Yokohama Jazz Lab x bohemianvoodoo “Yokohama Jazz Recommendations”

■ Yokohama Jazz Lab Profile ■

"Yokohama Jazz Ken" is a club-style community-based event based in Yokohama, the birthplace of Japanese jazz. Started in 2007, four researchers have been meeting nightly to create the jazz they think about in response to the question posed by Quincy Jones' masterpiece ``This Is How I Feel About Jazz.'' He expresses his research results through DJs and lectures.
Based at Bar MOVE in Isezaki Town, we will be holding a "Sunday Afternoon Party" at Dollfie, a long-established jazz spot in Noge. In addition, in order to fulfill our mission of ``revitalizing Yokohama with jazz,'' we have performed at Yokohama City events such as the ``Ooka River Cherry Blossom Festival'' and ``Yokohama Jazz Summit @ Motionblue Yokohama,'' and ``The 150th Anniversary of the Opening of Yokohama Port.'' In recent years, he has been actively involved in more community-based activities, such as being selected as the DJ for a fashion show at a commemorative event (Y150).

http://jazzken.youknowhat.com

■ bohemianvoodoo profile ■

Formed in 2008, they started performing live mainly in Tokyo and Kanagawa. In 2011, they made their first appearance at the live restaurant "Motion Blue Yokohama" in Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, and their name was included in the all-time attendance record for that venue.
In December 2012, he released his 2nd album ``SCENES'' from the new label <Playwright>. For more than half a year after its release, the band continued to rank high on the TOP charts at Tower Records stores, recording unprecedented sales for a young jazz band in recent years.
In 2013, the drums were changed from Takatoshi Inoue to Takuya Yamamoto. They are continuing to tour nationwide with new members. A group of pop and melodious songs, dramatic developments and an exhilarating sense of driving...they are a melodious instrumental band that allows you to imagine a variety of scenery.

http://bohemianvoodoo.jp

Interview & Text by Shoko Hamayasu ｜ Photography by Yuji Uenoyama (CLIMBERS)

Since its opening in 1859, Yokohama has developed as an influx of Western culture. Railways, banks, hotels, photography, beer, ice cream, Neapolitan...Although there are various theories, there are many things that originate in Yokohama, and "Japanese Jazz" is said to be one of them. This time, we will take a look directly at ``Yokohama Jazz Ken'', which embodies the idea of contributing to the community through jazz in this historic area through unique activities, and bohemianvoodoo, a four-piece jazz band from Yokohama with whom they have a deep connection. We asked him about stories related to “Yokohama” and “jazz.”

<Interview members>

■Yokohama Jazz Lab: Yuichi Kikukawa (President), Yoshinosuke Hanyu (hereinafter referred to as Yoshinosuke)
■bohemianvoodoo: bashiry (g), Iori Kimura (p,key), Nassy (b), Takuya Yamamoto (ds)

—First of all, please tell us about the history behind the establishment of “Yokohama Jazz Institute” and its purpose.

Kikukawa : I used to work as an event DJ at Bar MOVE in Isezaki-cho, but after that event ended, there was a time when I was thinking about what I should do next. I had originally selected jazz music, so I thought I'd like to hold a jazz event, but since Yokohama is known as the birthplace of Japanese jazz, I thought I'd do an event that specializes in live jazz. I wish I could do something to revitalize the town. That's what led me to establish the company.

So, I found three friends at Bar MOVE...and these are the current members of "Yokohama Jazz Lab." One of them (Shin Abe) moved to Yakushima, and we use Skype to have him participate in meetings and remix production remotely.

For people who don't know about jazz, it has an image of being a little difficult to get into, high-class and difficult to get into. We are working to spread the message to such people that ``Jazz is something that anyone can enjoy.''
Also, since I live in Yokohama, I want to hold events that will help liven up Yokohama.
Recently, although the event ended up being cancelled, we were invited to the ``Yokohama Port 150th Anniversary Event (Y150)'', performed at the ``Ooka River Cherry Blossom Festival'', and have been involved with Yokohama City. I am also participating in some events.

—Among the events you hold, there are many unique plans. Various themes are prepared for each season, such as deciding on a theme and covering the song while having a session with a DJ and band, or participants bringing their favorite jazz sound sources and exchanging gifts.

Kikukawa : The members come up with ideas about what they want to do, discuss them in meetings, refine them, and implement various plans.

Nassy : I've been to Jazz Lab events many times, but it's never just an event where jazz is played.

—How did Yokohama Jazz Ken and bohemianvoodoo meet?

Iori : (For me) I met Yoshinosuke-kun at Bar MOVE. So, Shin Abe from the Yakushima branch, who I mentioned earlier, was invited to an event for the unit he was holding at the time, and I ended up attending there as well. After a while, I met bashiry there and started bohemianvoodoo.

Yoshinosuke : But actually, I met Bashiry-kun before Iori-kun.

I met bashiry-kun at a Bar MOVE event and became good friends. As a side note, as we became friends, we found out that we were juniors from the same junior high school, so we became even closer (lol). And then, I also met Iori-kun... Well, a little while after we met, Iori-kun gave me a demo. At the time, Abe-kun was looking for a piano member, so we decided to work together.

Iori : It seems like the network has expanded around Bar MOVE. bohemianvoodoo's first live was also held at a bar next to Bar MOVE. At that time, all of the Jazz Lab members came, and ever since then, we have performed live at Jazz Lab's anniversary events.

Nassy : Our third live performance after we started as a band was at Jazzken's 1st anniversary event, and that's when I started to think that live shows were really fun. However, Jazzken's customers are extremely sensitive.

Yoshinosuke : It's not just getting into the groove and drinking alcohol (lol).

bashiry : Everyone in the audience is keeping the rhythm on the backbeat (lol).

All : (lol)

—By the way, what was your first encounter with jazz like?

Yoshinosuke : One of my mother's acquaintances was a singer who ran a store, and he often sang jazz standards in front of me. I was 4 or 5 years old, so I didn't know the name of the song, but I thought, ``This is good.'' That was my first encounter with jazz.

Kikukawa : When I was in the third or fourth grade of elementary school, I played in a brass band, and my advisor told me about ``swing,'' saying, ``Jazz has this kind of rhythm.'' That was probably my first exposure to jazz. But then, a senior who was in the middle school brass band told me that the local middle school brass band played "In The Mood" (a hit song composed by Joe Garland and performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra). That may have been the first time I listened to jazz in that sense.

bashiry : I didn't consciously listen to jazz until I was in high school, but I originally started listening to it in elementary school. There is a festival called ``Yokohama Jazz Promenade'' held in my neighborhood every year, and during the festival, various jazz bands perform at dozens of locations around town. Some bands were famous, some were not so famous, but I grew up hearing them play on the streets, or when my mother brought me to listen to them...that's how I grew up being exposed to jazz. I have a memory. That's why I have a lot of fond memories of Yokohama Jazz Promenade.

—This is an episode unique to Yokohama. I think that's how I encountered jazz because I grew up in this area. How about others?

Iori : (I had several encounters with jazz), but my father was listening to Bill Evans and McCoy Tyner from the time I was born, so that was probably the first jazz I ever heard. Next, my classical piano teacher in elementary school happened to be a fan of jazz, so I got to play songs by Chick Corea and Sonny Rollins. I guess you could say this was my second encounter (with jazz).

—It's quite early maturing (lol). The teacher who made elementary school students play jazz was also amazing!

Iori : I also played jazz at the piano recital, improvising (lol). I don't know anything about theory, so I was just trying to play around with phrases from the music I was listening to.

Everyone : Wow (surprised).

Iori : So, after entering university, I met Shihiro Ito (also known as Shima & Shikou DUO, a unit with trumpeter Yusuke Shima), and started learning jazz piano, and I started learning jazz piano, as well as music such as Tommy Flanagan and hard bop (1950). The third stage was when I studied the jazz style that was at its peak from the mid-1960s to the 1960s , and then moved on to the more fundamental aspects.

Nassy : In my case, it took a very long time to get into jazz. I got into soul music, but when I was in high school, ``Free Soul'' (a popular compilation series from Après Midi Records, a label supervised by Toru Hashimoto) was very popular, and there were a lot of them at record stores in Shibuya. Yo. So I bought McCoy Tyner's ``Inner Voices.'' At the time, I didn't have any musical knowledge, so I just bought the jacket, but I thought, ``This is some amazing music.'' At that time, I didn't realize that this was jazz, but that's where I first encountered it.

-When I say ``Free Soul,'' I mean not only jazz, but also various genres of music such as soul and funk, but after going through those, you moved on to jazz.

Nassy : That's right. I was thrown into the world of jazz all of a sudden, but I basically like jazz as one of many different types of music, and that hasn't changed. Also, I started playing bass in high school, but at first I only played Mr. Chill. Then, in the summer of that year, I started playing Earth, Wind & Fire...I even wore an afro.

Iori : That's a huge leap forward (lol).

—So, how about you, Mr. Yamamoto?

Yamamoto : I was also in the brass band club with Mr. Kikukawa. Actually, I first joined because I thought drums would be good, but since it was a brass band, I wasn't allowed to play that, so I ended up playing percussion. So, while I wasn't able to play drums, I was listening to drum CDs as a reference, and I happened to choose a hard fusion CD by Cassiopeia. (*Fusion = jazz that has been strongly influenced by other genres such as rock since the 1960s, but has a particularly strong technical orientation)

I also listened to songs made by drummers and session songs, but there was a time when I didn't know what to listen to anymore.
However, if you go back in time, your roots are in the bebop era (a style of jazz that was all the rage in the 1940s and 1950s) with artists like Miles and Coltrane. While listening to such things, I started playing percussion in the brass band, thinking that I would definitely play the drums someday.

—Thank you to each and every one of you for your responses. So, please tell us your impressions of Yokohama, which is said to be the birthplace of jazz.

Yoshinosuke : Of all the people here, Bashiry and I are actually the only ones who were born and raised in Yokohama, but Jazz Ken and Bohemianvoodoo are both from Yokohama. After three days in Yokohama, I'm already a beach girl (lol).

Iori : Yokohama is said to be the birthplace of jazz, so there are a lot of jazz bars. A long time ago, I used to call out to him on mixi and go to jam sessions, and I met Bashiry for the first time in a few months at a place I went to hang out with. We got excited and talked about doing it together. We were also living in Yokohama at the time, and that's why we say we're a band from Yokohama.

bashiry : Basically, I like Yokohama (lol). The people are nice, and it's a place that nurtured us musically. Yokohama was the place where we got a great response from outputting that kind of information, and there were people who supported us a lot. I want to cherish it in the future as well.

Kikukawa : By the way, Yokohama seems to have the most jazz bars in Japan.

bashiry : There is also a jazz lady (lol)

-what is that?

bashiry : Like a jazz snack with live music.

Iori : We used to work part-time at a place like that. Things like cleaning the toilets, making sake, and playing alongside them.

Nassy : I used to go there for drinks when bashiry was working part-time (lol).

―Such shops are very close to each other in Yokohama. So what is the Yokohama jazz scene like? What changes have occurred between before and now when you established Yokohama Jazz Institute?

Kikukawa : Hmm, honestly I don't feel much of a change. I don't think it's very helpful though... (bitter smile). However, the number of friends has increased. The number of fans has increased, and I've become friends with people at stores and neighborhood associations, and I think I've been recognized.

—So, what do you think about the relatively new so-called club jazz scene?

Iori : Jazzken plays jazz in clubs, but we don't play what you would call club jazz. It's not mainstream at all.

Kikukawa : I work with the basic premise of live jazz, so I don't really have to type anything into it. I sometimes play it, but about 80% of it is live sound.

bashiry : It's like a big jazz cafe where you can stand up and make noise (lol).

Yamamoto : (Not club jazz) It means playing jazz in a club.

-I see.

Kikukawa : When we held an event at Chigusa (a jazz cafe founded in 1930) in Noge this spring, people other than those who usually come to Jazz Lab also came. There were customers who knew (Chigusa's) name but couldn't come to the store on a regular basis, and there were also regulars of Chigusa.

bashiry : There were some seniors who were 60 to 70 years old.

-There was a wide range of age groups.

Kikukawa : The shop is currently run by regulars called ``Chigusa-kai'', and among them is the editor-in-chief of ``Adlib'' (a Japanese jazz music magazine that ceased publication in 2010). . He's from the 70's, but I asked him to be my DJ.

bashiry : He was playing Herbie Hancock.

Kikukawa : At that time, it was an event where about three generations gathered. In that sense, our events may be becoming something like a town revitalization event. We will be holding another event at Chigusa on Saturday, September 14th.

— So it seems like you are actually communicating through jazz.

Yoshinosuke : The people who came to Jazz Lab told their friends that there was an event like this, and the people who came like that went on to see concerts by friends like Iori-kun and Bashiry-kun. It's like... There are many people who come and go in our respective fields.

Iori : Jazz Ken's customers who didn't know about us fell in love with the band when they saw us perform for the first time, and conversely, we let our customers who didn't know about Jazz Ken to know about Jazz Ken's existence. Teach me. There are also crossovers like that.

Kikukawa : I mentioned earlier that we weren't contributing to the scene, but that's not our goal. We want it to be a success not just as a club event, but as a town revitalization event. So, I think it has been successful in terms of revitalizing the town.

—The direction and concept are completely different from what you would normally imagine as a club event.

Kikukawa : I like club jazz, house, and other music because it's comfortable and danceable, but at Jazz Lab, we purposely try to narrow the range of music in order to pick out something a little more essential.

Yoshinosuke : We also have a project in which we have customers bring in CDs or records of songs based on the theme of the time, and have them explain the songs into the microphone while playing them. There was one day when we played a song with the theme of "club jazz after 2000."

—In closing, may I ask both of you about your future prospects? </span
Iori : I would like to have more live performances in places that are rooted in the Yokohama area. On Sunday, September 29th, we will be performing live at the Yokohama Museum of Art in Minato Mirai, and I would like to have more opportunities like that.

bashiry : Also, bohemianvoodoo's songs are used as the BGM in the official movie of "Yokohama Jazz Promenade" that I mentioned earlier. I am very happy. I hope we can get more involved with Yokohama in this way.

Yokohama JAZZ PROMENADE 2013 Promotional Video

Kikukawa : Like them, we would like to do more events that are closely related to Yokohama in the future, but what I've been especially feeling lately is how much fun it is to work with people who are considered great jazz elders. That's right.
There's a free jazz journalist named Teruto Soejima, and he's holding an event where he shows footage of the Moers Jazz Festival in Germany, and a DJ plays music in between. I went there as part of the Jazz Lab. At that time, I really received a lot of energy from Mr. Soejima. He's an 85-year-old grandfather, but he's said to be one of the two Japanese journalists recognized in the world, and he's still active today, saying he's ``pursuing free jazz.''
It's great to be able to work with people who have that kind of passion, and enjoy the same events with people aged 60 to 70 from Chigusa-kai (a group of people who admire Mamoru Yoshida, Chigusa's first famous store manager). I think it's good. On the other hand, I would also like to work with people in their 20s and other younger generations. Actually, I'm thinking about doing something with the real jazz lab at the university.

Everyone : That's interesting!

"Jazz" was born in the late 19th century to the early 20th century, and was once loved as dance music. Although music has gone through various changes and been subdivided throughout history, it originally existed as something popular rather than lofty, something very free rather than something formal, and even today it continues to be loved by generations. It's an exciting thing to overcome and enjoy. If you've always been reluctant to try music because it's too difficult to get into, try experiencing the joys of Yokohama jazz. If you don't know where to go, why not start by visiting the events and spots recommended by Yokohama Jazz Institute?
(Interview & text Shoko Hamayasu)

Venue cooperation: nitehiworks

<This event has ended. 〉
<Click here for future plans for “Yokohama Jazz Ken” and “bohemianvoodoo”>

9/7 (Sat) Yokohama City Gumyoji bohemianvoodoo LIVE IN Mutsukawa Bar TOMMY'S CAFÉ http://www.geocities.jp/tommys_cafe/

9/14 (Sat) 24th Yokohama Jazz Lab @Jazz Cafe Chigusa http://noge-chigusa.com/

9/29 (Sun) Minato Mirai 21 Project 30th Anniversary Live @ Art Plaza Details will be uploaded to http://bohemianvoodoo.jp/live.htm soon.

*The following Yokohama Jazz Ken events featuring Yoshinosuke Hanyu

9/6 (Friday) evergreen- a sound of pop flavor- Time: 10pm- Location: Bar MOVE Free admission

9/21 (Sat) Ripple Time 18:00-22:00 Location: Shibuya SUNDALAND CAFE Admission: ¥500 http://www.sundalandcafe.com/

<“bohemianvoodoo” bohemianvoodoo/Adria Blue PV is here>