Jazz Art Sengawa 2017: September 13-17

This year's Jazz Art Sengawa will be held on September 13-17 at Sengawa Theatre, Chofu, Tokyo.

Jazz Art Sengawa is an festival for jazz, avant-pop, and improvised music as a showcase for acts from Japan and abroad. From its inception, it has been led by three artists, Makigami Koichi, Fujiwara Kiyoto, and Sakamoto Hiromichi. The main venue for the event is Sengawa Theatre, which is located in Chofu, a west surburb of Tokyo.

And this year's event there are two things outstanding change. One is duration - now it's vastly expanded as 5 days event, as it had been set for 3 days long in the past. And the other is a return of John Zorn's Cobra. While it's been absent from the festival for a few years, the ever-popular game piece was a big attraction, and now it's back.

Of course Hikashu is on the roster as well - and this time they are with Chris Pitsiokos, a prominent NYC saxophonist who participated in the band's recording session last May. And this is the first time they play together in public.

Metropolis, a Tokyo-based English magazine, has this to say:

Addressing Japan’s staid jazz festival scene is Jazz Art Sengawa, at a sleek Tadao Ando development in suburban Sengawa. This year’s event takes in performances by Makigami himself alongside co-director/ cellist Hiromichi Sakamoto, with the theme, “feral ·intimate·alive.” Makigami will direct a staging of John Zorn’s notorious game-theory music piece “Cobra” to conclude the event, and also perform with his influential art-punk group Hikashu. Sakamoto will attack his cello as per usual with power tools, an experience that seldom fails to startle. Also on the bill are one-time Sonic Youth member and noted noise music artist Jim O’Rourke, along with Rob Turner, the percussionist behind GoGo Penguin, a British trio acclaimed for its innovative mashups of elements of electronica, trip-hop, jazz, rock, and classical music.

The schedule is as follows:


September 13 Wednesday

19:30-
Fujii Satoko Orchestra Tokyo featuring Alister Spence


September 14 Thursday

19:30-
Tokumarushugo + Kafka Ibiki
Kafka Ibiki - Jim O'Rourke, Ishibashi Eiko, Yamamoto Tatsuhisa

Jazz Art Trio
Makigami Koichi, Fujiwara Kiyoto, Sakamoto Hiromichi


September 15 Friday

19:30-
John Zorn's Cobra


September 16 Saturday

13:30-15:00 directed by Makigami Koichi
VocColours with Kita Yoichiro
Komori Keiko + Morgan Fisher + Makigami Koichi

16:30-18:00 directed by Sakamoto Hiromichi
"An Encounter with silent film"
Minakata Michiko
Nanao Tabito + Sakamoto Hiromichi with silent film screening

19:30-21:00 directed by Fujiwara Kiyoto
Itabashi Fumio + Fujiwara Kiyoto
Daifukusei (Saito Kazushi, Fukuda Ayumi)


September 17 Sunday

13:30-15:00 directed by Sakamoto Hiromichi
Nakamura Tasuya + PIKA + Sakamoto Hiromichi with Nagamekurashitsu (Neguro Yosuke, Hasegawa Itsumi, Yasuoka Ako, and others)

16:30-18:00 directed by Fujiwara Kiyoto
Sakata Akira + Peter Madsen + Fujirawa Kiyoto
Matsumoto Osamu Musica Immaginaria
(Sone Mao, Nakayama Takumi, Hirayama Junko, Matsumoto Osamu, Yamada Azusa, Katano Goro, Nozaki Kurara, Yamada Rei)

19:30-21:00 directed by Makigami Koichi
Hikashu with Chris Pitsiokos
(Makigami Koichi, Mita Freeman, Sakaide Masami, Shimizu Kazuto, Sato Masaharu)


Ticket is currently available. Go get them while it's out.

Jazz Art Sengawa facebook

Jazz Art Sengawa 2017 - Sengawa Theatre website

Hikashu at Jazz Art Sengawa Metropolis

September 13-17, 2017
Jazz Art Sengawa
@ Sengawa Theatre
Chofu, Tokyo
6,800 yen for 1 day ticket
12,500 yen for 2 days ticket
18,000 yen for 5 days pass

Sengawa Theatre, Chofu, Tokyo