My Journal Top
<< Jan-Mar 2004 | Jul-Sep 2003 >> |
My Journal / Oct-Dec 2003
With Big Bands,Charity Concert “X'mas Gift” |
 I have written about my many gigs in the past and have been many times over amazed with different varieties and combinations in music form through the experiences I have had playing with many brilliant musicians. Words are not enough to describe how fortunate I am to have been blessed with the gift of music. This moment now for me is one of those times when I want to pause for a minute and reflect on how music has given me so much. “Creativity is God's gift to you and what you do with it is your gift to God.” This is a favorite line I chose to be our subtitle for our charity concert program called “A Christmas Gift” at the Franciscan Chapel Center in Roppongi, last December. Once again I had the most wonderful opportunity to use music as a means to share with others what I have received. I sang with the Voice Club members for our concert and we were joined by brilliant musicians Rex Angeles on vocals, Keiko Okuda String Ensemble and the delightful Nishimachi International Elementary School Choir with their teacher April Racana Hayes. Music surely gave us the power to get together for a cause. Not only was it fun, it was very encouraging and uplifting as well. The finale gave everyone the biggest excitement of all. The blending of many strongly spirited voices in harmony and beautiful music created made it one of my most unforgettable Christmas concerts. I am pretty sure , everyone in the audience was greatly moved and felt the same. I am forever grateful for being instrumental in sharing and receiving this precious gift.
 In line with collective energy, I would like to make mention here some of the highlights of my autumn gigs. I had the privelege to be invited as guest with the Jazz Lab Orchestra at the Nagoya Geijutsu Sozo Center and the Nagoya Blue Note Club. It's always a thrill singing with full big band sounds. This was my 3rd time to perform with the Jazz Lab, the first was about ten years ago, and they are stronger than ever. Not only were the venues packed , we all had a lot of swinging fun time. I went on a short tour with Manabu Oishi (p), Hideo Kawahara (b), and Kei Hirai (ds). We first played at the Reunion in Iida, at Swing in Takasaki and then at Groovy in Nagano. The reaction we got from the audience here was exceptional, especially at Reunion where we got applause at least 3x in the middle of a solo not for just one song but for almost every tune we played. CD's sold out like pancakes, amazing! All these I owe to my wonderful band especially Oishi who continues to inspire me and the other members to bring magic to the music, plus the audience were ju---st great!
 To top it all, my biggest stint for this season would be the performance I had with Kenichi Tsunoda's powerful driving orchestra. Considered the finest in Japan today, it was a great pleasure for me to really swing in gorgeous luxury. It was our first joint club session at JZ Brat in Shibuya. For this gig, Tsunoda san especially wrote big band arrangements for some tunes from my CD “They Say It's Wonderful”. A totally different delightful experience, so what can I say ..... people did tell me, 'it's wonderful' !
Later in December, I sang at DUG Jazz Club in Shinjuku for the first time after many years, also a first at this new location. The audience here were quite matured, listening intently to the music. It is a place for jazz. These days I often find myself enjoying my audience more and more, watching their reactions. There is a mixture of awe, excitement sometimes tension which would mellow down to a smile then cheer, it's a great interaction indeed. I also enjoy my chats during the break and after the show. I learn a lot by just listening to them in return. Singing is a big challenge but captivating the audience is a bigger one.
 At TUC in Kanda, I also had the opportunity to join up with a unique setup called the Tokyo Hot Club band. The band consists of two guitars, violin, accordion and wood bass. Inspired by Django Reindhart sounds, we played jazz standards with touches of gypsy swing ala '30's style. This was a lot of fun too, it felt like landing on a different part of the world, very exotic indeed.
As Louis Armstrong puts it, “what we play is life”. The music we hear is all about what we feel, see, hear and do, so we should enjoy it and take time to pay more attention. I'm off to Brazil this month for some Latin flavored jazz, you're in for a surprise.......!
Charito
|
 |
