Heartfelt congratulations to our friend and local dance legend, Heidi Durning, for her upcoming 60th birthday celebrations! Join Heidi and her friends at Urbanguild for a three-day festival of music and dance at Urbanguild later this month! Tapestry - Dance & Music Project Celebrating Heidi S. Durning’s 60th Birthday in November a collaboration of traditional & … [Read more...]
Summer Spirits Reviewed
Christopher Fryman and his friends put on a splendid show with Summer Spirits last Sunday. Opening with a fanfare of trumpets the musicians and dancers paraded into Urbanguild before settling into a carnivalesque performance of what Christopher calls "structured improvisation". Basically he gives the musicians some loose musical themes to play with and then they take it where … [Read more...]
Fake JuNkroom Vol. 2
Sean Roe may have departed these shores, but the spirit of JuNkroom lives on! Our friend Bridget says, I hope you have been enjoying your summer. I came back from two weeks volunteering in Tohoku with IDRO, a Kyoto based NGO. It was a very fulfilling experience. Now I'm back in Kyoto my dance life begins again with a performance at Urbanguild on Friday, September … [Read more...]
Bix & Marki’s Original French Pop Jazz – Live in Kyoto!
Former Kyoto residents and musicians Beatrix Fife and Mamoru Katagiri (aka Bix & Marki) have returned to Japan and are playing at Urbanguild this Friday! And I do believe their old friend the trumpeter Christopher Fryman will be joining them on stage. From their website: Beatrix(vocal&flute) and Mamoru Katagiri(guitar) have come back to Japan after 10 years spent in … [Read more...]
Images & Sound from Bliki Circus
On Monday I saw Christopher Fryman's gypsy/klezmer/cabaret band Bliki Circus play at Urbanguild. That show is a lot of fun! In addition to the band there was a pole dancer! And a fire dancer! And more music from the band! Unfortunately, I couldn't stay to see the final act but I enjoyed the show a lot and definitely want to see them play again! Here … [Read more...]
Images from Schale Vol 8
Last Friday's eight installment of Schale at Urbanguild was a splendid night of vision, sound and music. In five collaborative multi-media acts, the various dancers, artists and musicians inspired each other into exploring the boundaries of their arts before a very appreciative audience. It was a packed house and not one of the acts disappointed! Christopher Fryman (trumpet, … [Read more...]
Images from Di-vaP vol. 1
Before I get to the main point of this post here's some links that you may find useful. NHK is streaming news live in English here. You can also follow the news from the BBC here but NHK is more up-to-date I think. For those of you worried about radiation leaks in Fukushima this post from Janne In Osaka should help to put it all in perspective. And this post from a lady up in … [Read more...]
A Short Interview with Booo Booozz!
Psyche rockers ぼーぼーず,who made such a big impression on everyone at the "Voices for Umekoji" event back in January, have a gig coming up in Kyoto this weekend. It seemed like as good an excuse as any to find out more about the wondeful world of those wild haired rockers: K子 and Y子. DK: Where and when did you meet? And how long have you been performing together? K子: I was a … [Read more...]
Images from the JunKroom Special Event
My apologies to all for the tardy posting of these images. I was trying to retrieve some footage I took on my i-phone but for technical reasons beyond my ken it appears to be GONE. I do however have a lot of photos and some video clips I took with my regular camera. Sean Roe deserves congratulations for organizing yet another very successful and enjoyable event. A lot of people … [Read more...]
Pictures & Video from オトエホン-21
Another video today and some more pictures from the オトエホン-21 event at Urbanguild on Monday night. Here are the artist Ashida Mellow and musician Okuda Satoko experimenting, playing, and generally messing about. I'm happy to say that the musician Okuda Satoko will be taking part in the Kyoto Musicians Against the Aquarium event I am organizing for January 21st. I'll post … [Read more...]
Miimo @ JunKroom Vol. 16
JunKroom Vol. 16 was a hell of a lot of fun. But undoubtedly the highlight of the night was the post dub three man band Miimo. Combining drums, bass, electronica and steel drums (yes! steel drums!) their sound is unique yet instantly likeable. "How could you not dance to this?" I asked myself and turned around to find my friends Gary Bloom and Bridget Scott had already answered … [Read more...]
Pictures & Videos from Resonance 2010
Undoubtedly the best show I have seen at Urbanguild - or indeed in Kyoto, Resonance 2010 was an extraordinary collaborative display of pure gold shiny talent by the dancers, singers and musicians who took part. A big bravo to them all and to the organiser Daniel Rosen for creating this unforgettable event. My only regret is that I didn't go both nights and my only complaint is … [Read more...]
