I’ve written about my love for Japan on many occasions, and a big part of what I love about the Land of the Rising Sun is the nightlife. Yes, I’m getting a little old to be staying out late, but Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Sendai are all towns I’ve had the chance to dive into and explore, and I’d visit any of them again. Not only are the food and adult beverages great, but the people are warm and friendly, and I’ve caught some great live music, especially in Tokyo. It's rewarding in all of those cities to explore dark alleys where you can often see a lighted sign pointing out some small, hidden bar or club, and you can go down those alleys without worry, because it's Japan. And sometimes you'll find some great local bands playing.
Case in point: The Jazz Avengers are a great act to catch if you like great live music. I’m an adherent to Robert Heinlein’s Principle of Least Action, and The Jazz Avengers epitomize that principle by combining talent, skill, and beauty. The band has seven regular members, consisting of drummer Senri Kawaguchi, bass guitar player Juna Serita, with Marie Takeda on keyboards and piano, Ami Nakazono on soprano saxophone, Miho Terachi on alto saxophone, WaKaNa on alto saxophone, and Miky Yonezawa on tenor sax.
Lots of their live performances feature special guests as well. One of my primary reasons for visiting Japan again is to try to take in a show by The Jazz Avengers in person, preferably in one of those tiny Tokyo club venues – or in a big concert hall, if that’s where we need to go.
Here are six of my favorite songs by these seven wonderful Japanese ladies. Enjoy.
Pick Up The Pieces: You might remember this as a 1974 tune by the Average White Band (a name they probably wouldn’t get away with today). The AWB did a great job with it, but The Jazz Avengers managed to kick it up a notch in this live performance, making it longer, peppier, and more complex; they almost skip from note to note. It’s not often you find a cover that’s better than the original, but I think that the Jazz Avengers nailed this one.
Glacial Winds: This lovely piece was initially released in 2017 by Japanese artist Miku Yonezawa on her album Landscape. This is a purely lovely piece, slow and smooth as butter. You can almost feel the chill winds blowing and see the snow wafting along a frozen surface.
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Still Got It: This is a cover of a song by an American, that being an Encino man, Dave Koz. Dave has quite the discography of his own, which you can view here, and a lot of his stuff is worth hearing as well. The Jazz Avengers took Dave’s song and made it their own, with great saxophone work, along with some great piano and drums. It’s a fun, fast-stepping tune that will have you chair-dancing, if that’s a thing you do. As for me – I’ll plead the Fifth.
Make It Happen: This one’s home-grown, written by soprano sax player Ami Nakazono, and she takes the lead in this great rendering. This song bubbles, it flows, like clear water over clean pebbles in a mountain stream. It’s one of their few songs that makes me think of the outdoors, instead of a small, smoky Tokyo nightclub. And that’s a good thing.
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Hunter: This one was penned by The Jazz Avengers’ bass player Juna Serita, and features her work on the big four-string guitar. Through most of the song, the bass is just in the background of the saxophones, but Juna does get in some great licks; she’s as good a bass player as she is a composer. I’m not sure where the name of this song derives from, but it’s a smooth, drawn-out tune.
Funkadelic Muse: This song, written by one Jun Abe, shows that the Jazz Avengers can lean into funk when they feel like it – and they did, here. I’m not too familiar with Jun Abe, but I’m familiar enough with The Jazz Avengers’ take on this song of his; it’s one of my favorites. It hits most of the same tones as the rest of The Jazz Avengers work, but it’s just got that little funk twist to it, which makes it great.Jazz is an international art form. So far, The Jazz Avengers have been mostly a Japanese phenomenon, but it would be great to see them burst onto the international stage. Maybe we can help; with X now auto-translating Japanese to English and vice versa, putting great Japanese music up for all to enjoy is easier than ever.
You can see more of The Jazz Avengers on their YouTube channel. Check them out, and if you find any favorites other than what I’ve listed here, give a shout in the comments, which are, as always, all yours.
