Rhythm Focus Improv Nights
(scroll past description for current schedule)
日本語は下にスクロールしてください。
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Rhythm Focus Improv Night is a monthly concert series, started in January 2022, hosted by yours truly, Samm Bennett. As the name implies, the music on offer each month is free improvised, but with a focus on rhythm, on groove, on pulse, of one kind or another. Whatever aspect of rhythm the players want to explore. Each month I invite musicians from Tokyo's rich creative music scene, with a special eye toward players who have a strong rhythmic personality.
The venue is Bar Isshee, very near Sendagi Station (Chiyoda Line). For maps and information, please see the links just below. Entry is 500yen bar charge + 1 drink, and a pass the hat system for music donations |
Bar Isshee proprietor Ishida-san is very diligent about health-related practice at his venue during these times of pandemic. Your temperature will be taken at the door, and anyone with a temp higher than 37.5 will not be allowed in. Masks are necessary (except when taking sips of your drink, of course!) so you can feel at least relatively safe at Bar Isshee.
リズムフォーカス即興ナイトは2022年1月から始まるSamm Bennett主催の月例コンサート・シリーズです。その名の通り、ここで毎月展開される演奏はフリーの即興音楽ですが、何らかリズム・グルーヴ・パルスなどに焦点をあてたものとします。リズムという表現のどのような側面でも、プレーヤー自身が探求したいものでよいのです。月に一回、私は東京の豊かなクリエイティブ・ミュージックの現場で活躍する、とりわけ個性的なリズムを表現するミュージシャンを招いていこうと思います。
会場は、千代田線千駄木駅すぐのBar Isshee。地図や情報は下記のリンク先をご覧ください。
投げ銭制＋別途チャージ500円＋ドリンクオーダー。
会場は、千代田線千駄木駅すぐのBar Isshee。地図や情報は下記のリンク先をご覧ください。
投げ銭制＋別途チャージ500円＋ドリンクオーダー。
UPCOMING CONCERTS:
SAT 8/27 : Uchihashi Kazuhisa & Samm Bennett
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Very much looking forward to making joyful noise once again with a musician I've worked with in various contexts for more than 25 years. Uchihashi Kazuhisa is simply one of the finest and most celebrated improvisors in the world today. Whether on guitar or the amazing daxophone (he'll be using both on this night) he is always inventive and fresh.
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PAST CONCERTS ARCHIVE
2021-1-31 Umezu Kazutoki & Samm Bennett
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Umezu Kazutoki has worn so many musical hats over the decades of his rich musical career that to describe him effectively is a daunting task. You'd need to write a book. Suffice to say that he is a master improvisor on a wide array of wind instruments, as well as anything he might get his hands on that'll make a sound! His enthusiasm, keen ear, flexible approach and, not unimportantly, his wonderful sense of humor and playfulness are all part of what make him such an inspiring and engaging performer. Umezu-san and I have been working together in mostly free improvised music contexts since 1986, so... we go way back. Always a delight to make some joyful noise with this man.
梅津和時さんは、数十年にわたるその豊かな音楽生活の間に、実に多くの「音楽の帽子」をかぶってきている・・・つまり、２足どころか数十足もの草鞋を履く、そんな彼を十分に表現するのは容易ではない。本を１冊書く必要があるくらいだ。様々な管楽器はもちろん、音の出るものなら何でも演奏してしまう即興演奏の達人である。彼の熱意、鋭い感性、しなやかなアプローチ、そしてもちろん素晴らしいユーモアのセンスと遊び心が、彼をこれほどまでに刺激的で魅力的な演奏家にしているのだ。梅津さんと私は1986年以来、主にフリー・インプロヴィゼーションの文脈で一緒に仕事をしてきたので、実に長い付き合いだ。この方と一緒に楽しい音を出すのは自分にとっていつも大きな喜びなのだ。
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2022-3-26 : Sakamoto Hiromichi & Samm Bennett
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Sakamoto Hiromichi is, well, a force of nature. No one, and I mean no one, plays the cello like Sakamoto-san. Aside from his mastery of what you'd call "traditional" ways of playing the instrument, he is likely, at a moment's notice, to turn his cello upside down, sideways, and any old way you could imagine (as well as some you couldn't). He might lay it on the floor and drop pencils on it, scrape it, spin it, slap it, and generally do just about anything short of setting it on fire. He has incredible energy and focus, he's like some kind of musical tornado, and I'm very much looking forward to working with him in this duo format.
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2022-4-15 : Katsui Yuji & Samm Bennett
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Perhaps best known for his work with post-rave psychedelic groove unit ROVO, Katsui Yuji is surely one of Japan's most creative stylists on the violin, and, more specifically, on the violin with an array of electronic effectors which expand his sound palette into infinite directions. His mastery of the various pedals and gadgets he uses to modify and enrich his sound is evident to all who know and love his playing. A master of his own genre, and a tireless pusher of boundaries.I've had the good fortune of playing with Katsui-san on a few occasions over the years, but this will be the first time we've met as a duo.
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2022-5-13 : Koichi Makigami & Samm Bennett
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Makigami Koichi is a man who wears a lot of hats, and damned if he doesn't look good in all of 'em! He is, first off, one of Japan's most influential improvising vocalists, capable of all manner of vocal expression. He is an acknowledged master of the jaw harp (sometimes called jew's harp, khomus, guimbarde, etc), and has taken several top prizes over the years at jaw harp festivals in Mongolia, which you'll know, if you're familiar with the deep history of the instrument, is pretty much the locus solus of the jaw harp world. In addition, he is a theremin wizard, plays a mean trumpet, Mongolian string instruments, and god knows what else. I've worked with Makigami-san sporadically over the years, in a number of different group settings, and I have always immensely enjoyed those musical situations.This will be the first duo show we've done up till now, and I'm greatly looking forward to it.
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