In a happy accident last May — the result of a last minute cancellation — Italian percussion legend Andrea Centazzo suddenly found himself on stage with two of Japan’s premier improvisers You May Also Like: Illegal Crowns [Tomas Fujiwara, Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum + Benoît Delbecq] – ‘Unclosing’ (2023)Read More

Confusion Bleue is a self-described “total improvisation unit” led by Japanese pianist Nobu Stowe (who also hold a PhD in Psychology) and Omaha native, drummer Ray Sage (formally of Reverb Motherfuckers). You May Also Like: Brian Groder Trio – R Train on the D Line (2016)

Recent positive reports of Eddie Van Halen’s recovery from surgery following a nasty case of diverticulitis have proven true: Van Halen has rescheduled the Japanese shows that were postponed in the wake of the guitarist’s health scare. You May Also Like: No related posts.

In November of 1980, things were going pretty well for Art Pepper. His newly published autobiography co-written with wife Laurie Straight Life had been receiving positive reviews You May Also Like: Art Pepper – ‘Smack Up’ (1960; 2024 reissue) Soft Works – ‘Abracadabra in Osaka’ (2020)

Easily the most talented husband-wife team in avant-garde jazz since Carla and Paul Bley, Natsuki Tamura and Satoko Fujii are also among the few who are extremely productive without sacrificing anything artistically. You May Also Like: Gato Libre [Natsuki Tamura, Satoko Fujii + Yasuko Kaneko] – ‘Koneko’ (2020) Gato LibreRead More

In some ways, Monday Michiru is the Norah Jones of Japan: one of the few jazz-oriented female vocalists who are currently a true star, born to a famous musical father from another land. You May Also Like: Far Out Monster Disco Orchestra, “Give It to Me” (2018): One Track MindRead More

Four June dates have already been scheduled in Japan, with more to follow across the world, for a new all-star collective known as Legends: Voices of Rock, featuring former frontmen from Chicago, Deep Purple, Jefferson Starship, Journey and Toto. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Music reviewing is famously described as “dancing about architecture” but dissecting Merbow’s noise music is more comparable to slicing water. For starters, the Japanese king of noise challenges and stretches the whole notion of what we call music. You May Also Like: Richard Pinhas, Tatsuya Yoshida & Merzbow – ProcessRead More

by Tom Johnson I have a sort of extra-sensory perception relegated solely to picking up the faint signals thrown off by the arrival of music I want in a music store at a specific location. You May Also Like: Kait Dunton, with John D’earth – ‘Planet D’earth’ (2019) Mark Papagno:Read More

Last fall, we saluted the arrival of a new Richard Pinhas CD, Metal/Crystal, one that supplemented his trio with fellow experimentalist warriors Merzbow and Wolf Eyes. You May Also Like: Richard Pinhas, Tatsuya Yoshida & Merzbow – Process & Reality (2016) Keiji Haino, Merzbow, Balazs Pandi – An Untroublesome DefencelessnessRead More