fables of the peach: Momotaro, Mingus, and imperial consolidation

04May10

My friend Marié clued me in to this incredible “modern jazz opera” version of the famous legend of Momotaro, who was born from a giant peach and went on to conquer demons.  The video is vertiginously entertaining and the combination of modern jazz, Japanese sprechgesang, mythological imagery, and comedic stagecraft work together surprisingly well. The […]

Filed under: animation, cinema, culture, film, history, Japan, literature, politics, society   |  5 Comments
Tags: animation, colonialism, demons, Fables of Faubus, fairy tales, folklore, Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, imperialism, Japanese animation, Japanese colonialism, Japanese imperialism, jazz, Mingus, modern jazz, modern jazz opera, Momotaro, Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors, mythology, oni, Pacific War, Peach Boy, World War II, 桃太郎, 桃太郎 海の神兵

Steve at Henry

02Oct06

One last gasp before I start posting about my trip back to the States. Toward the end of last semester, I went with Robert and Futoshi to see Steve Muller, a colleague at Handai, play at Bar Henry, a venerable jazz bar in Kobe. Kobe, of course, is known for its jazz bars and has […]

Filed under: bar, drinking, Japan, Kansai, music, performance   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: バーヘンリー, Bar Henry, 神戸, jazz, jazz bar, kobe, standards, Steve Muller, stride piano

Niseuo, Richy Pompous, Menkerou Manji

28Sep06

I’ve written about Niseuo here and here, so I don’t want to go repeating myself. I’ll simply keep it short and mention, again, that Niseuo — which means “False Fish” in Japanese — is one of the greatest, maddest, most massively surreal free jazz ensembles on the planet. And punked out too, in the sense that […]

Filed under: culture, Japan, Kansai, music, Osaka, performance   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Aburanabori, avant rock, あぶらなぼり, bears, bridge, Ebihara, experimental music, 面黒楼卍, 贋魚, False Fish, improv, improvisation, jazz, Menkerou Manji, Niseuo, punk, Rich Pompous, Richy Pompous, rock, solo drumming, 海老原

Tenjin Matsuri, 2006

23Sep06

25 July, 2006 As I wrote last year: Tenjin Matsuri is one of Japan’s three largest festivals and over a million people attend the closing day celebrations, which are accompanied by a display of thousands of fireworks that continues for several hours into the night. This matsuri is a two day event, centered at Tenmangu […]

Filed under: culture, festival, history, Japan, Kansai, matsuri, music, Osaka, performance, religion, society   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: barge, boats, cheerleading, 神輿, Dojima River, 花火, 菅原道真, 雷神, festival, fire, fireworks, floats, god of learning, god of thunder, gods, jazz, lanterns, mikoshi, Okawa river, Osaka, osaka university, Osaka's bridges, pleasure barge, priestesses, Raijin, Shinto, Sugawara no Michizane, Tenjin Matsuri, traditional dance, 大阪, 大阪大学, 天神祭

False Fish at The Bridge

30Nov05

After dropping J. off to Taiwan, I took the train down to The Bridge, a musicians’ collective in the Shinsekai area of Osaka, in order to see Niseuo. This second visit to The Bridge has only cemented my conviction that this is a rare and special performance space. I can’t think of too many places […]

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Tags: concert review, 灰皿, distortion, experimental music, 贋魚, Haizara, improvisation, jazz, NAAZI, Niseuo, The Bridge, wall of sound

The DeVore Four

20Aug05

My dad’s very old friend, fellow Kansas City avant-jazz musician Noah Young (formerly Richard Youngstein), has sent me several late-60s articles from the Kansas City Star and the St. Louis Dispatch regarding my dad’s career as a jazz musician in the Kansas City area. These are real rarities and I thought I would reproduce the […]

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Tags: Darrell DeVore, DeVore Four, Noah Young, Richard Youngstein, Chuck McFarlan, DeVore Quartet, Travis Jenkins, Kansas City, jazz, Stan Kenton, Lou Rawls