My Favorite Place to Play in Tokyo/Yokohama

My favorite "jazz" club in Tokyo-Yokohama. Airegin (Yokohama) near Kannai station. Airegin is the home of a great music festival called the International Impromusica Festival. I've always enjoyed performing at Airegin cause I've always felt the music is put ahead of anything else. Sometimes there are good audiences and sometimes I've played for only 2-3 people. Regardless, there has never been any kind of bad vibe from the owner. It's all about the creativity. Especially in this day and time when the money seems to control all, it's so important for artists to have a space to create and let ideas flow. Airegin is just that kind of space.

July 27

James Cameron talks tech, "Avatar" at Comic-Con

"I think it's really more of a bonus at the moment that you sit down and watch the movie that you feel more immersed in it and more physically present. I actually think 3D engages more areas of the brain, just the way we process 3D images. It makes you more aware and more present as you're watching the film because there's more brain activity."
James Cameron talkstech, "Avatar" at Comic-Con

Interesting comments. As time goes on, I look at the way movies, TV, etc are used to deliver messages/info to the masses. It's intriguing to me that those in the industry are trying to find more ways for us to be totally immersed in the media experience.

Soylent Green
A dystopian movie from 1973 that presented material about a 2022 overpopulated world in which most of the resources had been exhausted. They've been planting the seeds for quite a while....^_-


Clark Terry - "Storyteller" (video interview)

Probably my biggest influence on the trumpet and in jazz. Always noticed that Clark Terry and others in his generation have been great storytellers with or without their instruments. I can remember sitting around campfires listening to my Grandad tell stories for hours. I just couldn't get enough of that. This week, I'll be looking into storytelling and storytellers and thinking about how that shows up in making music, improvisation and the creative process in general.

Tom Wujac Speaks at TED

Brain Chow Post 6/6/09 re: Wujec

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

Powered by Tokyo Art Beat

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.

June 17

Listening
Podcasts
I really like the Lenswork podcasts and magazines because its all related to the creative process. Not much info about photographic technique.
Lenswork #535 Examining Our Habits
Lenswork #536 Repeat After Me

What It Means To Be Human - "Biological Colonialism" podcast
On this episode of What It Means to Be Human, bioethicist Wesley J. Smith examines the biological colonialism that has come in the wake of the devaluation of human life. With the rejection of human exceptionalism, we now have the commoditization and exploitation of the body parts and functions of the poor, effectively treating human beings as mere natural resources to be exploited and/or harvested. Listen in and learn what it means to be human -- and why it's so important.
Text

What It Means To Be Human - "Granting Rights to Plants in Switzerland"
An ethics panel in Switzerland is considering granting rights to … plants. On this episode of What It Means to Be Human, Wesley Smith, Discovery Institute senior fellow in human rights and bioethics, looks at how Switzerland's enshrining of "plant dignity" is a symptom of a cultural disease that has infected Western civilization, causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns.


Gymnast Shawn Johnson Put To Sleep After Breaking Leg

Bill Moyer's Journal Vodcast - Talks with Robert Reich
June 12, 2009
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich sits down with Bill Moyers to talk about the influence of lobbyists on policy, the economy, and the ongoing debate over health care.

New Juice
Blueberry/Cantalope


I know..I know..it's blank. Give me a couple of days...a new song is on it's way..^_-

Exhibition
Went to see the Ryoichi Aratani Photo Exhibition at the Canon Gallery in Gina. He is a great photographer who is always around the Yokohama jazz club, Airegin, taking photos of musicians. What I surprise I got when I arrived at the exhibition. Aratani-san had one of my photos displayed at the entrance to the gallery along with 3 or 4 others throughout the exhibition. In addition, he had a copy of Photocon magazine June '09 issue sitting on the table. Photocon had a few of Aratani's photos from the exhibition in the this month's issue including one of mine. Aratani will move his exhibition to Fukuoka, Japan in July.





Photocon Magazine
http://www.photo-con.com/
http://www.photo-con/0906/index.html


HPGRP
Went to the hrgrp gallery in Aosando (between Aoyama & Omotesando) to see Miki Kubata's exhibition. Very cool, very unusual. hrgrp is a very nice space.

Reading
LensWork May-June 2009 Issue
Brooks Jensen
Editors Comments
Ten Motivations
"From time to time, we all need motivation to keep a project moving-or more commonly, to break the inertia of inactivity. Here are some ideas to get moving and finish your photography projects."

DeBono-Lateral Thinking
Difference between vertical and lateral thinking:

Rightness is what matters in vertical thinking. Richness is what matters in lateral thinking.
DeBono-Lateral Thinking, chapter 2 pg 37

Art
When I met Tommy-G at Aratani's exhibition, he told me about a great artist in Kyoto, Japan. Her name is Rie Mandala and you can see some of her work on flickr.




Rie Mandala's Art
http://www.flickr.com/photos/riemandala/




CONGO
Check-out my friend CONGO (sax). Sometimes we play together at Airegin in Yokohama. He is extremely passionate about the music and so creative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txLf5wGeG1g&feature=related


Photography
A few photos I took yesterday and today....