Day 77 in Japan - Jazz in my pants

Today, Sam and I had plans to ride our bikes around (at least part of) Awaji Island. Unfortunately, everything fell through at the last minute when the bike bookings got all messed up, and some "light rain" was forecast, so we cancelled. Thank god we did, because a) today was POURING rain, and b) that meant that we were free to go to Kobe Jazz Street Festival!!

Trekking to the train station in Okubo on a rainy Saturday.

Ramen lunch with Dan, Kay, Christina, Jamie Leigh, Simon, Adam, Cara and Sam.

After meeting up with a bunch of JETs (mostly from Himeji or from between Kobe and Osaka-ish) for a ramen lunch, we walked next door to the Day by Day Jazz venue to see the first act on the list. There were 11 venues in all, and we just picked the closest one on the map. Which was the best decision ever, because the venue and the act we saw were completely brilliant. The club was a low-lit downstairs venue with about enough room to comfortably hold 50 people. There were at least 60 people there before we all walked in, and the jazz band had already started before we got there. The band was a 5 piece classical jazz outfit that Sam called "The Bond Villains", because he reckoned that the piano player and drummer were cool-looking enough to be bad guys in old Bond films. Then a lovely older lady came to perform with the band. She was done up perfectly - probably in her mid 60's, with hair coiffed up to perfection, lips painted bright red, and dark black jewellery sparkling around her neck. She just epitomised class, and had a voice to match. She had a slightly warbling voice - a bit husky and wistful - perfectly matched to the jazz classics she sang. Everything just lined up - the rainy day, the tiny crowded basement bar, the pencil-thin moustache on the piano player, the years that lined the singers face, and the lyrics to the songs, and we heard jazz. Honestly, this was just about the perfect jazz act, and made it really hard for other acts we saw that day to live up to.

First act of Kobe Jazz Street at Day by Day (3/5 of the band)

First act of Kobe Jazz Street at Day by Day (2/5 of the band)

But each act still had their own unique charms. The next act we saw was banjo-based, but also had a big tuba. Also, one of the banjo players was Mr. Sheffield from the nanny. Sam and I got picked up by old Japanese deaf guy who kept talking really loud, obviously annoying everyone else around us, but he was having a good time. He'd lived in New York for a year gap 40 years ago, and his English was great (although being deaf, he did a lot more speaking than listening). The first beer of the day went down very well.

Dixieland-style jazz at the Sone bar (most famous jazz bar in Kobe).

Then a high school big band act - the Big Friendly Jazz Orchestra. Only caught the end of their act, but they were really having fun on stage, and it was a really supportive crowd (who were obviously mostly relatives). Then the end of another act at a Women's University in Kobe, where we saw Will Ferrell playing saxophone. 

The Big Friendly Jazz Orchestra, performing in the Big Band Jazz Festival hall. 

Will Ferrell on sax, ladies and gentlemen.

Then off to see the best hair of the day. I really didn't get any good photos of the chick's hair, but trust me - her head was like an eighth of a Katamari. My friend Dan got a good shot, and the link to his photo is here. In fact, Dan got some really great shots of a lot of the acts (mine were more happy snaps to remember the day, but he has a whopping big lens and knows how to use it), so if you want to see the acts looking nice, check out his Flickr set here. 

This band did a piano-driven version of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, that was
the most beautiful solo jazz piano of the day (for me).

The last act we got to see was a really interesting one. It was a fusion of Jazz saxophone/clarinet, traditional Japanese instruments (shamisen and shakuhachi - the Japanese flute) and banjo music. This was a really fun performance, and it felt like the guys on stage were enjoying just jamming with each other, and the audience was getting into it. This may have been helped by the drunk Japanese man we were standing next to yelling out at every opportunity, but overall it was a really interesting and energetic performance. They did a jazz rendition of the Awa Odori song (the local Bon Odori dance from Tokushima Prefecture, which is famous all over Japan), which was really cool, and finished with When the Saints go Marching In. 

Shamisen, shakuhachi, saxophone and stringed instruments.

Simon and our very loud, drunken friend.

After the last act, the whole JET crew went to dinner at a theme restaurant - The Lock In restaurant. They handcuffed us, led us to our room, locked us in and brought us beer. The waitresses were really good looking, and dressed up like S&M jail wardens. The beers were served in measuring cylinders, and there was an "inmate breakout", where alarms go off, all the staff run around in costumes and the UV lights come on. Awesome fun!

The Lock In dinner.

After dinner, we moved onto the Hobgoblin pub - an English-style pub in Kobe. We met a few new Japanese friends, Dan folded some origami, Sam got a new nickname (Shufu - housewife/househusband in Japanese), we played darts, and I found Salt and Vinegar chips! Good times were had by all. Well, by me, at least.

Dan and his crane. 

Kay looking really comfortable with one of our new Japanese friends.

Then karaoke. Ended up singing Basket Case (Green Day), Sk8r Boi (Avril - is that even how you dumb spell that?), and a few other songs I would never normally have chosen at the request of the two really cute Japanese girls that we met at the bar, but it was actually fun to venture outside of my karaoke comfort zone. And I did get to polish off the night murdering Total Eclipse of the Heart with Simon - HAPPY ENDINGS!

Yeah, karaoke with shoe. Why did I think that would be a good idea?

Food Highlight of the Day: Litre beers in measuring cylinders. Refer to Figure below, and the Supporting Information.