Bluegrass Japan

Surf & Turf at Konton-Kan on June 8

2006-06-09T23:49:00.000+09:00

On June 8th, Surf & Turf had a small live performance at Konton-Kan in Harajuku, Tokyo.

Surf & Turf consists of a seasoned bluegrasser, Mr. I. as the leader, Mr. H. who is one of the best banjo players in Japan, Mr. A. who is a promising young mandolinist、and Mr. O. as base fiddler. I am playing the fiddle here. The band has nice rhythms and tempos. It is a very pleasant experience to play with them.

On this night, we challenged a few new songs such as Tear My Stillhouse Down and Teardrops In My Eyes.

I upped some of the recordigs of the night.

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Please click the underlined for listening to it. If you installed MP3 player, you can listen to it.

●Roanoke
This is one of the famous Bill Monroe instrumentals but is not frequently played in Japan. Here, we had featured Mr. H's banjo.

●Back Up And Push
This is also a typical fiddle tune. I am not good at double stop yet. Need more practice!

●John Hardy
Mr. H. took a lead and his banjo sounds superb.

●I Saw The Light
We conclued our session with this song.

－Redorder： Edirol R-09

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Harajuku Bluegrass Jam on May 31

2006-06-03T00:35:00.000+09:00

On May 31, we had the regular Harajuku Bluegrass Jam at Konton-Kan, Tokyo.

This time, the jam theme was "bluegrass gospel." We played number of gospels like Angel Band, Are YouAfraid To Die, Are You Washed In The Blood, Drifting Too Far From The Shore, I Saw The Light, Little White Church, Old Country Church, White Dove and many more.

Of course, we played many other favorites as well.

This month the jam saw its 12th time, which means it lasted one year. Thank you for the support of all the attendants. We would like to continue to have this jam as long as possible and always welcome anybody interested in Bluegrass.

Open Mike Session with a Guest From U.S.

2006-05-20T09:37:00.000+09:00

On May 14, I went to a bluegrass open mike session at a pub in Machida city, located in the west part of Tokyo, with a guest from the U.S.

His name was Bruce and he contacted me through this blog. He had a very busy working schedule in Tokyo but brought a guitar with him and was enthusiastic about jamming. He is a seasoned jammer in Oregon.

It was a first time for me to attend this open mike session. The session was managed by Mr. S. and he had set up “One Mike” with a lot of care. Around 15 people gathered on that day and they were all good players.

Bruce and I enjoyed a bit of open mike session and after that, we went out to try a Karaoke Box nearby. We had two men session for an hour or so there. (Most of Japanese Karaoke Boxes allow playing acoustic instruments.) We had a nice time.

Bruce was the second guest from the U.S. I met through this blog. Bluegrass unites us and internet unites us!

Small Concert of SURF & TURF on May 11, 2006

2006-05-13T20:33:00.000+09:00

On May 11, 2006, Surf & Turf had a small concert at Konton-Kan, Tokyo.

Our band leader, Mr. I. attended Merle Fest and has just came back from the U.S. We were all glad to hear that Doc Watson, who was over 80 years old, was very very fine and competed 1.5 hour session every day without any problem. What a stamina!

We did some new songs for us this night, which included “Sweet By And By.” This is my favorite.

I recorded our session with a new recorder, Edirol R-09 and upped some of them here just for your reference.

★★★Small Concert of Surf & Turf on May 11, 2006 at Konton-Kan
Please click the underlined for listening to it. If you have installed MP3 player in your computer, you can listen to it.

○Road To Columbus
My fiddle is a bit shaky. I need more practice.

○Randy Lynn Rag
Banjo of Mr. H. is thriving.

○Sweet By And By
This is a new song for us. I love it, though we need to work out our chorus. Lead vocal is Mr. I. with my tenor.

○Band
－Lead Vocal & Guitar : Mr. I.
－Banjo & Harmony Chorus： Mr. H.
－Mandolin： Mr. A.
－Base & Harmony Chorus： Mr. O.
－Fiddle & Harmony Chorus： NINO

○Recorder: Edirol R-09

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Harajuku Bluegrass Jam in Tokyo on Apr. 19, 2006

2006-05-09T21:58:00.000+09:00

On April 19, 2006, we had a regular "Harajuku Bluegrass Jam" at Konton-Kan, Tokyo.

We started from 7 p.m. which was rather early and finished at around 10:30 p.m.

We usually set “Themes for the Jam”, in order just to give some accent to our jam. This time, it was the songs of Jimmy Martin, Jim & Jesse, Osborn Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs.

We could play some of the songs that were rarely played among us and as well as usual tunes.

Examples are as follows;

Blue Ridge Cabin Home
Banks Of The Ohio
Foggy Mountain Top
Footprints In The Snow
On My Way Back To The Old Home
Kentucky Waltz
Y'all Come
Sunny Side Of The Mountain
Mr. Engineer
My Baby's Gone
Foggy Mountain Breakdown

They are only a part of it. We have done a lot more.

The next jam is scheduled on May 31, 2006.

If you happened to come to Tokyo, please join us!

Session of NINO's Bluegrass Jam Band (March 24, 2006): Continued

2006-05-07T20:57:00.000+09:00

Today, I would like to upload the recording of the 2nd stage of our private picking party on March 24, 2006 in Tokyo.

★★★Please click the underlined songs for listening.

○Shuckin' The Corn
We started 2nd stage with this famous banjo tune. Mr. H's banjo was shinining!

○I Wonder Where You Are Tonight
This old country song is very popular among Japanese bluegrassers.

○Blue Moon Of Kentucky
I tried this classic bluegrass song with the key of B and it seemed to be a bit high for my falsetto part.

○You Are My Sun Shine
We included one of the popular country songs here.

○Soldier's Joy　
I enjoyed playing this typical fiddle tune thanks to the nice backing-up of base and banjo.

○Sunny Side Of Life (Hi No Ataru Michi)
This is a Japanese version of famous "Sunny Side of Life."

○Orange Blossom Special
We conclued the second stage with this typical fiddle breakdown.

I had a wonderful time to share bluegrass music with my picking friends and bluegrass novises.

By the way, as the band name indicates, this member have never played together before this session and we did not have any releasal. Therefore this was a real jam and that seemed to give some kind of free and spontaneous feeling throughout the session.

Session of NINO's Bluegrass Jam Band (March 24, 2006)

2006-05-07T17:51:00.000+09:00

On March 24, 2006, I had a private picking party inviting some of my colleagues at the company.

Fortunately, I could hold one of the top banjo players in Tokyo, Mr. H. for this session and also managed to have some of my picking friends, Mr. K. and Mr. M. The session was held at a small rental live space in Tokyo.

I would like to up some of the recordings of our session here. Although the quality of recording is not good, I hope you get a feel of our “hot” session.

★★★Please click the underlined songs for listening. If you have installed MP3 players in your computer, you can listen it.

○ Day Break In Dixie

○Grand Father's Clock (with Japanese verse)
This song started with Japanese verse followed by instrumental.

○Banks Of The Ohio
Most of the audience did not know bluegrass, but this classic bluegrass song seemed to appeal them.

○Randy Lynn Rag
Mr.H's banjo had nice timing and rythme and we all enjoyed it.

○Red Wing & Turkey In A Straw
I explained to the audience how the fiddle is different from the violin.

(To be continued)

Live Performance of Surf & Turf at Konton-Kan, Tokyo

2006-03-12T00:29:00.000+09:00

On March 9th, I joined the live performance of “Surf & Turf” at Konton-Kan, Tokyo.

This band is headed by a veteran bluegrasser, Mr. I together with our banjo teacher, Mr. H, a young mandolinist, Mr. A and a veteran bassist, Mr. O. I temporarily joined the band as a fiddler.

This day’s live was particularly good, because, we had Mr. and Mrs. Moriyasu, the famous duo of Celtic music as well.

I upped the recordings of some of our performance. The recording quality is not good but I hope that you can get to know how we are enjoying bluegrass in Tokyo.

Please click the underlined to listen to the recordings.

★ Little Rabit

This was a bit longer.

★ St. Anne’s Reel
Sorry. My fiddle is getting faster and faster. I need to control tempo!

A Guest From Us Joined Our Session In Tokyo

2006-02-12T14:03:00.000+09:00

Today I am very happy to report that just recently (January 19th), we had a couple of nice visitors from the U.S. in our bluegrass session of Konton-Kan, Tokyo. We played together a bit and had a wonderful time.

They were Bill and his friends who happened to visit Tokyo. Bill saw this blog and contacted me. They joined the small live of our Cloud Cuckoo Band. Bill joined our open mike session and played the mandolin.

It was rare and therefore quite stimulus to have real blugrassers form the U.S. with us. This is probably one of the nicest things that internet gave us. Through internet, we can communicate directly with people in the world who have the same interests.

And lastly I would like to thank you Bill and his friends for their visiting us under busy schedule.

A Happy New Year!

2006-01-03T23:03:00.000+09:00

A Happy New Year!!

Last year, I just started this blog to show you how Bluegrass music is going in Japan. This year, I would like to continue to report on it.

I hope that all of you have a nice year.

NINO

Live of The Country Church at St. Peter's In Tokyo onDec 10, 2005

2005-12-23T11:45:00.000+09:00

Our bluegrass/country band, The Country Church performed at St. Peter's in Asagaya, Tokyo, Japan.

This was a part of a charity concert held by the Church on December 10th, 2005. This charity concert is an annual event to support another church's activities in Tokyo and it was already third time.

Prior to us, two professional bands appeared, one was a gospel group and the other was a jazz trio.

Especially, this jazz trio, JJ Mochizuki Trio is a famous band and it was a little hard thing for us to appear after them because they are so good!

Anyway, our strength is that we have played in this church for a long time and the audience knows us very well.

We played our usual repertoires. I upped some of the recordings I made. If you have time, please click the underlined for listening. They are mp3 files. The quality of recording is not so good but I hope that you can get a feel of what we have done.

○What A Friend We Have In Jesus
We started in English and then in Japanese. The audience joined our chorus with us. This is a nice joint work.

○When You Kneel At Mother's Grave
This is Bill Clifton's classic and many Japanese love this song.

○Dear Old Dixie
We concluded our performance with this fast breakdown.

We all have enjoyed this performance together with about 100 people gathered in this little concert. We hope that this little act help some in one way or another.

Monthly "Harajuku Bluegrass Jam" on Oct 31

2005-11-06T10:21:00.000+09:00

We are having bluegrass jam at Konton-Kan, a small live house in Tokyo monthly. October 31 was our 5th jam since it started in June.

This time our gathering was a little small - about 10 people and we had a cozy jamming as usual.

Luckly, we had a banjo master/instructor, Mr. Hara and enjoyed playing with him.

Next gathering will be held on November 29 and if you ever come to Tokyo, please join us!

First Podcast! : Bluegrass Tokyo

2005-10-16T17:37:00.000+09:00

This is the first trial of Podcasting.

I would like to bring you what is going on in Bluegrass music scene in Japan, especially Tokyo metropolitan area.

Please click here, A Little Bit of Bluegrass, Tokyo.

Please enjoy and if you are interested, please make your comment.

Thank you

A Small Live at A Casual Bar in Tokyo by The Country Church

2005-07-19T13:37:00.000+09:00

Our amateur bluegrass band – The Country Church had a small live performance at a bar in Tokyo on July 15th.

This live house is located in one of the terminal stations in Tokyo, Ikebukuro. We have had several lives here before. This night ( July 15th) performance was also such a casual one.

This time, due to our members’ schedule, we could not have practice and played without rehearsal. But all the songs we performed were our regular ones and we had no problem to have a nice and cozy play.

I recorded a part of our performance there and upped "Little Cabin Home On The Range." I played the fiddle and recorded it just by myself and, therefore, the sound of fiddle was recorded unevenly too loudly.

==============================================================
★Recording of Live Performance: Little Cabin Home On The Range
(Please click the below. It may take time to get music.)

Little Cabin Home On The Hill played by The Country Church

- Lead & Guitar: Summy
- Mandolin & Harmony Vocal: Andy
- Banjo: Thomas
- Base: Jimmy
- Fiddle: George NINO
==============================================================

Karuizawa Bluegrass Festival

2005-07-05T17:30:00.000+09:00

Karuizawa is a famous resort spot that is located 0000 k.m. north of Tokyo. Since 0000, Karuizawa Bluegrass Festival has been held twice a year, fall and spring festival.

This is an indoor festival and it's site is actually the club house of a golf course, 00000000000. It is very convenient because whether we have rain or snow, we can enjoy a festival. And if you like golf, you can enjoy playing it, too. You can stay at the hotel annexed to the club house with very reasonable charge.

The scale of the festival is relatively small with the attendance of about 100 to 120 people. Almost all of them are the performers. The number of the bands playing is about 20.

The majority of the performers is over 40 years old but recently we began to see some younger generation attending this festival.

The latest Spring Festival was held last April. As for your reference, I upped some of the photos and some recordings of our group’s performance, Cloud Cuckoo Band. I am glad, if you can sense how the festival goes in Karuizawa, Japan.

First Monthly "Harajuku Bluegrass Jam" was successful

2005-07-04T12:37:00.000+09:00

On June 30th, we held the first monthly “Harajuku Bluegrass Jam” at a live house called “Konton-Kan” in Tokyo.

Harajuku is a fashionable town in Tokyo where a lot of young people gather. Konton-Kan is located in this fashionable town and it is the only live house in Tokyo focusing on almost entirely live Bluegrass music.

Konton-Kan hosts numerous live performances of amateur Bluegrass bands and open mike sessions, though there was no open jam session. (In the past, it had but it was stopped.) A couple of people wanted to have a simple jam and I happened to organize “Harajuku Bluegrass Jam.” We hope to have this jam monthly.

It was the first trial and we were anxious to see how many people will show up. On June 30th, we had about 20 people and this is quite a success for the first time.

I prepared a simple song and tune book for this jam. People are familiar with a jam because it is held in various Bluegrass festivals and our rules are very simple. But it is always difficult to coordinate the performances of the jammers and keep everybody’s enthusiasm. Having a good song and tune book may be a key item to have a better session.

We started at around 7:30 p.m. and ended little after 11:00 p.m. During the course, we had a ten-minutes recess. Other than that, we continued to play and sing! What a tremendous energy we had!

That night, we had a very cute guest -- a little baby. He enjoyed music very much! He will certainly become a great musician.

We will have a next session on July 28th. If you have a chance to come to Tokyo around this time, please join us!

Onigajo Bluegrass Festival

2005-07-01T23:39:00.000+09:00

Today, I would like to show you how a Japanese Bluegrass Festival looks like.

Last Fall, I attended a local festival called Onigajo Bluegrass Festival. This festival took place in a small town that located OOOO k.m. north of Tokyo. Two hours ride will bring you to this local town.

The facility was excellent with a neat logging and a spacious hall for various purposes. The main stage for the festival was set up in the camping ground.

Unfortunately, it started rain soon after we arrived there but the hall could accommodate all of us and we had a pleasant indoor festival. We could even have indoor barbeques, too!

The number of the bands attended was about 20 and they came from Tokyo metropolitan area and northern Kanto area. Majority of the bands consist of rather senior people but a few are made of college students. It is always nice to have younger generation in this kind of activities.

Here is a sample of the recordings by our band, Cloud Cuckoo Band. I hope that you can see and listen some part of the actual festival.

At night after the all bands enlisted finished playing, jam time began. Many enthusiastic players continue to jam until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning!

You can see that anywhere Bluegrass freaks are so crazy about playing!

My Personal Recordings (2) : My Last Days Of Earth

2005-05-08T01:08:00.000+09:00

Today I upped one of the most beautiful songs that Bill Monroe created, "My Last Days Of Earth."

Please click the below. It may take time to get sound due to the site where it is stored.

* My Last Days of Earth (mp3)

This tune is played by a specially tuned mandolin; irregular open C# minor. Bill Monroe's recording of this song is also very special. It starts with the sound of ocean and waterfowl. The beginnig and ending are harmonics, which represents the sound of clock and means the life is ending.

Gene Lowinger, one time a fiddler of Blue Grass Boys, told me that he was listening to My Last Days of Earth all day long when Bill Monroe died.

This is certainly a beautiful song!

My Personal Recordings (1): Tennessee Blues

2005-05-07T12:19:00.000+09:00

I upped a trial recording of Tennessee Blues.

Tennessee Blues (mp3) played by NINO

Please click the above. This is a mp3 file and it may take time to get sound due to the site that it was upped to.

This is a master piece of Bill Monroe and has difficult timings. It is really hard to copy exactly the way Bill Monroe played. I learned it from Barry Mitterhoff when I was in the U.S.

2005-05-07T12:16:00.000+09:00

Orient Express performed at a private party in New Jersey.

2005-05-07T11:57:00.000+09:00

2nd Trial Entry of My Picture

My Bluegrass Band (3): Rise & Shine

2005-05-03T16:08:00.000+09:00

Third band that I am a part of is the one that I most recently joined and is called "Rise And Shine".

The Band names after the country song, “Rise And Shine.”

This band has a rather long history and established reputation among a small bluegrass community in Tokyo. It performs monthly at the longest-standing bluegrass live house in Tokyo called "Rocky Top". My part here is vocal and mandolin.

In this blog, I would like to show you some of the live recordings of our live performances so that you can taste how they go in Japan.

My Bluegrass Band (2): Cloud Cuckoo Band

2005-05-03T12:40:00.000+09:00

(Cloud Cuckoo Band performing at Konton-Kan, Tokyo.)

The second band I am involved is called "Cloud Cuckoo Band."

This band is based on a live house in Tokyo called "Konton-Kan". This live house is a rare existence because it specializes most entirely in Bluegrass.

The Band holds a live performance monthly at the live house. The session at this live house is a kind of open mike and the listeners are all players with a few customers. Therefore, it is very intimate.

The Band tends to play so-called "West Cast Bluegrass" such as Dillards, Country Gazzette and others. In this band, we are challenging complicated harmonies which are unusual for bluegrass songs. My part in this band is vocal, fiddle and guitar.

My Bluegrass Band (1) : The Country Church

2005-05-02T11:59:00.000+09:00

A snap shot of our band "The Country Church" at a bar in Tokyo

Today, I would like to talk about the bluegrass bands I am involved in Tokyo, Japan. I am currently involved in 3 bands.

First one is called "The Country Church."

As the name indicates, this group is based in a local church (Anglican) in Tokyo.This church is very keen on various musical activities. The core members of the Band are the members of the Church. We have had several live performances for charity in the chapel.

The Band tends to play well-known bluegrass songs of Flatt & Scruggs, Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe and others as well as popular country songs and gospels.

The Band has 5 members; mandolin, banjo/dobro, guitar/lead vocal, base and fiddle. My part is mainly fiddle and chorus vocal. They all spent their college life in '70 and came from the generation of "Folk Movement" which was come from the U.S. and swept through all over Japan at that time.

Recently, we had a small live performance at a casual bar in Tokyo and that was a fan. Later, I would like to up a part of our live performance.

Bluegrass Festivals in Japan

2005-01-16T23:13:00.000+09:00

There are a number of Bluegrass Festivals in Japan.

They are a bit different from the ones in the U.S. The largest difference is that, since there aren't any professional Bluegrass musicians in Japan, the players at the stages are all amateurs. In fact, they are all big open mike sessence. Each group has 15 to 20 minutes stage and many groups appear as long as the the time permits.

At night, of course, there are many jams going on around the stage. Since the the sites of the festivals are limited, there are no camping cars which typifies the U.S. Bluegrass Festivals. But many people enjoy barbecue, chatting and music playing.

The number of people participate in the festival varies festival by festival. Perhaps, there are two big festivals in Japan, one in western part of Japan called Takarazuka Festival and the other is the one in eastern part called Hakone Festival. Both of the festivals attract thousand of people, while a number of smaller local festivals attract hundreds of people.

But to me, it was a big surprise to find that there are so many Bluegrass festivals in Japan when I came back to Japan after I finished my 8 year- long assignment in the U.S.

This small island of Asia hosts so many Bluegrass Festivals a year! This is amazing. Bluegrass is a typical American music and even in the U.S. it can not be said the main stream music.

Perhaps, Japanese people are so keen on exotic things.

Bluegrass Japan, First Page

2005-01-16T21:08:00.000+09:00

First Page!

I am a Japanese who is crazy about Bluegrass music.

I started playing bluegrass when I was in a university in Japan. Later, I have had an opportunity to work in New York area and played bluegrass there.

I am infected by the bluegrass, perhaps.

In this blog, I would like to talk about the bluegrass music scene in Japan, mainly Tokyo metropolitan area.

Bluegrass music is very small in Japan but there are some people being crazy about it just like me.

I want to let you know what's going on Japanese bluegrass scene and to share its excitement with everybody around the world.