June 24

Music
Had a fun gig last night with the Jeff Curry Trio at the New Marunouchi Building in Tokyo. It was great playing again in a piano-less trio. No offense to all the piano players I know. It's been a while and felt good. Harmonically, I like that freedom. Also, it felt comfortable to play flugel in that group with the wood bass and wooden drums and in a large open space. Tone of the instruments seemed to match up well. I need to consistently play in a group like that because maybe sometimes I rely a little too much on listening to piano players for the form. When playing in this type of trio I sometimes feel like I get lost in the form or am on the edge. That used to bother me a lot more than it does these days. I just figure if we lose the form, that's how somebody on the bandstand was hearing it and let's go with that. It used to be a source of tension and stress. These days, my thinking has completely changed about those things. I love a quote I heard yesterday...

"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."

Ken Robinson

Art
Living in Tokyo? If you're into going to museums, you have to use Tokyo Art Beat's handy little guide to the Tokyo Art Scene.

Tokyo Art Beat Website
Tokyo Art Map (download) PDF

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Magazines
I've enjoyed Z magazine because of the wide spectrum they cover. Just scanning through magazines like this can open up some new areas of thought.



Exercise
Doing a new yoga pose today. Great for stretching knees, legs and ankles. Been having a lot of pain in my left ankle recently. Sometimes it has been difficult to walk. Going to the doctor SOON!
Utthita Parsvakonasana


Movie
Saw a great 1954 Japanese movie today at Shin-Bungeiz theater in Ikebukuro. They're having a film festival celebrating the work of Kyo Machiko. The name of this movie was Shunkin Monogatari (The Story of Shunkin).
Shin-Bungeiza Theater



Misc
Sat in a cafe doing some DeBono random word exercises tonight. Did one called "double effect." The results were really surprising.