Samm Bennett Tokyo Live Schedule May 2024
Hello friends, Samm Bennett here, extending a warm invitation to join one or more of these upcoming live music events. Support live music! It's good for you!
SUN 2/11 : King Cake Baby at Oil City (Asagaya)
Google map to Oil City
Oil City website
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King Cake Baby's mission continues: to bring that New Orleans 2nd line style R&B to Tokyo listeners. Good for your body, good for your soul. Matt Gillan on the 88 keys, Hisa Nakase on bass, and yours truly on drums and vocals, we bring you standards from the Crescent City such as Tipitina, Mardi Gras Mambo, Iko Iko, Junco Partner and many, many more, plus tunes from outside the New Orleans R&B tradition but given a Second Line spin, if you know what I mean. One After 909, Hey Good Lookin', Kansas City, On the Road Again and others, in our hands, undergo transformations into bona fide Mardi Gras-style excursions. And we'll be bringing selections from our ever-increasing repertoire of original numbers, in the same New Orleans spirit. Did I mention New Orleans, by the way?
Fun stuff, good times guaranteed. VIDEO: KCB at Oil City
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THU 5/16 : Bennett & Gillan at Blackbird (formerly Cheshmeh) - (Sasazuka)
Facebook event page
Google map to Blackbird
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I'm happy to announce the debut performance of this new song duo, Bennett & Gillan. Some of you will know Matt Gillan as the piano man in my New Orleans second-line style band King Cake Baby, but Matt is also a fine guitarist, and it's the six strings he'll be strumming in this new unit. Yours truly Samm will be on a very stripped-down percussion kit, and lead vocal. We've already got a repertoire of 30-odd songs ready to perform, all covers, mostly from 1950s 60s and 70s bands and artists like CCR, Willie Nelson, Dylan, Chuck Berry, Wilson Pickett, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Steve Earle, Hank Williams and more. Gonna be heaps of fun, so come on out to this first show, at the newly refurbished and rechristened Blackbird (the venue formerly known as Cheshmeh) in Sasazuka, Tokyo. Full bar, craft beers and tasty food on the menu there, in a relaxed and comfortable vibe.
Oh, and this show marks the resumption of a concert series I was hosting before Covid hit, namely Tokyo Song Celebration. There's some history of that event (which was held at a cafe/bar called Fuglen in Asakusa) HERE. start: 19:00 - entry 1500yen + order
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SUN 5/19 : Samm Bennett w/ special guest Minon at What the Dickens (Ebisu)
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I'll be doing covers and originals, with lots of new material to bring to the Dickens stage. This was planned as a solo show, but upon hearing Minon's solid rhythm-making on the washboard just the other night at Oil City, I invited her to join me for this gig.
As always, entrance there is free, and the beer and ale and cider on tap goes down real good. English pub fare on the menu is hearty, and it's one of the roomiest venues around. Stop on by! music from 8PM to 11-ish
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SAT 5/25 : Bennett & Gillan at Lighthouse (Kokubunji)
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tThis will be the second show from this new duo, with Matt Gillan (who happens to also be the piano man in my New Orleans second-line style band King Cake Baby) on guitar and backing vocal, and yours truly on a minimal percussion kit and lead vocal.
We'll be playing covers, mostly from 1950s 60s and 70s bands and artists like CCR, Willie Nelson, Dylan, Chuck Berry, Wilson Pickett, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Steve Earle, Hank Williams and more. Looking forward to playing the Lighhouse again, such wonderful folks there, always a good time! music from 19:00 to 22:00 - free entry!
Google map to Lighthouse
Lighthouse Facebook page
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SUN 5/26 : Bennett & Gillan at Grand Arbre (Setagaya, Shoinjinja-mae)
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This will be the THIRD show from this new duo, with Matt Gillan (who happens to also be the piano man in my New Orleans second-line style band King Cake Baby) on guitar and backing vocal, and yours truly on a minimal percussion kit and lead vocal.
We'll be playing covers, mostly from 1950s 60s and 70s bands and artists like CCR, Willie Nelson, Dylan, Chuck Berry, Wilson Pickett, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Steve Earle, Hank Williams and more. Grand Arbre is a wonderful little restaurant/bistro that I've played at several times over the years. The food and wine are exquisite, and the mood is relaxed and convivial. Highly recommended. Hope to see you there. Grand Arbre website
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Below: at-a-glance map to Grand Arbre. Need more detail? Go to Google Map
