On June 28th Gary Bloom and I went to see my old friend, Satoko Okuda, play a solo spot at Urbanguild. These days Satoko is mostly focused on playing keyboards with Aya Oto World, so it's not so often you get a chance to hear her sing. And as she's got a great voice, and quite a few nice tunes up her sleeves that's a pity. As expected, at this event she did not disappoint, … [Read more...]

On Tuesday night Gary Bloom and I paid a visit to the Weller's Club to check out Aya Oto World's free show with DJ Takanori Hirano. It's been just over a year since I last saw Aya Oto World play at club Collage, and since then they have slimmed down from a five piece big band to a trio, but to tell you the truth - as a group they have actually gotten better. The interaction … [Read more...]