Music in Kobe

           As you may know, I must follow certain guidelines with each blog post; the subject of each post a different topic or aspect of studying abroad. It can be difficult to always write a post that I think you all will enjoy reading while still completing the assignment, so definitely let me know if you have any questions about anything that I write about! This week’s focus is on cultural differences.

            There are innumerable differences between Japanese and Western culture, down to individual’s daily lives. Some examples: Japanese people generally prefer to take baths in the evening, whereas most Americans I know take showers far more regularly than they take baths. It is a lot more rare for Japanese people to wash their hands after using the bathroom (although there are public health initiatives that are changing this). The gesture for “come here” in Japan is inverted compared to the American one, sort of a pawing or clawing motion with the palm facing downward (when I first encountered this, I thought they were motioning me to go away). But the main part of this post is concerning the music scene: I’ll be comparing what I’ve experienced in the Kansai region to what I know, that is the music/jazz culture in the Midwest.

            Much of the lingo is different, and it’s hard to know whether certain terms are ones borrowed from English, whether they use their own words, or whether it’s an English loan word but not the same word that we use. A notable example is instead of “sets”, the hour or so long periods where the band is playing, they use the term ステージ (suteeji, from ‘stage’). Also, in America we commonly say “cover” or “cover charge” to indicate the fee we pay to get in the door of the club. The Japanese have borrowed the English word “charge” to make チャージ、or “chaaji”, (some clubs it’s ライブチャージ、”raibuchaaji,” from “live charge”) which initially confused me as I wasn’t sure what “charge” they were referring to. At a basement club in Kyoto called Jazz Live Candy (the owner, an elderly man wearing a suit, was very nice, gave me this solo piano CD that he engineered), there were two charges: a seat charge (座席チャージ) of 600 (around $5/6) yen and a music charge (音楽チャージ) of another 2200 (around $20) yen (assume this goes to the band while the seat charge goes to the venue). A lot of venues also have a drink minimum as well (never seen more than 1 drink), sometimes in addition to the “charge”.

ハードバップ研究会 , or "Hard Bob Research Society" at Jazz Live Candy in Kyoto

            Which brings me to my next point: the price. Jazz is expensive in Japan. Perhaps due to the fact that most jazz patrons are folks who are older, with real sources of income, many clubs have a チャージ of anywhere from 1200-3000 yen for some of the bigger venues. Some jazz clubs are more dingy, but others, like Sone, club in Kobe that has been the same since the 60s, are very fancy. These clubs have bottle service, very professional musicians, and hot towels. A typical charge for Sone is 12-1500 yen, and a standard beer (Asahi) is 800 yen. Not a place I visit very frequently, although the music is always great. It seems to me that most of this charge does go to the musicians, as I’ve talked to a few after shows and they can usually, depending on the venue and turnout, make around 30,000-40,000 yen a night. This makes venues more likely to take chances on bands, as they don’t really lose any money for having a group, as the band just makes whatever the cover is. However, I’ve also heard that if you play at a venue and not enough people show, some venues actually charge you, sometimes 10,000 yen.

            There is an interesting mix of music. Most of the jazz clubs I’ve been to (older, professional musicians play here) have been fairly straight ahead. Jazz from the 50s and 60s, with some hard bop thrown in. As far as I can tell, the Japanese jazz musicians love this stuff, and man they can swing. In the US today there is a lot more contemporary jazz. Living in a college town with a music school, and near cities like Chicago with thriving modern scenes, means that the music can stretch genre boundaries a lot. I know this exists in Japan, but I have not seen it too much in the spaces designed for jazz, at least not in Kobe, which is a more traditional jazz city. I have been to other music clubs, and there is a lot of variety of genre here: many modern Japanese artists, like in the West, incorporate a mix of styles, and there is a lot of great, boundary pushing music happening. Most of the jam sessions I have been to have had a mix of jazz (standards) and pop tunes, some more contemporary, but others classic tunes like Isn’t She Lovely, I Feel Good, Mr. Magic, Sunny, etc. Blues and old time R&B do have a space here.

Great jam session at Alchemy Bar in Kobe. We played a lot of jazz, but some hot funk and pop as well.

            I already have a couple dates lined up to play, but finding musicians to work with has been somewhat challenging. I have found some through jam sessions, but no from school. It doesn’t help that the Japanese students are on break, but I’d say that rock music is the most popular among the Japanese students, at least from what I can tell by being around the practice rooms. There is a big band, although because I won’t be here for their entire semester, I cannot participate, although I sat in on a sax sectional when they were rehearsing the soli from Thad Jones’ “Backbone,” which was really fun to hear. A trumpet player that I met in Kyoto is playing a show in Kobe this Friday, and the “charge” is only 1200 yen, so I’m gonna head to that. Despite there being a lot of variation in the scene itself, love of music and a thriving artistic community seem to transcend cultural differences.