The Jazz Voyager

Leaving India and heading east for Asia, the Jazz Voyager is landing at Itami Airport in Osaka, Japan. I will then transfer to a bus for a 36 kilometers ride, about 22 miles, and fifty-five minutes through the countryside to Kyoto where I will find Le Club Jazz. A non-smoking jazz bar that is closed on Monday but presents live performances and workshops the rest of the week. Performances start at 7:30pm each night.

Serving up drinks by the shot is one of their offerings and they invite musicians to bring their instruments and play during their sessions. This week I will be in attendance for a one night performance by saxophonists Eric Alexander on tenor and Vincent Herring on alto, Yoichi Kobayashi on drums and Koji Yasuda on bass.

Located in Sanyo, Kyoto, Japan at 〒604-8082 Kyoto, Nakagyo Ward, Miyukicho Nishiiri Benkeiishicho 48. For more information they can be reached at +81 75-211-5800.

Le Club Jazz ~ Eric Alexander & Vincent Herring | Kyoto, Japan

More Posts: adventure,club,festival,genius,jazz,music,preserving,restaurant,travel

The Jazz Voyager

The Jazz Voyager is departing Europe for the Dark Continent as his next stop and Ghana is the destination. The venue is Marabi Club that is located in the Maboneng Precinct at 54 Siemert Road, New Doornfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In the 1920s and Thirties, the rise of the Doornfontein slumyards, created in the wake of one of the world’s richest gold rushes, gave rise to an urban culture known as “marabi”. As the foundation of this new culture, the music was energetic and improvisational. It was a lifestyle prompted by the need to escape the hardships of the working week, defined by illegal shebeens, where the fierce talk of politics was accompanied by the equally disruptive soundtrack of jazz.

Tucked in the basement of Hallmark House, the Marabi Club evokes this history through the many careful details of the club’s interior. With an excellent menu and bar with jauntily dressed waitrons offering friendly and slick service, add live jazz and your visit to this landmark will leave you captivated by the atmosphere.

This week the adventure continues as this Jazz Voyager is stepping into this Joburg venue without knowing who will be performing. Nothing like a surprise. For those who need to know, their phone number is +27 (0)10 591 2879.

More Posts: adventure,club,genius,jazz,music,preserving,restaurant,travel

The Jazz Voyager

This week the Jazz Voyager is flying out of Paris and is off to Denmark’s capital city to be part of the audience in the legendary jazz venue, Jazzhus Montmartre. The club gained its status as one of Europe’s preeminent venues during the Sixties when homegrown world class stars such as bassist Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen emerged. Soon Black musicians Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster, worn down by their treatment at home became Copenhagen residents and were intrigued by the warmth shown to them by Scandi audiences.

There I’ll be witness to a jazz competition between three up and coming jazz groups with their own take on where the music is heading. The jazz competition focuses on the development of young jazz musicians by offering them the opportunity to play live at professional venues, get professional feedback on their music, coaching and the opportunity to be exposed on the radio via P8 Jazz.

Kosmos Trio plays modern jazz in a minimalist and Nordic-sounding sound universe. The trio speaks a simple and understandable language via complex compositional ideas. This field of tension makes them an interesting and wide-ranging group that ensures a present and great concert experience. The trio is Frede Holger: Piano, Harald Hagelskjær: bass, Gustav Hagelskjær: drums.

KÖZ is a burgeoning band with origins in the Roots & Hybrid scene in Aarhus. The band fuses genres and styles from distant lands with modern western tones. The music encourages dancing as well as reflection. Rock, hip-hop, jazz and Afro-grooves are mixed with odd tones and time signatures and melancholic floating universes from the cold north. :The group is Anne Skov Frost Jensen, vocals & trombone, Alma Hjelholt: vocals & trumpet, Aske Høj Krogh: bass, Bjarke Frandsen Andersen: keys & rap, Frederik Lyhne Uhrenholt: guitar, Jacob Tang Maunsbach: guitar, Johanna Mosbech: vocals & trumpet , Mathias Ploug: drums.

Aske Stubkjær plays Nordic-sounding jazz with an experimental approach. The tracks emerge from visual and auditory observations from everyday natural actions. He captures situations in the present, and tries to embrace the moment in his music by using real sound and integrating the moments in the tracks. The duo is Aske Stubkjær: piano, Daniel Skov: guitar & synthesizer.

The club is located at Store Regnegade 19A, 1110 Copenhagen K. For more info the number is 70 20 20 96.

More Posts: adventure,album,club,competition,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel

The Jazz Voyager

From Italy to the Czech Republic to France is a journey that has led this Jazz Voyager to the long-running jazz club Le Duc des Lombards where American pianist Bobby Few opened the venue, then called the Bar de l’Etoile. With an upright piano under the stairs they have been hosting diverse artists for nearly 40 years.

The venue has been the essential club in Paris offering an intimate setting with drinks & nibbles. Decorated by the American designer Elliot Barnes, the club has become the Parisian reference for jazz clubs. Performances are Monday to Saturday and its free entry Jams every Friday and Saturday beginning at 11:30 p.m.

This week I will be in the 10:00pm audience to partake of the talents of drummer and vocalist Roni Kaspi and her trio with Oxy on Keyboards & synthesizer and bassist Noé Berne. Later that night the jam session commences where musicians, young and old come to improvise, explore and learn.

Located at 42, rue des lombards 75001 Paris, more information can be attained by calling 01.42.33.22.88.

More Posts: adventure,album,club,drums,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel

The Jazz Voyager

Leaving Rome but keeping with the tradition of the moving jazz venues for a second time, this Jazz Voyager is heading to Prague to take a first time cruise on the Jazz Boat. I’m told it’s a multidimensional experience where one can savor the beautiful sights and delights of the city, historical and off the beaten path as we cruise down the Vitava River

During the two and a half hour cruise I will be dining on salmon and potato gratin with apple strudel topped with ice and whipped creams for dessert while listening and enjoying three sets of music with bassist Jan Kořinek and his trio.

The Jazz Boat is located at Naplavka Na Františku Gate 18, 110 00 Staré Město, Czechia, next to St. Agnes Monestary and The Brewery boat. The cover is 38€ and dinner will run 25€. Boarding begins at 8:00pm, departure at 8:30pm, return at 11:00pm. More information needed, you may call +420 734 141 554.

More Posts: adventure,album,bass,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel