Live Performance at Art Museum

Daichi Yoshino and I have been invited by Hokkaido Obihiro Museum of Art to perform in its entrance hall on Saturday, the 29th of January. This is going to be our first appearance at the local museum which is located on a hill of grand Obihiro Green Park.

We are going to be performing from 4:30 p.m., when twilight blue probably begins to prevail the wooded patio which you can see through the tall floor-to-ceiling windows in the background of our stage. Please look forward to seeing how we fill the quiet venue with our music. No charge for our concert (free!).

To download this photo flier, click here.

To download detailed fliers from the museum (Japanese), click here.

Coincidentally, there is an impressive exhibition of landscape pictures "Soaked in Landscape. Play with Nature." in cooperation with the Museum of Art in Hakodate, which is Daichi's hometown, also my second hometown. I hope you will enjoy it as well. For details check out the museum's website.

1/29（土）北海道立帯広美術館のロビーで吉野大地と「ミュージアム・コンサート」を行います。広大な帯広グリーンパーク内の丘の上にある同美術館での出演は初。

午後4:30からのライブで、ちょうどステージの背景の窓一面に広がる中庭の林が黄昏の青色に染まり始まるころ。静かな会場は、私たちの音楽でいっぱいにするとどうなるのやら。入場料は無料。

→プリント用ミニフライヤーはこちらから

→美術館発行の詳しいチラシはこちらから

奇しくも、当日は道立函館美術館の「コラボ」による風景画展「風景に、浸る。自然と、遊ぶ。」も開催中。こちらも楽しめそう。函館は大地さんの出身地、かつ私の第二の故郷。（詳しくは美術館のウェブサイトをどうぞ。）

Here Comes The Sunshine

I realized the bright sunshine coming in through the windows just when we started playing "Here Comes The Sun," and it was exactly the party coordinator had predicted during our rehearsal.

This is a scene from the party to celebrate my friends' wedding at Rancho El Paso. I believe the newly wed couple has had a great heartwarming time with the flowers, food, costumes, live music, hula dancing, etc., thanks to the sun... NOPE! to all the nice friends (more than 80 people!) who gathered to congratulate them.

"Here Comes The Sunshine" を演奏している時に、温かい日差しが窓から差し込んで来たのに気がついた。パーティの幹事がリハーサル中に予想した通り。

ランチョ・エルパソでの友人の結婚お祝いパーティの1シーン。新婚夫婦は、きれいな花、おいしい食事、仮装（？）、ライブ、フラダンスなどなどでさぞかし満足だったかな。お日様の...いやいや80人以上お祝いに集まってくれたみんなのおかげ。

Great Moments of Inspiration

On a nice and warm Sunday in October, I was invited by my band mate, Claude (Thaddius) to play in his acoustic set with (photo from left to right) Katz a.k.a Fucchie (perc.), Toshi (bass), Chip (perc.) at his base station, Marumigaoka-Onsen.

As always, Claude just named some songs we could probably play together right before the show. I am sure, although we had not rehearsed together, we were able to weave out pretty nice and groovy music. Yes, even with the artists I've met for the first time (Chip and Toshi this time right on the stage), we can always build something great as long as we keep inspiring one another. This is what I believe live music is about!

Cheers, Claude, it's always fun to join you (and for getting the piano tuned).

10月の温かい日曜日、バンド仲間のClaude (Thaddius) に呼ばれて、Katz（フッチー・perc.）、Toshi (bass)、Chip (perc.)と一緒に、彼のホームステージ丸美が丘温泉でアコースティクライブに参加。

いつもどおり、ステージ直前にClaudeがこのメンバーでできそうな曲をチョイス。リハーサルなし。でも、なかなかいいノリだった。お互いに刺激し合っていれば、初対面のアーチスト（ChipとToshiはステージで）とでさえ、いい音楽ができる。これがライブの醍醐味。

Claude、いつも楽しい時間（と調律）をどうもっす。

(photo by M-Jane)

Let It Snow Again

This is the snowcapped top tube of my bike, worn and battered, but still as reliable as an old friend. We see much more snow here even before Christmas this year. It's time to go mushing!

すり切れてくたびれた、でも旧友のように頼りがいのある自転車のトップチューブに積もる雪。今年はクリスマス前からずいぶん降る。犬ぞりの出番だ。

Backdating Updates

I am now updating my blog backdating with a lot of topics I have missed to upload in the past half year. I was just too busy....well, no excuse.

I can't even believe that I haven't purchase an iPhone 4 in spite I have been a power user (classic expression!) of Apple Mac for 24 years. It would hopefully help me update my blog more easily.

過去半年間にアップし逃した話題をさかのぼって更新している。忙しかった...言い訳はいかんです。

iPhone 4もまだ買っていない。もう24年もApple Macのパワーユーザー（ちょっと昔の言い方？）なのにもかかわらず...。まあ、（手に入れると）ブログももっと簡単にアップできるようになるんだろうな。

What a Great Time a Cup of Coffee Can Make!

This could be one of the most rich coffee I have ever experienced. I am not a coffee connoisseur or taster, nor do I drink it everyday either, but I could immediately feel that this presents very deep taste and lush and diverse aroma.

I brewed it at home one warm afternoon of October and it could be a perfect match with any relaxing music you name. I would choose this.

I had a kind of noteworthy chance to meet, Mrs. Unnamalai Thiagarajan, the owner of a fully-organic, Biodynamic coffee estate in India, at the local airport. She came to Tokyo to attend a specialty coffee convention and she took this opportunity to visit Biodynamic Farming practitioners and farms in Hokkaido, and we were going to guide her. But unfortunately, she had to turn back on the airplane she flew to here since she had to go back to India ASAP due to unexpected urgency. That was the coffee she left with us.

From her very, very concise presentation (in front of the departure gate!) of her farm in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, we could see that it was carefully grown with no chemicals in the mountainous region blessed with abundant biodiversity, good water and soil. See more details of Balmaadi Estate.

If you are interested in trying the coffee from my brief impression by any chance, check out for further distributor information (in Japan)

Well, I hope to see her again wherever it may be.

今まで出会った中でもおそらく一番リッチなコーヒーの一つかも知れない。コーヒー鑑定士でもテイスターでも毎日飲む愛飲家でもない私にも、とても味わいが深くて、贅沢で沢山入り交じった香りに包まれるのがすぐに分かる。

10月のあたたかな昼下がりに家で入れてみた。どんなゆったりした音楽にもぴったりかと。私ならこれかな。

地元の空港で、インドで有機農法（バイオダイナミック）の農園を経営するUnnamalai Thiagarajan女史にお会いする機会があった。実は東京でのスペシャルティコーヒーイベントに出席するために来日、ついでに北海道のバイオダイナミック農家を訪ねたいとこの地にいらっしゃったのでご案内する予定だった。しかしながら、急用でインドに帰ることになり、着いたその脚で同じ飛行機に乗って帰られる事に...。上記は彼女のおみやげのコーヒー。

（なんと出発ゲート前で!）タミールナドゥ州ニルギリにある農園についての超短いプレゼン。山中の現地の、とても豊かな生物多様性と、上質な水と土壌に支えられ、化学肥料や農薬を一切使っていない事をとりあえず了解。詳しくはこちら（Balmaadi Estate）。

こんな紹介でもお飲みになりたい方がいらしたら、こちらへどうぞ。

また機会があればどこかでお会いしたいものだ。

Beaujolais Nouveau 2010

We had another music show at Rancho El Paso's "Beaujolais Nouveau Dinner Special" on Thursday, November 19th.

I was joined by Yohei (guitars/center) as usual and also by the superb guitarist, Yoichi Watanabe (right) and the natural-high vocalist, Ai Tanaka (not shown) both from Minimokudo, as a full acoustic set.

It was a great opportunity to make Minimokudo's debut at the venue showing off the great original songs by Yoichi sung by Ai, whom I joined with Choppa (bassist) in their groovy gig on October 30th at Mega Stone.

Besides, wouldn't it be nice to perform under those ham and sausage and between those cactuses? They are all real ones!

To those who came to the show, thank you all for joining us and I hope you enjoyed the fill variety of music we played.

11/19（木）またまたランチョ・エルパソ「ボージョレー・ヌーヴォー・スペシャル・ディナー」に今年も出演。

フルアコースティックセットで、いつもの洋平（guit./中央）に加えて、ミニモク堂の最高のギタリスト渡辺洋一さん（右）とナチュラルハイのヴォーカリスト田中愛さん（写真なし）も登場。

洋一さんのオリジナル名曲を愛さんが歌って披露するエルパソデビューのよい機会にもなった。ミニモクとは10/30メガストーンでベースのちょっぱさんとグルービーなライブもやりました。

それにしても、ハムやソーセージの下、サボテンにはさまれてライブっていうのもいいかも。全部本物。

お越しいただいたみなさま、最後までおつきあいいただきありがとうございます。なんでもありの選曲で楽しい時間を過ごされたか？と願うところ。

(photo by T. Noda)

Heat Wave from Africa

I was involved in a live music show by an African music group on the 20th of October at Hokkaido Yell Center as a sound engineer. (I was asked the day before! My Goodness!) It was unexpectedly small but I really had a big time though.

The group was led by Chiaki Hayakawa (vocal) and Masaya Onishi (vo., gt. & perc.) and joined by Norihiko Yamakita (perc.) and Hiromi Kondo (perc.) (photo: from left to right), and (some of them) were on tour all over Japan calling for people's support for the education and independent lives of African children and their monetary fund, "Maisha ya Raha ("happy life" in Swahili)" they built for such purposes. For further information on their endeavor, please check their website.

Their passionate and energetic performance as well as the beautiful slideshow they presented were so impressive that I hoped much more people had known this event earlier. Probably because of the lack of organized advertisement efforts, there wasn't a big turnout of audiences this time unfortunately, but definitely not next time though.

10/20に帯広エールセンターでのアフリカンミュージックのライブに音響のお手伝いをした。（頼まれたのは前日！ぎゃあ〜）予期せず小さなイベントになってしまったけれど、とても楽しかった。

パフォーマーは早川千晶さん（vo.）、大西匡哉（まさや）さん（vo., gt. & perc.）、そして山北のりひこさん（perc.） そして近藤ひろみさん（perc.）の4人。そのうち何人かで日本中をツアーして、アフリカの子供達の教育と自立のための支援を求めて回っている。詳しい活動内容はこちら。

心に残る熱い演奏と美しいスライドショーを目の当たりにして、もっともっとたくさんの人たちがこのイベントのことを早くに知っていたらと思った。おそらく組織的に広告宣伝ができなかったので満員にできなかったのが悔しいが、次はそんな事がないようにと願う。

VietJapBraz 2010 Meet

In September, three gangster clan bosses from Brazil, Vietnam and Japan (in the order of the photos) had their annual secret gathering in downtown Obihiro.

You know it's cool to hang around by bus these days, not in those outrageously huge black limos anymore. Yes, we even go green too.

9月にブラジル、ベトナム、日本（写真順）のギャングの親分3人が帯広で恒例の

秘密会議。

最近は路線バスでうろうろするのがクールなんですぜ。あのバカでっかい黒いリムジンというのはもうナンセンス。私たちもエコで行く時代だ。

Nashville, Just Across the River

Great! Finally I have got Jimmy Webb's latest CD "JUST ACROSS THE RIVER," which was produced by Fred Mollin, the same producer as "Ten Easy Pieces (96)," and recorded in Nashville (!) with his live band and whole bunch of prominent artists featured in its tracks.

For example, Billy Joel sings "Wichita Lineman" just as if it had been written by him, while Jackson Browne covers "P. F. Sloan" perfectly with the composer. Needless to say Linda Ronstadt and Glen Campbell prove that they are really meant to sing his songs. And more...

Out of quite a few great American songwriters, "Tunesmith" Jimmy Webb has always been very special for me.

How could I forget the great low-keyed light in his eyes when he really grabbed my hand when I met him in Tokyo after his solo gig? (photo: JUST ACROSS THE RIVER and "Suspending Disblief (93)" CD sleeve autographed by Mr. Webb)

最高! Jimmy Webbの新譜"JUST ACROSS THE RIVER"（セルフカバーアルバム）をやっと入手。プロデューサーは96年の"Ten Easy Pieces"のFred Mollin、そして自分の生バンドを従えて、超豪華なゲストアーチストたちを迎えてナッシュビル録音！

例えば、Billy Joelが"Wichita Lineman"をまるで自分の曲のように歌い、Jackson Browneが"P. F. Sloan"を作曲者と一緒に完璧なカバー。もちろん、Linda RonstadtやGlen Campbellも彼の曲を歌うためにいるようなもの。そのほかたくさん。

並みいるアメリカの偉大なソングライターたちの中でも、私にとって"Tunesmith"のJimmy Webbは特別だ。

以前彼のライブのあとに東京で会った時、がっちり私の手を握ってくれた彼の目の中のしぶーい光を未だに忘れない。（写真："JUST ACROSS THE RIVER"とスリーブにサインしてもらった"Suspending Disbelief (93)"）

Busking in Downtown

To promote Ben & Konomi's Summer Solstice Eco Festival 2010 for the Organic Movement, 13 artists who are appearing in the festival showed up in downtown Obihiro last Sunday. It was a beautiful sunny day, but if it had not been a sports day for school kids in the area, we could have seen more people walking around though. It was totally not like Shibuya or Yokohama.

I would like to say thanks to all the dedicated musicians who joined together to enjoy performing outdoors.

Participated are: Trevor (vocal, guitar & mandolin), Hiroshi (vocal & guitar), Choppa (ukulele), Charles (accordion), Maud (vocal & accordion), Ai (vocal), Yoichi (guitar), Ako (percussion), Yuma (vocal & flute), Toshimitsu (percussion), Keiichiro (guitar), Maa-kun (percussion) & Shinya (special appearance).

We are going to have a fabulous music festival!

BenとKonomiの夏至オーガニックフェスティバル2010のプロモーションのために、同フェスティバルに出場するアーチストが13名集まって、帯広中心部でストリートライブを敢行。

晴天に恵まれたけれど、運動会の日だったために人通りもまばら。渋谷

や横浜のようにはいかん。

屋外ライブに参加してくれたすばらしいミュージシャンたちに「ありがとう」。（出演者は上記）

いけてるミュージックフェスティバルにしたいものだ。

(musicians photo by TH)

Nice Ride through Forest

Yeah, Monday was a perfect day for riding through "Obihiro's Forest." The bikers & walkers' path is also a perfect shortcut without traffic lights or any other obstructions up to almost halfway to the destination. It normally takes about 15 minutes by car, but it takes me exactly the same by bicycle, then why go by car?

「帯広の森」を走るのにパーフェクトな日和。自転車歩行者遊歩道はもちろん信号も障害もなく、目的地までの半分くらいの地点まで完璧なショートカット。通常クルマで約15分のルートが自転車でも全く同じ。自転車で充分か?

Food Not Being Eaten?

Do you know that in Japan more than 5-million tons of harvested or processed food is disposed of every year? This is the reality in the country of "Mottainai" culture.

I have seen on TV about Second Harvest Japan, and it has also given me a lot of hints about what an NPO can do for the society.

Food is made not so much for financial profit as for humanitarian benefit of all people, I hope.

日本では毎年500万t以上の食品が廃棄されているって知ってますか？でもこれが「もったいない」文化の国の現状。

テレビで「セカンドハーベスト ジャパン」が紹介されているのを見て、NPOというものが社会のためにできることも考えさせられた。

「食べ物」は経済的な利得のためより、全ての人々が恩恵にあずかるためにあるはずだと願いたい。

As Free As The Wind Again

Once again, I went biking in Naitai Highland Farm which I introduced in my previous post.

This time I was shot all day by NHK TV crew with a reporter, who for the first time climbed the grand and hilly farmland by bicycle, but she really made it. Quite a girl! I testify it isn't a staged show.

We were expecting the weather to be fine, but the foothill of the Daisetsu Mountain National Park was covered with pretty dense fog (photo).

Let's see what the report will be broadcast like:

(both on NHK-G)

Ohayo Hokkaido/Burari Mite Aruki on Saturday, 29 May from 7:30 a.m. (hokkaido-local)

Yudoki Network/Retto Tsutsu-Uraura on Thursday, 10 June from 4:50 p.m. (nationwide)

またもや、ナイタイ高原牧場へ自転車を乗りに。

今度はNHKのクルーに、初めて自転車での登頂？に挑戦するリポーターとともに撮られっぱなしだった。心配をよそに彼女は登頂に成功！なかなかだ。ヤラセではありませんよ。

天気はよくなるはずだったけれど、大雪山の麓は濃霧（写真通り）に包まれてしまった。

放送内容はどうなることやら...。

5月29日 7:30 a.m. おはよう北海道・ぶらりみてある記（北海道地方）

6月10日 4:50 p.m. ゆうどきネットワーク 列島津々浦々（全国）

As Free As The Wind

On Saturday, I biked with my friend up to and down from the top of the biggest dairy farm in Japan, where we still saw snow patches all around.

This is a part of the video footage he captured then, of course, on the way down!

土曜日に、残雪の散在する日本一でかい牧場の頂上へ、自転車で登って降りてきた。

こちらは、（もちろん下りの時に）彼が収録したもの。

Live Music at a Temple in Kushiro

Sunday, the 9th of May may be a memorable day of a kind for my musical career. Daichi and I are going to have a gig at a (Buddhist) temple for the first time.

I heard some young monks of the temple called Myoken-Ji in Kushiro enthusiastically coordinate a pretty good live music show every year in order to offer more opportunities for neighbors and citizens to feel more familiar to the public asset.

Although it will be a show in normally solemn atmosphere, we will be very happy to share a nice and relaxing time with everyone.

No admission charge! The venue opens at 4:00 p.m. and some dishes are going to be served, the show begins at 5:30. Please check this flier for details. *Info: 0154-55-4444 Myoken-Ji (Temple)

5月9日（日）は私の音楽人生の中でもちょっとした思い出になるかも知れない。なんと吉野大地さんと私のライブがお寺で開催される。

妙堅寺という釧路のお寺の若い僧侶さんたちが、地域の人たちの共有の財産としてお寺にもっと親しみを持って欲しいと、毎年なかなかいいライブを熱心に主催しているそうな。

いつもは荘厳な雰囲気の中にもかかわらず、ゆったりとくつろげる時間がみなさんと過ごせればありがたいです。

なんと入場無料! 開場は4:00 p.m.、お食事（有料）も出るそうな。開演は5:30 p.m.。詳しくはこのフライヤーをどうぞ。お問い合わせは0154-55-4444の妙堅寺さんまで。

"Bikers Paradise" Map #1 To Be Issued!

Ever since I came back to Tokachi, I have been hoping to see more people, locals and tourists, enjoy biking in this area. Although we have pretty long and severe winter here, Tokachi's modestly rolling hills and vast plains surrounded by the amazingly beautiful mountain ridges and horizons stretching in the distance could always be the good reason why I would call it "Bikers Paradise."

Recently I have produced a nice guide map for tourists and local cyclists for the first time on behalf of NPO Slow Wave Sunku Village, a local volunteer group acting for sustainable society and lifestyle.

This map contains quite a lot of items including 3 maps from the one covering downtown Obihiro to the entire Tokachi region, 10 model courses and safety information, etc. If you are interested, please download the high-res preview data (about 10MB) in A3 size (297 x 420 mm), which is separated into 4 pages. (password: bikers)

(Sorry, English-Japanese edition will be available from the next issue on hopefully.)

I hope you will find biking in Tokachi amusing!

十勝に戻って来てから、ずっともっとたくさんの人たちが自転車に乗ってくれるといいなと思っていました。冬はすこしきびしくて長いけれど、美しい山並みとどこまでも広がる地平線に囲まれたなだらかな起伏と広い平野だけでも、「バイカーズ・パラダイス」（自転車天国）と呼ぶには充分な素地がある（と思っています）。

最近、NPOスローウェーブすんく村（持続可能な社会とライフスタイルのために活動するグループ）を代表して、旅行者にも地元の人たちにも見ていただきたいガイドマップを作りました。帯広中心部から十勝全域の3つのマップと、10のモデルコース、安全情報などをてんこ盛り。ご興味の方は、実寸A3サイズのプレビューデータ（10MB・4ページに分割）を用意しましたので、こちらからダウンロード(パスワード: bikers)の上、ご覧くださいな。

十勝で自転車乗りは楽しい!

The Year Of The Tiger

A Happy New Year Of The Tiger!

Last year was my year (Ox) and I opened my door to my further voyage. Thanks to Archangel Gabriel, my future paths are getting clearer hopefully.

My new year's resolution: "Sail on." I wonder what the next water will be like.

あけましておめでとうございます。

昨年（丑）は年男で、更なる航海へのとびらを開けた。大天使ガブリエルのおかげで航路が見えて来たのかも。

今年の抱負は「航海続行」、次の海はどんなのだろうか。

今年もどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

(photo: ©2007 ken）

Our Best Concert 2009

The Warmth Of Life

23 December

Daichi Yoshino & ken

I felt as if I had played for only 5 minutes even after having performed 5 or 6 songs... just like our music and time had been absorbed into the atmosphere in the venue.

Thanks to all the support of the event staff and the uncompromising conditioning by the sound crew and piano tuner, we were able to present every piece of music deeply and softly without being distracted.

Moreover, it was probably the full house of the audience who breathed in our music most, so all of them remained still in the seat even after we left the stage. Thank you.

We are also very happy to unexpectedly, but successfully perform our second encore we just improvised without rehearsing. I thought we were going to offer some warmth, but it was the audience who made the show with their warm compliments.

No warmth of life, no music.

ライブ「いのちのぬくもり」

12/23

吉野大地 & ken

あけましておめでとうございます。

5、6曲演奏したあとでも、5分くらいしかたっていないと感じた不思議な感覚... なんだか会場の空気に音楽とともに時間も吸い込まれるような...。

スタッフの協力に支えられ、音響クルーと調律師さんの妥協知らずの調整のおかげで、気を散らさずに1曲1曲を深く丁寧に表現できた。

きっと、私たちの演奏を吸い込んでくださったのは満場のお客様。最後の曲が終わっても席を立たずにいてくださった。ありがとうございます。

予期せぬ2度目のアンコールでの全く準備なしの即興も成功。こちらが温かい演奏をしようなんて思っていたけれど、ライブを温かく支えてくださったのはみなさんの方でした。

「いのちのぬくもり」なくして、音楽はあらず。

A Happy New Year!