Sax and the City
Jet-lagged and barely an hour into my first visit to Tokyo, I wandered into the HMV record store in Ginza. It was 1997.
I found myself flicking through jazz CDs. It was a sort of antidote to the time-difference delirium and a connection to home in England, where I was a frequent visitor to music shops.
There, the jazz section would be populated by earnest, bearded, middle-aged men whose sweaters needed a wash. And they would never dream of wearing their sandals without socks.
This HMV was different. The jazz section was full of young, immaculately presented “office ladies” on their lunch break, trying to decide between John Coltrane and Bill Evans.
“I think I’m going to like this place,” I thought to myself. And I was right.
As I began to feel more at home in Tokyo, I realized that tasteful American jazz is deeply ingrained in the country. I am sure that somewhere in Kasumigaseki there is a Ministry of Restaurant Music, whose remit is setting guidelines for what can be played in bars and cafés.
The Miles Davis classic Kind of Blue is a must. Fail to play it at least once an evening and risk a substantial fine. I’m good with this, and it’s a splendid album that should be a first purchase for any newcomer to jazz.
One reason I like jazz is that it is still possible to catch the genre’s top artists at intimate venues, where you can see them, smell them and maybe even touch them, should you be so inclined.
If I’m going to a concert, I want to see the musician in real life, not on a screen. I can do that at home for nothing.
Tokyo has some great venues for live jazz. The Cotton Club in Marunouchi and Blue Note in Minami Aoyama are two of my favorites. Both take inspiration from their New York origins but offer a decidedly Japanese experience. They’re generally better organized, much less shabby and the food is better. I’d prefer the audiences to be slightly more animated but, hey, it’s Japan.
Japanese jazz crowds are highly discerning. But then they have been raised on a background music diet of Kind of Blue since they were kids. This means that a Western musician who might struggle to sell out a leisure center in the English city of Leeds, for example, draws a whole week of appreciative full houses at Tokyo’s top venues.
While the pandemic forced foreign artists to stay at home, they’re back in force now. After you give that obligatory Kind of Blue a listen, take in some of Tokyo’s incredible live jazz. I hope you enjoy it as much as I—and those office ladies—do.
Jonathan King is a Member of the Club.
Words: Jonathan King
Illustration: Tania Vicedo
