KASAN BELGRAVE

Saxophonist Kasan Belgrave is a ascending talent newly emerging in the role of a compositional leader. His energetic playing style and improvisational finesse derives from influences of early bebop and jazz, as well flares of fusion and gospel. His musical prowess has more recently been shown through new innovative compositions.

The record “Dual Citizen” is an introductory reflection of Kasan’s own consciousness through experience of musical nurturing & professional practice from the Detroit jazz mentorship empire, led by his father, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. It provides a glimpse of Kasan’s endless curiousness of sonic ingenuity.

Belgrave is just one of many who was nurtured in the realm. The lineup for “Dual Citizen” might be the most outright product of that very circle of mentorship. Bassist Jonathan Muir-Cotton, finishing his degree at MSU, is currently rotating in Christian Sands Trio; Louis Jones aka “WavyLou”, a gun-slinging drummer who has the likes of the Haynes’ and Roach’s, recently hit with ELEW and Johnny O’Neal in Detroit; Brendon Davis, a virtuosic voice on piano shortly studying with the great Chick Corea.

Cover: $25.00

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GORDON GOODWIN’S BIG PHAT BAND

25th Anniversary Year of Celebration of the Grammy Award-winning big band. 

Gordon Goodwin is a 70-year-old pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger and conductor. Best known for leading Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, an 18-piece jazz orchestra that blends big band swing with funk and jazz fusion. Goodwin has won four Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards. 

August 15th Fri. – August 18th Mon.8.15 fri., 8.18 mon.
[1st]Open5:00pm Start6:00pm [2nd]Open7:45pm Start8:30pm

Cover: ¥ 11,000 | $74.05

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TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON & CHRISTIE DASHIELL

Terri LynE Carrington: WE INSIST 2025! featuring Christy Dashiell

Four-time GRAMMY-winning jazz icon Terri Lyne Carrington and GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Christie Dashiell release “Freedom Day (Part 1),” their vibrant reimagining of Max Roach’s timeless anthem “Freedom Day.” The single highlights Carrington’s lifelong mission to champion jazz and advocate for inclusivity and raise the voice of women, trans and non-binary people in the genre. The single is out now via Candid Records, listen here.

“Freedom Day (Part 1)” is a dynamic tribute to the 1960 Max Roach and Oscar Brown Jr. composition, from the groundbreaking album We Insists! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite.  Written to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States, the album stands as a defining artistic statement of the Black American civil rights movement. With a career defining performance by the incomparable Abbey Lincoln, it is one of the most powerful and enduring statements of music as protest

The new arrangement breathes new life into the track, blending Carrington’s signature drumming and electronics with Dashiell’s soulful vocals and an all-star ensemble featuring Matthew Stevens (guitar), Simon Moullier (vibes), Morgan Guerin (bass, woodwinds), and Milena Casado (trumpet, electronics). The result is a dynamic interpretation that honors the original’s revolutionary spirit, while echoing a social justice message which remains poignant as ever today.

Cover: ¥ 10,000 | $67.32

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GARY BARTZ QUINTET

Saxophonist Gary Bartz is a NEA Jazz Master and two time Grammy Award winner and Living Legacy Award recipient. He comes to Blue Note Tokyo with his quintet for a three day residency. He was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in Baltimore, Maryland.

In 1958 he left Baltimore to study at the Juilliard School. In the early 1960s, he performed with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus’ Jazz Workshop. He worked as a sideman with Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln before joining Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. In 1968, he was a member of McCoy Tyner’s band, Expansions.

In 2019, Revive Music and Bartz celebrated the 50th Anniversary of his Another Earth album at Winter Jazzfest in New York City, alongside original member Pharoah Sanders. He is Professor of Jazz Saxophone at Oberlin College.

Tickets: ¥ 9,900 | $66.65

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DUANE EUBANKS QUARTET

Duane Eubanks was raised in a musical family, but stopped playing in his teens and instead pursued a degree in accounting; six years later, he conceded that this had been an error, and returned to music. He subsequently studied jazz at Temple University, where he played with Wynton Marsalis and Billy Taylor, and also spent two years training with Johnny Coles.

He hass released his first album, My Shining Hour, in 1999, having been approached by a producer who had heard him performing on his brother Robin’s album 4: JJ / Slide / Curtis and Al. In 2002 and 2005, Eubanks shared in the Grammy Awards received by Dave Holland’s big band for the albumsWhat Goes Around and Overtime.

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