April 8, Kamome Gig

Upcoming Schedule

April 01 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)
April 03 Akasaka Bflat (Akasaka, Tokyo) Tokyo Big Band
April 09 Kamome (Yokohama) Neil Stalnaker Quintet
April 10 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)
April 15 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)
April 16 Tokyo Main Dining (Shibuya, Tokyo) Trumpet/Piano Duo
April 24 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)
April 25 Private Event (Shinjuku, Tokyo)
April 30 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)

May 01 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)
May 07 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)
May 13 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)
May 16 Toshima Jazz Festival - Kenny's(Ikebukuro) Neil's Quintet
May 18-25 Japan Tour (Shikoku - Kyoto)
May 27 Encounter Club (Akasaka, Tokyo)

June 06 Foreign Correspondents' Club Japan (Hibiya, Tokyo) Neil's Trio
June 08 Kamome (Yokohama) Neil Stalnaker Quintet

July 24-26 Senzoku Concerts (Karuizawa)

August 1 Yokosuka, Japan Jazz Festival - Norio Maeda's Band

This Week....Gigs

Airegin March 20, 2009

Doing another gig at one my favorite places to play in Japan. On March 20, Frederick, Jeff, Mike and myself will be doing some original music at AIREGIN in Yokohama. We've all played together before but, not in this combination. Frederick will be playing electric piano and using his MAC with the ABLETON software. Jeff uses electric and acoustic basses which gives us a lot of options with vibe and colors. Mike is really one of the most flexible players I've ever worked with. So, I'm really looking forward to this gig. Working on some tunes/tracks now. But, I don't want too much structure on this gig cause these guys are so creative and flexible. That's a great thing about playing at AIREGIN. The owner is really open to all kinds of music and never dictates what kind of music is being done in the club.

Neil Stalnaker-trpt
Frederick Viennot-keys
Jeff Curry-bass
Mike Reznikoff-drums
Airegin
March 20
3:30 & 5:00pm
http://www.airegin.jp/
http://www.neilstalnaker.com/

Friday Feb. 27 at Tokyo Main Dining

Elizabeth Gilbert on Creative Genius

01/11/09 "live at KAMOME

Really looking forward to this gig on Sunday. Always fun doing Horace Silver's music and especially with these musicians. I played recently with Shimazu Kennichi for the first time and it was a really comfortable vibe. He used to be the pianist for one of very favorite singers, Jimmy Scott. Tenor sax man Seiichi Nakamura and I played a swingin' gig on December 25th at the Azabu Public Concert Hall near Roppongi and we've also been playing Horace Silver's music together since September. Bassist Jeff Curry and I are both from West Virginia and have the same birthday, Feb. 6th. We've hooked up on dozens of gigs over the past few years. He's equally at home on electric or acoustic bass which gives lots of options on a gig. Ko Omura (drummer) and I have played together a few times in the past 2 years. This is the first time for Ko and I to do H. Silver's music together. I know Ko and Jeff gig together often and for them to play with Kennichi will be no problem. For me, it's so important to have the rhythm section feeling comfortable with each other.

This is the first gig at Kamome doing Horace Silver's music. I know that I will be back there on April 9 doing another program of Silver's music. So, for 1/11/09 I'm calling this gig vol. 1. April 9 will be vol.2 and hopefully we can continue to play that room and bring some fresh Horace Silver tunes each time.

Because of the holidays and everyone's busy schedules, rehearsal will be very limited for this gig. But, I think we're doing a lot of music that the musicians feel good about and will be enjoyable for the listener. For this gig we will most likely do these tunes:

Gregory Is Here
Peace
Summer In Central Park
Nutville
Room 608
Silver's Serenade
Senor Blues
and maybe I'll have some time this week to write an original that is "Silver-like".

Hope to see many folks at Kamome on Sunday 1/11/09.

今度の日曜日のライブ、本当に楽しみにしてます。ホレス・シルヴァーの曲を演奏するのはいつも楽しいのですが、特に今回のメンバーでやるのが楽しみです。ピアノの嶋津健一さんとはこの間初めてご一緒させて頂き、気楽な雰囲気でとてもやりやすかったです。彼は何と以前、僕が大好きなシンガーの一人、ジミー・スコットのピアニストでした。テナーの中村誠一さんとは、先月２５日、六本木の麻布区民ホールでのコンサートで共演させて頂いたり、去年の９月から一緒にホレス・シルヴァーの曲を演奏してきました。ベースのジェフ・カリーさんとは、同じウェスト・ヴァージニアの出身であり、何と誕生日が二人とも２月６日でもあります。過去数年間で、たくさんの仕事を一緒にしてきた仲間です。彼は、エレキとアコースティック、どちらでもいけるので、一つのライブにたくさんの味を提供してくれるのです。ドラムの大村亘さんとは、過去２年間に何度か一緒にプレイをしました。今回一緒にホレス・シルヴァーの曲を演奏するのは初めてです。大村さんとジェフはもう何度も一緒にプレイしているので、今回ピアノの嶋津さんと一緒にやるのも何の問題もないと思います。僕にとっては、リズムセクションが互いにやりやすい雰囲気であることが、何よりも大切なんです。

KAMOMEでホレス・シルヴァーの曲のライブをやるのは今回が初めてです。すでに４月９日にホレス・シルヴァーの新しいセットでまたライブをやることになっています。ですので、今度の１月１１日のライブをvol.1とし、４月９日がvol.2となります。その後もさらに同じ場所で毎回新しいホレス・シルヴァーの曲を提供し続けていけたらいいなと思っています。

年末年始で何かと忙しく、今回のライブでは限られたリハーサルしかできませんが、今回やる曲は我々みんながやり慣れて親しんでいる曲が多いですし、観客の皆様にも楽しんでいただけると思います。今回やると思われるのはだいたい次のような曲達です。

Gregory Is Here
Peace
Summer In Central Park
Nutville
Room 608
Silver's Serenade
Senor Blues
これに加えて、ひょっとしたら「シルヴァー調」のオリジナル曲を準備できるかもしれません。

それでは、１月１１日日曜日、KAMOMEでたくさんの皆様にお会いできますよう。