Summer Touring

Hello!
This summer I'll be getting out and about, touring quite a bit, including Mongolia and South Korea, with FU-CHING-GIDO, two countries I've never played in before, so that's all very exciting.
Here's my schedule up until July. There may be some extra dates coming in, so I'll do my best to keep it updated. You can keep up with my live schedule HERE.
And not to forget, FU-CHING-GIDO will tour Japan for the first time in October. More details HERE!
Hope to see you out there somewhere!

MAY

13- FU-CHING-GIDO w/tipsipúca+, Csiga Jidanda
mona records, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo

16- Orquesta Libre + Rolly
TakuTaku, Kyoto

17- Orquesta Libre + Rolly
Tokyo, Nagoya

28- Csiga Jidanda + Gideon Juckes
Gallery Mus-soh and Zuzu, Shimokitazawa, Tokyo

JUNE

4- Jinta La Mvta
22nd Jüdisches Filmfestival Opening Ceremony, Potsdam, Germany

5- Jinta La Mvta
WABE Berlin, Germany

6- Jinta La Mvta
22nd Jüdisches Filmfestival, Brandenburg, Germany

12- Miwazow Matsuri vol.5
Star Pines Cafe, Kichijoji, Tokyo

15- Orquesta Libre
Pit Inn, Shinjuku, Tokyo

23- FU-CHING-GIDO
Izakaya "Haruki", Seoul, South Korea

25- FU-CHING-GIDO
Playtime Festival 2016, Gachuurt, Mongolia

JULY

9/10- Orquesta Libre
Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Denmark, (Full details to follow)

12- Orquesta Libre
Porgy and Bess, Vienna, Austria

13/14/15- Orquesta Libre
Cafe Museum, Passau, Germany

23- Orquesta Libre & Rolly

Fuji Rock, Café de Paris

Upcoming Goodness!

Just a quick one, as my feet haven't touched the ground since we finished our run of "K.Faust" in Matsumoto. That was an incredible time! Already really missing the family feeling of the Kushida Kazuyoshi company.
I'm lucky that helping to bring me out of my post Faust blues, I'm keeping busy with some very exciting performances which I'd like to let you know about.
Firstly, on 29th October, Orquesta Libre will play Shinjuku Pit Inn. We didn't play together as an instrumental unit alone since our European tour. It will be great to revisit those tunes again, and maybe play some new material too!
http://www.pit-inn.com/sche_e.html

Then, from November 1st, I have a small tour with a very interesting lineup of Jinta La Mvta, which includes two circus shows in Takamatsu. I had my first rehearsal today and there is some amazing talent on show. If you are down that way, I definitely recommend coming along to see it.
100-nen Circus- www.100nencircus.com/
Tour details-
http://www.cicala-mvta.com/

And, last but not least, on November 17th, my band Nerima Tea Club will play at café MURIWUI! Lovely wonderful talented band members, excellent venue, free entry, it should be a great night!
Here's the flyer-

My New Tuba

I suppose you could say that I have an old-school British brass player's approach to equipment. I settled on the tuba which suited my needs best (a Besson BE-983) and found the mouthpiece which suited me best (thanks Andy Grappy!), and I've stuck with that. I'm very much a believer in not fixing things which aren't broken. That instrument has been my main tuba and has served me fantastically well in the wide range of music I am involved in (see here).
Maybe once or twice a year, I might have popped into a tuba shop to try some different models, and I was very pleased never to have found anything which I wanted to play for more than about 5 minutes. That was until I had a blow on a YFB-821, five years ago, and suddenly an hour had passed without me noticing. I wrote about it at the time here. I realised that this tuba would be a very good companion to my Besson, particularly on some of the gigs which would suit a smaller bass tuba (Shibusashirazu, Orquesta Libre, and the current production of "K.Faust" which I'm involved in, for example).
Well, finally I took one home today, bought from the fantastic shop TUBA 88, with the kind help, amazing service and quite incredible attention to detail of Mr. Masanori Nakamura. I wholeheartedly recommend visiting his shop, or if you aren't in Tokyo, do check out his website here.

With Tuba Master Nakamura San

Anyway, I won't bang on about the instrument, as there's a fair amount of information about it online.

But here's some photos of it, in all its handmade beauty! Now I just need to learn to play an F tuba......

2 New Releases, Europe and Fuji Rock

EUROPE

Greetings! I've just returned from a two-week European tour with Orquesta Libre, and it was a really fantastic time. The audiences in England, Denmark, Bavaria and Switzerland were brilliant and it was great catching up with family, old friends and making some new ones. And everyone was so kind to us, and the food was amazingly good! That's not how I remember Europe!!

 Good times in Passau

Mama Carola's incredible Tirolean cuisine!

A real high point was our stay in Passau, in Bayern on the Austrian border. We stayed with the wonderful Mama and Papa Carola and Heinz, who looked after us so well. Carola seemed to have a constant supply of delicious hearty Bavarian specialities flying out of her kitchen, while Heinz had a truly remarkable schnapps collection in which he indulged us with glee. And the concerts at the Cafe Museum at Passau were also fantastic, a very attentive audience who loved our versions of Kurt Weill.
It was a wonderful time, and we're all hoping that a European tour will become an annual tradition!

NEW RELEASES

While I was away, there have been two new releases. The first is a pop record. I play on two tracks on the new CD by singer/songwriter Angela Aki, "Blue".

I play on the title track-

And the track "Monster"-

You can buy it HERE

The other new release is the online release of a very special live set by Orquesta Libre-

Volume 3 of our "Live at Pit Inn" series features special guests pianist Suga Dairo, and tap dancers Uragami Yuji and Ron x II, playing a set of new arrangements of Duke Ellington, It truly was an amazing performance, and I strongly recommend picking this one up! It's available for download HERE

FUJI ROCK 2012

As I mentioned here a couple of weeks ago, this year is my first Fuji Rock, and I'll be playing twice, this Sunday, 29th July, with both Orquesta Libre (special guest Ohata Yuichi), and Shibusashirazu Orchestra. Both sets are taking place at Orange Court. Orquesta Libre start at 13:20, and Shibusashirazu start at 21:00. I hope to see you there! They say Fuji Rock is one for the wellies (like it's UK equivalent Glastonbury), but this year it looks like it will be an absolute scorcher! Boots and sunblock?

Orquesta Libre New Releases

Here's the full information about the two debut releases from Orquesta Libre, released on July 4th.


It was a challenging and great experience making the recordings. In live gigs, the band has always performed acoustically, i.e. with no microphones or use of a PA system. So Yoshigaki san chose to record in one room, with no separation, monitors or click tracks (including the vocalists), and to record everything, as much as possible, in one take. That was scary, especially as some of the trickiest parts of the songs come in the last 30 seconds of a 7 minute track! But we soon relaxed and it felt really comfortable. The result has been a real revelation to me, as the sound feels really warm and natural. In our era of digitalised music, and of not playing acoustically in studios and on stage, this feels like a real breath of fresh air.

"Can't Help Falling In Love～好きにならずにいられない"

ORQUESTA LIBRE

(Glamorous Records)

EWGL-15

AVAILABLE HERE

1. 首の差 Por Una Cabeza

2. ハッシュ Hush

3. パープル･ヘイズ Purple Haze

4.  小さな願い I Say A Little Prayer

5. 遥かなる影 Close To You

6. ハロー･ドーリー Hello Dolly

7. シシリアンのテーマ Le Clan Des Siciliens

8. 砂の岬 Ponta De Areia

9. 好きにならずにいられない Can't Help Falling In Love 

"うたのかたち～UTA NO KA・TA・TI"

Orquesta Libre with Yanagihara Yoichiro and Ohata Yuichi

(Glamorous Records)

EWGL-0013/14

AVAILABLE HERE

CD 1 (Guest vocalist- Yanagihara Yoichiro)

1. Alabama Song

2. Gigolo Ballad

3. Moritato (live version)

4. Second Finale

5. Every Time We Say Goodbye

6. Alfie's Theme (instrumental)

7. Smile

CD 2 (Guest vocalist- Ohata Yuichi)

1. Cecilia (instrumental)

2. ゴロワーズを吸ったことがあるかい

3. Lili Marlene

4. Oh Champs Elysees

5. Purple Haze

6. I Shall Be Released

ORQUESTA LIBRE

Taisei Aoki: Trombone, arrangement 

Hiroyuki Shiotani: Clarinet 

Daisuke Fujiwara: Saxophone 

Takao Watanabe: Trumpet 

Gideon Juckes: Tuba 

Kumiko Takara: Vibraphone, melodica 

Masato Suzuki: Bass 

Motomu Shiiya: Guitar 

Yoichi Okabe: Percussion 

Yasuhiro Yoshigaki: Drums, arrangement 

Orquesta Libre European Tour 2012

In July, Orquesta Libre are off to Europe on tour!

Here's the list of dates-

July 11th: London @ The Vortex
July 13th: Copenhagen @ Stengade (Jazz Club Loco / Copenhagen Jazz Festival)
July 14th: Passau @ Cafe Museum (Jazzfest Passau)
July 18th: Bern @ IKuR
July 19th: Geneva @ La Barje des Sciences

You can get the full lowdown on the tour, and also have a listen to some live tracks HERE.

4 New Releases!

Hello there. I have 4 new releases to let you know about.


First up is the soundtrack CD for the NTV drama "Mikeneko Houmuzu no Suiri" which was released last week, and features some very interesting Eastern Europe influenced tracks-

三毛猫ホームズの推理 オリジナル・サウンドトラック

 "Mikeneko Houmuzu no Suiri- Original Soundtrack" (2012) (バップ) BUY IT HERE

Next are 3 releases by Orquesta Libre, which I am very excited about.

First we have the online release through Ototoy of our live set with special guest 柳原陽一郎  Youichirou Yanagihara available to download in high quality (24bit/48kHz WAV)-

"Orquesta Libre with 柳原陽一郎 Plays Standards vol.2 -Live at PIT INN 2012.04.17" (2012) (Ototoy) BUY IT HERE

Then finally, I'm pleased to announce the forthcoming release on July 4th of Orquesta Libre's two debut studio albums on East Works Entertainment. "Can’t Help Falling In Love～好きにならずにいられない"(EWGL-0015) is an album of instrumental covers, and "うたのかたち～UTA NO KA・TA・TI"(EWGL-0013/14) is a double CD of songs featuring guest vocalists Yoichiro Yanagihara & Yuichi Ohata. It will be available to buy all over the place, and I'll be listing cover art and shop links shortly.

Summer 2012

Here's a little update on my comings and goings this summer.


Orquesta Libre have a busy time lined up. From June 20-22 we are in residence at Shinjuku Pit Inn, with three very different sets. On the 20th we are joined by singer and guitarist Yanagihara Yoichiro. On the 21st, we will perform with singer and guitarist Ohata Yuichi, and on the 22nd we will play a tribute to Duke Ellington, with pianist Suga Dairo and tap dancers Ron x II.
On July 4th, Orquesta Libre will release two debut albums! A 2 disc set named「うたのかたち」"The Song's Shape" featuring Messrs. Yanagihara and Ohata, and the instrumental album "Can't Help Falling In Love".


Orquesta Libre are:
芳垣安洋Yasuhiro Yoshigaki(ds,arr)
青木タイセイTaisei Aoki(tb,pianica,arr)
塩谷博之Hiroyuki Shiotani(ss,cl)
藤原大輔Daisuke Fujiwara(ts)
渡辺隆雄Takao Watanabe(tp)
ギデオン・ジュークスGideon Juckes(tuba)
高良久美子Kumiko Takara(vib.pianica)
鈴木正人Masato Suzuki(b,arr)
椎谷求Motomu Shiiya(g,steel-g)
岡部洋一Yoichi Okabe(perc)


Then in mid-July we're off on a whistle stop tour of Europe for two weeks. I'll be posting full details as soon as they emerge, but it's looking very exciting.


When we get back, I'll be playing at Fuji Rock on July 29th. It's my first time, and I'm performing in two different groups! Orquesta Libre and Shibusashirazu Orchestra. It's also funny that all the members of Nerima Tea Club will be there performing on that day, just in different bands!
Time Out Tokyo questioned wether this was the most boring Fuji Rock line-up yet, but taking a quick look at the lineup for the day I'm there, I see that Jack White, Radiohead and At The Drive In are playing, so I'd be prone to disagree!


Then in August Shibusa will be playing at Toyama Hotfield Festival. Looking forward to visiting that area for the first time, and checking out the excellent local food and drink.


That's how it's looking so far, I'll post any updates. Hope to see you there!
Keep takin' her easy!
Gid

New Release- Orquesta Libre

This is a big year year for Orquesta Libre. We have tours, festivals and residencies to look forward to (watch this space for more information very soon!), not to mention 3 debut CD releases! As if the group hadn't decided to be prolific enough, we have kicked off proceedings with the online-only release of "Orquesta Libre with おおはた雄一 Plays Standards vol.1 -Live at PIT INN", a live recording of our gig at Shinjuku Pit Inn from Feb 5th. It's available for download from OTOTOY. 

<Orquesta Libre>
青木 タイセイ / Taisei Aoki (Trombone、arrangement)
塩谷 博之 / Hiroyuki Shiotani (Clarinet、Soprano Saxophone)
藤原 大輔 / Daisuke Fujiwara (Tenor Saxophone)
渡辺 隆雄 / Takao Watanabe (Trumpet)
Gideon Juckes (Tuba)
高良 久美子 / Kumiko Takara (Vibraphone)
鈴木 正人 / Masato Suzuki (Bass、arrangement)
椎谷 求 / Motomu Shiiya (Guitar、Steel Guitar)
岡部 洋一 / Yoichi Okabe (Percussion)
芳垣 安洋 / Yasuhiro Yoshigaki (Drums、arrangement)

<Special Guest>
おおはた雄一 / Yuichi Ohata (Vocal、Guitar)


The website is Japanese only, so good luck navigating! There is talk of the site developing an English language version soon. I'll keep you posted. 

I shall also keep you posted about the release of 'Live at Pit inn Volume 2', with special guest Yanagihara Yoichiro, due for release very soon.

Upcoming releases for 2012!

And keep an eye out next year for new releases from the wonderful Aco (2012/1/18), coba and the fantastic Orquesta Libre !