Tokyo_Day of the "official" performance.

July 2. 

Maki (from Kyoto) e-mailed some higher rez photos of the Urbanguild performance. Here they are:

Sunday (June 30) was the performance organized by Mark Rappaport with his wife Michiyo Yagi (17 & 24 string koto), Nori Tanaka (drums) and Jason Roebke (bass). It was a good and very pleasurable performance. It has been a long time since I have done a whole evening (two sets) of free improv. I think not since the days of "Purple Gums." Here are some shots from that performance:

On the way to the performance space. There are a lot of people in Tokyo.

The venue.

Michiyo and her students setting up the instruments.

Nori setting up.

There was a lot of spoken-word (some in Japanese) and singing going on.

Posing with the koto master...

...and her students. 

Nori and the club manager.

This is Minoru. He is the Japan wing of Asian Improv Arts. He came down from Nara to hear the concert. His presence was much appreciated. This photo was grabbed from FB, so is low-rez. I hope to get some hi-rez shots of the show from Minoru. He had a camera with a big lens. 

Tonight is the show at IHJ, the funding organization for this trip. I was told they expect a lot of people. That is not what I expected. I don't think it is what they expected either. I suspect this means I had better figure out something to say. Of course, I could let the music speak for itself. That is a dangerous way to go though. Folksongs and pop music are pretty articulate when it comes to making their own case. Beyond those genres, I believe a little help from the music's friends makes for a less alienating experience for the audience. The performance is titled "Cartography," the name of a CD (with Glenn Horiuchi and Francis Wong) that I manufactured for this trip. So, if I just name the cities that I have been to, half the program time will be used up. A good strategy. 

See you later.