Japan Live House
Japan Live House 2024: The recording tour
Shows from Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefectures
SONG TITLES + MUSICIANS & OTHER CREDITS ARE BEING UPDATE AS WE GO.
In September and October 2024, we were in Japan recording some of our friends. We are proud to present those recordings to you.
The audio recording was done using a Zoom H6 recorder. The audio recordings will vary from a feed off the soundboard plus microphones or just off the Zoom recorder’s built in stereo microphones. You’ll get to hear acoustic shows as well as fully plugged in shows.
FUNNY TRIP – Live At BLACK AND BLUE, Kichijōji, Tokyo – September 29, 2024
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Funny Trip is an Americana string band quartet, which draws inspiration from folk, country, and blues from both American and Japanese music. In cooperation with Akira Tamura (banjo), we are proud to be able to release this live recording to streaming platforms worldwide. We will have those links for you as soon as they become active. Akira is also very active with his string trio Cheap Holiday.
Apple Music || Spotify || iTunes Store || Youtube Music || Deezer || Tidal || Amazon Music || Pandora || iHeart Radio || and many more worldwide
Funny Trip set list:
- 時にうもれて [Toki ni Umorete]
- 裸足のリリー [Hadashi no Lily]
- ポケットの穴 [Pocket no Ana]
- 青天井のブルース [Aotenjo no Blues]
- 働き蜂のささやき [Hatarakibachi no Sasayaki]
- 真夜中のオペラ [Mayonaka no Opera]
- 太陽のマルシェ [Taiyo no Marché]
Funny Trip are:
Banjo, Vocal: Akira Tamura
Fiddle: Yuri
Mandolin: Kato-King
Wood bass: Shoji Uno
Special thanks to Shohei Anraku, Head PA engineer for Black and Blue.
Taiga Yamazaki [acoustic solo] – YOYOGI BARBARA, Yoyogi, Tokyo – October 3, 2024
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This show was captured through both the sound board stereo mix, as well as two stereo microphones.
Taiga Yamazaki is another vocalist & guitarist, who plays the Tokyo live house circuit a lot. When he’s not playing bass for the rock band BaraNambu, he’s out playing acoustic shows a couple times a month. If you’re into moody acoustic ballad rock, you’ll definitely want to check out one of his live shows. His music is also available to listen to on Spotify. Official Taiga Yamazaki website.
This live recording definitively captures the essence of Taiga’s emotional performances. He was always a go see well before he became a close friend, and eating and drinking cohort.
Yozi Fz [acoustic solo] – LIVE at Heavy Gauge, Shinjuku, Tokyo – October 6, 2024.
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I first met Yozi, when he came to New York City on vacation many years ago. My oldest friend Gaku Torii, who I met and became friends with in the mid-1990s, while on tour in Japan with the Kevin K Band, asked my wife and I to take care of him. Yozi didn’t need much taking care of, he adapted very well to the city. On this first visit, Yozi had brought his guitar with him and was able to do some busking in the busy 14th Street-Union Square subway station. That was a long time ago, when Yozi was only a few years into playing guitar. Now he and Gaku Torii share the stage in their bands 鳥井賀句G&Y and Hallucionz.
As a prolific performer, Yozi can be found playing in live houses throughout the Tokyo & Kanagawa Prefectures of Japan as a member of three different bands: 鳥井賀句G&Y, Hallucionz, and The Hard Bops. When he’s not performing in a group, he’s out doing solo electric or acoustic gigs. Yozi plays out at least five times a week, so you’re almost guaranteed to be able to catch him play if you’re visiting Japan.
Heavy Gauge is a very small bar, where a few night’s a week, they do live acoustic music. These shows are run by Yucco Pink, who manages and bartends these events. On this night one of Yozi’s fans came out with a cold, and of course sat next to the Zoom recorder. So, enjoy all the nose blowing, rattling of beer bottles and glasses, and Yozi’s fans.
Yozi Fz Set List
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- I’m Waiting for the Man (The Velvet Underground cover)
- A Day of the Dog
- Spider in the Night
- Pig and Pearl
- Arcadia
- Town of the Living Dead
- House of the Rising Sun (The Animals cover) [Maki Asakawa version]
- Punk Rocker
- Yokosuka Blues (Masato Minami cover)
- Dancing All Night (Monta & Brothers cover)
Special thanks to Yucco Pink, Heavy Gauge live gig manager and bartender, who is also a DJ.
• The Hard Bops [with special guests] – Live AT KAVACH-YA, Kabukicho, Tokyo – October 12, 2024
Yozi has requested, on behalf of the band, that this release be put on hold until the Hard Bops album gets released this fall. So expect to find this available as early next October, as the album is getting released in September.
HOT RED SMOKY NIGHT – Live At BAR & GIG SMOKEY, YokohAMA, KANAGAWA – October 4, 2024
Yohei Tamaki and DAIsuke Otherghat
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This show was captured through both the sound board stereo mix, as well as two stereo microphones.
Special thanks to Akihiko Saito Bar & Gig Smoky, Manager and PA engineer.
Yohei Tamaki [acoustic solo from Egottaman Group]
Yohei is the voice of the Eggotaman Group. When he’s not performing with his band, or doing a rare solo gig, he spends his time with his family. As a friend, I know how devoted he is as a husband and father. As Yohei does not live in the Tokyo area, I don’t get to see him very often. So this gig was not only important to record but reconnect with him, have a few drinks, and just hang out.
Yohei Tamaki Set list:
- Hjimari no uta [Start Again]
- Yakusoku [Promise]
- Taiyou ga noboru basho [Sunrise]
- Ganbare ganbare [Do Your Best] (from SION)
- 2gatsu toiu dake no yoru [Night in February]
- Dead Flowers {not the Rolling Stones son}
- Zero kara hajimerunda [Start from Zero]
Daisuke Otherghat [acoustic solo, frontman for the band Otherghat]
Daisuke is known for being the guitarist and vocalist for the rock band Otherghat. When he’s not gigging with the band, which is usually three times a week, you can sometimes catch him doing an acoustic solo show for his fans. As I had come out to Bar & Gig Smokey to record Yohei Tamaki that night, Daisuke asked if we could record him and share with all his fans. The post-production on this show was challenging. Daisuke loves to move around the stage a lot, often singing way off microphone. He also likes to thump on the body of his guitar for added percussion. We balanced this recording out as much as we could without sacrificing all of the “performance” over a better mix. It’s rough and raw, just like Daisuke’s passionate style of performing.
Official Otherghat website.
Kaname & Sharmin birthday bash (featuring Takashi Ito, Kaname, Sharmin, and more) – Recorded at PanchMahal, Jinbōchō, Tokyo – October 5, 2025.
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This was a special invite by friend Takashi Ito to come and hang out at Sharmin’s restaurant PanchMahal for this special event. Sharmin doesn’t usually perform outside his own venue, so I ws happy to get the invite on the special night. In celebration of Sharmin’s birthday, along with his friend Kaname, they a group of their musician friends to come out and jam, in between drinks and food. Yu get two sets for this event. One more acoustic, while Sharmin’s set was electric.
Official PanchMahal Facebook page. It will also have the basement live show postings.
