who sat elbow to elbow, just a breath away. It was so easy to be entertaining during and in between the music, the interaction left us all feeling happy and inspired by the experience.
Later that month, I also had the good chance to bring my new CD to Jazz Inn Lovely in Nagoya. This time I was with my favorite trio, Oishi, Gregg and Cecil. This is the group that I have performed for the most number of times and each time I become excited because the musical possibilities are endless with these three musicians. Everything I love about music: emotion, expression, passion, spontaneity, intensity, dynamics, freedom and balance seem to exist when I perform with this trio.
A great highlight for me last May was the “Latin Funk and Jazz ” at JZ Brat in Shibuya with a group formed especially for this gig. I grouped together with Manabu Oishi (p), Koichi Osamu (b), Kei Hirai (ds) and a fantastic horn section led by Masahiro Fujioka (sax) with Hideaki Nakaji (tb) and Shiro Sasaki (tp). We played tunes mostly from my albums, some were really nostalgic like “Swing My Way” and “Rainbow Colors”. It was so exciting for me to sing with this band. The strong horn section made me want to sing with all my might. We had an incredible time performing that night and it seems the audience really enjoyed themselves as well.
In June, I will not forget my gig at TUC. Playing with Manabu Oishi (p), Gregg Lee (b), Tommy Campbell (ds) and Issei Igarashi (tp) as guest. It was very exciting to hear this band pull off a variety of tempos as led by Tommy, with ease before launching into witty improvisations each fueling the other with lines that made for some thrilling moments. Issei played beautiful sax lines and really seemed to paint in new colors in all the pieces. The whole band played colors until each song seemed to end up sounding complete and satisfying, with each color in perfect balance with the others.
Worth mentioning are two venues, I recently played at were Ad-lib in Tokorozawa and Girl Talk in Mito. Both relatively new in the field, these clubs are very modern and are making big efforts to present great music to jazz fans. I had a wonderful time!
 At Body and Soul, w/Manabu Oishi (p), Kiichiro Komobuchi (b), Masahiro Fujioka (sax), Tomoo Tsuruya (ds), the gig was smoking! The music naturally reached its heights with wonderful vibration from each member. We were also treated to a surprise when Alan Zabod, a pianist and music professor from Australia, sat in with us for a couple of tunes. An amazing pianist, he was such fun to watch!
By the end of June, I performed as guest for the Sugadaira Jazz festival in Nagano Prefecture. This was a locally sponsored event by Hotel Mckinlay's, run by yet another musician (guitarist) Sasuga san. It is through them that we can continue to bring music to all places around Japan. It was a very successful affair. I commend Sasuga san's efforts in keeping with the tradition and keeping the arts alive!
July is the hottest and funkiest month of them all, it's “matsuri” time. I hope to see you to one of my gigs especially in the great outdoors. Please check out the schedule page and I'm hoping to see you at any one of my gigs, that's all for now!
Charito
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