Eat Well

October 21, 2018 in life

When my daughter turned 10 three years ago, I had “The Talk” with her and here is roughly how it went.

I chose a beautiful summer day on the beach as the venue. I wanted to talk about sex and intimacy in an open and sunny place. I know that I wanted to do this on my own term and I was happy to do it. I felt just a little nervous about the whole thing and I kept telling myself, “Rio, don’t be weird. Act natural. Put a smile on your face, but not a stiff, forced one. A natural and subtle one.” Right.

My daughter and I were lounging on the beach at Asbury Park when I abruptly said, “So do you know how babies are made?” To which she said, “yes.” I kept my cool and asked her to tell me what she knows. She said that people have sex. I asked her if she knows what that means. She said no. I explained what happens. The logistical part of it. I told her it’s OK to have sex, eventually (very important word here, lol), when she feels like she is ready but pleeeease protect herself. Make sure that her partner wears a hat. At all time. It takes one time to really change the course of her life. We can always recover and regroup from pretty much anything but if she can avoid adding challenges to being a young woman of color, then, I think she should strive for that. It’s already hard enough.

Once Upon A Time

October 20, 2018 in poetry

atoms of the universe
assemble and disassemble
infinitely
part of me could have been
a magnificent tree
a soaring bird
an ocean that lulls you to
deep deep sleep

and i know one thing
for sure
that i have been you and
you have been me
somewhere in this universe
at one point or the other
in some shape or form
we manifested together
in harmony
and now we cross each other
once again
carrying a little bit of each other

You Got To Be The Star

October 19, 2018 in music, life

Over the years I have received thousands and thousands of emails from young musicians who want to perform at The Jazz Gallery. First of all, thank you. I feel really honored and humbled to have been asked. Each time. Because without cats, we are nothing.

Secondly, I want to talk about how you should think about yourself as the star of whatever you are doing.

Many of the emails try to get my attention by saying, “I will have Ambrose Akinmusire in my group if I get a gig,” “This is the CD release for the album I recorded with Larry Grenadier, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Mark Turner,” or “I have performed with Vijay Iyer.” And I have many things to say about that type of approach. Lol.

Self Destruction

October 18, 2018 in poetry

Many of us
Grow up thinking
What is in between our legs is
Dirty
Unmentionable
Scandalous
Need to be locked up
Secret to be hidden
It has so many
Other names
Too funky
To call it what it is

How Do You Like It?

October 17, 2018 in music

As the technologies develop and have become readily available to us, independent artists have more decisions to make. As if you are not doing enough already. When you are a freelancer, (and this goes for any type of freelance gigs) 90% of the job is cumbersome tasks one must to do in order to make the last 10% possible, which is the fun part. In musicians’ cases this 10% consists of practicing, composing, performing, and any other activities that actually bring you joy.

Up until recently, CD has been the medium of choice if you want to disseminate your music. Before that, cassette and records (or vinyls as young people call them now, lol) were what we dealt with. These hardware created time restrictions. They can only contain so much information. This made it a standard practice for musicians to distribute their music/ideas in an album format. Each album contains certain numbers of songs/tunes and the whole thing has an overarching title and theme.

Empty Nest

October 16, 2018 in poetry

I'd be lying
If I said that I like my belly
It is no longer flat nor smooth

It is soft with waves
It giggles when I laugh
Plentiful and
In need of forgiveness
It sags
It cradles
It comforts
It will give you
Something to
Hold onto

It is where
My children came to
Be
It is an ocean
Warm
Safe
And Peaceful
They swam and wiggled
As they shaped and morphed
I felt their delights
While I dreamt each nights

Now it is my
Empty nest
So dear to me
It bore love
Like nothing else I’ve known

愛 or Love?

October 15, 2018 in life

When I first moved to the NYC at age of 18, I started living my life in English and all the sudden, I became this selfish person. I was starting every single sentence with “I.” I am talking about myself all the time. I woke up. I went to school. I felt tired. I ate this and that for lunch. I am happy. I am sad. I’m talking about myself all day long. “I” have never been this way. What is going on?

I grew up in Japan. Japanese language is very different from English in its thought process and structure. We hardly ever use pronouns. Most of the time, it is pretty obvious who and what we are talking about from the context and flow of the conversation. “I” is omitted. (So as he, she, it, etc) Only foreigners who are studying Japanese say “I.” Lol. Also, in Japanese, verbs come at the very end of the sentences and everything else - nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. - come before verbs. We don’t do articles, either. For example, the word-for-word translation of “I ate a delicious cupcake” would be “Delicious cupcake ate.” There is no “a” and there is no “I.”

My Life Matters

October 14, 2018 in poetry

I know I don't look like you
I believe in what you don't
You may think that I talk funny
My food may offend you
The way I love
and whom I love may be
incomprehensible to you

But listen
I am you and you are me.

I dream
I hope
I hurt
I cry

I want to be loved
I want to be needed
I want to matter
I want to laugh and be happy

Don't you?

Let's be
Let me
Let you
because I mean
where else do you go from here?
what other choices do we have?

Can We Sell This?

October 13, 2018 in music

How can we engage more audience?

It is the eternal question for non-profit performing arts presenters and practitioners. I have been asked this question many times at various conferences, meetings, grant adjudications, masterclass, etc. My answer is always the same.

Early arts education is the only true marketing for Jazz and creative music.

I grew up in Japan where (at least when I was there) there was no such thing as elective in arts classes until you were a senior in highschool. Until then, every student had to partake in all kinds of arts activities whether you like it or not. In first and second grades, everyone had to play diatonic harmonica and play simple songs in the key of C. This involves many skills. You have to know how to get around a harmonica. You have to be able to read simple music in 4/4. You have to have hand-eye coordination. You have to be able to count. You have to do all of the above all at once. In 3rd through 6th grades, students switch to the soprano recorder. Then you’ll move onto the alto recorder in 7th grade. And so on and so forth. Simultaneously, many students in Japan are required to participate in some sort of choir activities. We love choirs. Lol.

Container

October 12, 2018 in poetry

after i poured my heart out

i noticed that there was no container

to hold the contents;

nobody to catch it, either.

now i’m empty

and what’s poured made a big mess.

How I Got here // JAZZIT Interview

October 11, 2018 in music, life

I have often been asked, “How did you get a job as an Artistic Director?” Well, I didn’t get a job as the Artistic Director of The Jazz Gallery. Dale Fitzgerald has given me an opportunity to build the place from ground up. Eventually, The Jazz Gallery has grown to the point where I needed an official title to the outside world and “Artistic Director” seemed befitting considering that I have been setting the creative directions for The Jazz Gallery for the past two decades.

Ashley Kahn has interviewed me a while back for the JAZZIT magazine and I talked a lot about how I got started in life, in music, and at The Jazz Gallery. Here is an original interview in English.

Untitled - For Me'Shell

October 10, 2018 in poetry

I am drunk from beats
Words swim out of her mouth
Sucked into my ears
Stir up sensations deep down
I want to rip myself inside out.

My movements are
Not my own any longer.
She who plucks with
Her fingers and her soul
She who summons
Our hidden dreams
She who commands our
Unthinkables into distant possibilities
She
With a sway of her hips
Controls my everything
At this very moment.

Beats are so articulate yet
She implies
She suggests
She whispers vagueness
Contradictions so sweet
I want more.

But it is all too much
Please
I cannot take it any more but
Don't stop
Please.

Love Is Money

October 08, 2018 in music

The bottom line.

Everyone should pay at the door.

I know it’s cool to be let in to the venue like you are one of the cats but if you are really cool, you’ll put some money in the pot.

At The Jazz Gallery, we extend courtesy of free admission to anyone who’s ever led a band on our stage. I know that we are not paying living wages to the musicians and most of the times, leaders dig into their own pockets to pay the bands so that they can present their projects. The Jazz Gallery helps you to work out your ideas in front of the audience and provides opportunities for musicians to be heard. One thing we are not providing…. Is a big fat check at the end of the night. But I’d like to think there is a symbiotic relationship between musicians and The Jazz Gallery. Each has what others need. Free admissions to band-leaders is our way of saying thank you. It’s our way of saying I’m sorry we are not paying enough. It’s our way of showing respect to the work you put into it.

But, really, even then, everyone should pay.

Because that’s how we show that we care and that’s how we ensure that the business we care about continue to exist and that you can continue to present music in an adequate space. That is how we support this music we love. And money is the only real way that you can offer support.