Music! and Movies! in the Month of August, 2016

Hadn’t put my musical and movie events from August together yet due to writing about Iceland and Singapore.  Here I go first with music!

Dope – a film

Shakatak @ Billboard Live Tokyo

Tegan & Sara @ Daikanyama Unit

Na Leo @ Billboard Live Tokyo

The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead? – a documentary

Akinori Nakagawa @ Suntory Hall

The Violin Teacher – film

Summer Sonic 2016

Summer Sonic 2016

Alexandra Stan @ O-East

Song of Lahore – a documentary

Maia Hirasawa @ Billboard Live Tokyo

And the films.

Dope

The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead

Once in a Lifetime

Looking for Her

A Walk in the Woods

While We’re Young

The Violin Teacher

High-Rise

Song of Lahore

Standing Tall

11 Minutes

Paths of the Soul

Truth

And my favorite film of the month.

Music! in the Month of November, 2015

A good variety of musical events throughout the month of November.

Hysteric Panic and Angry Frog Rebirth, both Japanese bands, playing at O-West

The good ol’ Glenn Miller Orchestra @ the Orchard Hall

Lee Ritenour and Dave Grusin, the classic GRP line-up at Blue Note Tokyo

Blue Note red!

A music bar in Shinjuku that plays music in vinyls and “high-resolution” digital files

Mary’s Blood in-store event at Tower Records Shibuya

A Canadian music showcase at the Oscar Peterson Theatre at the Embassy of Canada

A Canadian music seminar where I was a presenter

Friends at a Danish record label celebrating its 20th anniversary had brought the celebratory wine to Tokyo

Attended an award ceremony at the Brazilian Ambassador’s official residence in honor of Sadao Watanabe, a Japanese saxophone player closely associated with Brazilian music

Rajaton, a Finnish a cappella group, at the Oji Hall

La Famille Bélier, a French film

Benny Sings, a Dutch singer-and-songwriter/producer at Billboard Live Tokyo

Chico & the Gypsies, a French “gypsy” group, at Blue Note Tokyo

The Crunchy Frog wine, Sauvignon Blanc produced and bottled by Charles Smith Wines in Washington, USA

So glad to have heard Rajaton perform live though I missed the first half of their concert due to other commitments.

Tamagawa Takashimaya Shopping Center

Used to visit the complex every week for a while during my college years as I taught English at the “Culture School” that was attached to the shopping center.  I was more used to going to Isetan in Shinjuku or Seibu in Shibuya and Tamagawa Takashimaya to me seemed to lack glamour at the time.

But now it is one very glamorous shopping destination with some of the most exclusive high-end brands in fashion.  Recently refurbished, it has a multi-purpose public space in which an event was taking place yesterday by this undoubtedly very glamorous violinist.

http://www.ikukokawai.com/

http://www.tamagawa-sc.com/english/

Kawai & Ruzimatov

Went to check out a collaboration between a semi-classical Japanese violinist and an Uzbekistani ballet dancer at the New National Theatre Tokyo.

Don’t know anything about dancing but I loved his loooooong stretched arms.

Some footage from years back: