Jazz fans rejoice! Guitar legend Joshua Breakstone has been in touch with news of his schedule for 2019. Below are the flyers for his ongoing shows in Kyoto and Kobe, and he also has news of some workshops he will be giving in February and March. Here's Joshua with the details: "I will be giving a series of workshops on 4 days in February and March in Kyoto, one for … [Read more...]
A Traditional Live Music Show at Ran Theatre Kyoto
A couple of months ago Mewby and I were invited to attend a traditional live music show at "Ran Theater Kyoto". During the show we were entertained by a large number of talented and enthusiastic musicians playing a variety of traditional instruments from all over the Japanese archipelago. I found the show highly enjoyable, but the audience was a little sparse when we went and … [Read more...]
Kyoto Soundscapes Vol. 1: The Kyoto Connection – Free Album Download
A message from Facundo Arena... In August, 2016 Roberto Gluck wandered through the streets of Kyoto recording urban sounds with his smartphone. On the other side of the world in Argentina, Facundo Arena has used those sounds to create a unique musical soundscape. The result is an album of ambient music, made with urban sounds of Kyoto city which is free to download … [Read more...]
Deep Kyoto on CNN Travel
In case you missed it, my recommendations for what to see, do, buy, & eat when in "Japan's most photogenic city" are now up on the CNN Travel site. Everyone should visit Kyoto at least once. It's Japan's best preserved ancient city. Shrines, temples, palaces, gardens ... the city is home to thousands of architectural wonders, including 17 UNESCO World Heritage … [Read more...]
Jon Levy at the Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto
The other night we popped into the Ritz-Carlton hotel to see Jon Levy. Jon plays in the lounge there 4 nights a week from Wednesday to Saturday. As well as original numbers he also has a long list of popular tunes, both old and new for people to request from, so he is in fact a human jukebox. We had a great time picking songs for him to play, and for much of the evening we were … [Read more...]
tRace elements – The Final Kiyamachi Tour – Video & Photos from Tadg’s
Unfortunately, due to other commitments, Mewby and I were only able to attend one stop on Max & Ryotaro's final 10-bar tour of Kiyamachi. We enjoyed every minute of the set they played at Tadg's though. Here are some photos and finally a video of my personal favorite among all of Max's songs... See … [Read more...]
Up & Down the Ki’ – Two Extracts from Deep Kyoto: Walks by Michael Lambe
This month we have two extracts from Deep Kyoto: Walks. Both are from my own piece on a musical tour of Kiyamachi bars conducted by my good friends Mark (Max) Dodds and Ryotaro Sudo in late November last year. On Saturday November 29th 2014 Max and Ryotaro will again perform this tour for the tenth and final time, so a couple of short excerpts from my account seemed timely. In … [Read more...]
Brilliant Irish Music on a Rainy Day at Eiun-in
It was a cold wet day in Kyoto yesterday, but if you look hard enough you can always find some brightness, whether in a friendly smile or happy tune. Mewby and I braved the weather to attend a wonderful show at Eiun-in, a lovely little sub-temple deep in Kurodani. As we arrived the rain stopped and we could enjoy the scent of fresh autumnal air coming in off the garden. Irish … [Read more...]
Happy in Kyoto
Look what I found! And nicely timed with the sakura too - what could be happier than that? There's some neat skipping here. Watch and enjoy! … [Read more...]
Jazz Band Fujiya Mountain @ 和音堂
Walking up the Kamo river one day, we saw a lively jazz band playing under the Sanjo bridge that were so good we decided cross over and have a look. They were young, fun and funky, so we picked up a flyer for their next gig, which happened to be on the following day. The location 和音堂 (WA・ON・DO) was convenient and the price was only 1000 (+ another 500 for a drink) and let's … [Read more...]
Highlights from Aya Oto World & Guests at the Weller’s Club
Aya Oto World play a free show at the Weller's Club on the first Tuesday of every month and this month I went along with Mewby and our friend Kiyomi for a super night of music and live painting! This time around the regular band members were joined by guest musicians TOM (from片山ブレイカーズ＆ザ☆ロケンローパーティ) on bass and Yusuke Takaku on didgeridoo. Shinpei Noda was the very … [Read more...]
Highlights from the Bob Dylan & Allen Ginsberg Poetry & Song Celebration at Tadg’s Bar Kyoto
Friday night's Bob Dylan & Allen Ginsberg celebration at Tadg's was a whole lot of fun. High praise to all the performers and musicians who took part and to our hard-working hosts Tadg & Mika McLoughlin. Apologies also to Mika for trying to pay the same bill multiple times. I must be more careful when supping craft beers... Here below are some video highlights I managed … [Read more...]
Sailing Without the Wind: A Performance by Peter Golightly & Bruno the Bad Boy
Billed as a "evening of music, dance and life", this show looks to be amazing and it bears a very important message... Peter Golightly has kindly written to tell us more about it: "I'm a long time Kyoto resident and I've been doing the dance singing theater thing for better than 30 years here. Bruno has been around for about 18 years. He's a performance artist who … [Read more...]
Joel, John & Jon – Acoustic Night at Tadg’s – Videos
Last Thursday Mewby and I enjoyed a wonderful night of musical entertainment at Tadg's Irish Bar & Restaurant. An all acoustic session with Joel Stewart, John Michael Kuzel and Jon Levy, it was clear the musicians were having just as much fun as their audience. And the young and impossibly talented Jon Levy blew everyone away with his enthusiastic solo set. I really hope … [Read more...]
