Japan Sixth Day

6-9-2015 The sixth day, of to Tokyo for last concert at Tagen

This morning Satoshi and I had to check out of the hotel in Kashiwa around 12:00. We had to move to Tokyo, where we were going to play the last show before heading in the studio for 2 days of recording. These last 5 days went by so fast, already this group is sounding tight and strong. There is Great Spirit among these guys and they work so hard.

After packing up all our stuff we started our journey to Tokyo, where I booked a hotel to stay in for the upcoming 5 days. This night we had our last show at Tagen, Ogi, Tokyo. Its owner, Kazu also is a great piano player and a super friendly guy. He also plays with Yuichiro’s band and he has a lovely place where they serve great international food and drinks.
Just under a 2 our drive we got into Tokyo, what a city! First stop was going to hotel Listel, Shinjuku area of Tokyo. This hotel would be my home for the last 5 days of my stay in Japan and its location was close to many of the hotspots around Tokyo.  We had a couple of hours before the gig at Tagen would start so Satoshi and I rested a bit in our rooms. This last show would be a long one, 3 sets!
After a little rest and changing clothes we took the car and drove to Oji station, Tokyo. Tagen was around the corner of the train station so we parked the car for a moment and took our stuff out. As we were a bit to early I walked around the station for a bit. I remembered this place from last year, when I went to Tagen for a goodbye dinner with Yuichiro and Kazu.
Just before we started the first set I got a present from Kazuhiro Questkazu Sato. I met him on my last trip to Japan and he is a drummer and big fan of jazz. He spends his free time traveling around Japan to check out jazz from all over the world and he is a big fan of the Dutch jazz scene.  The whole band got a present bag from him, so friendly.

[gdlr_video url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tVK7pDkF9g&feature=youtu.be” ]

This was our last show and we had the opportunity to play all the songs because we did 3 sets. It was busy, all tables we filled and we went all-in on this one. After the show I stayed for a bit to talk with my friend Kazu. Satoshi and I left and went back to the hotel. The next day would be my first free day in six days so and I was really looking forward to this.