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Concert Review: Jun Saito A Berklee alumnus and one of Japan's most famous drummers is visiting Boston and will be joining us for a great night of original compositions. Joining the fun will be Daniel Ian Smith Saxophones Keala kaumeheiwa - acoustic bass tba- piano Friday April 12th, 2002 8PM The Church of Our Saviour 25 Monmouth street, Brookline, MA Admission $10/ $5 students with ID Dear Diary. this concert was wonderful. Keala seemed at first to be a bit timid, but he warmed up as the concert progressed. And progress it DID! Daniel Ian Smith was soft spoken and didn't use the mic to make announce ments , however he was not timid at all behind the saxophone. Very nice His flowing arpeggiated madness of course reminded me of some of our great jazz masters, but at the same time you could tell he still had both feet on the ground. :-) Jun was on Dan like white on rice they were like "Pete" and "re-Pete" lol Jun had ears the size of an african elephant! It was wonderful. At times I wondered if he was even listening perhaps TOO well. mimicking the rhythms like a champion. I was especially impressed by Jun's world class musicianship. at times he swung and at times he was loose- very loose. All the way loose. but you know what? He does looseness right! He's like a veritable KFC of avant garde drumming circa 1973. But diggit... that's when I met Jun. He's my good friend! :-) He and I both were obviously influenced by Sam Rivers Chico Freeman- AACM Don Moye Barry Altshul and the wonderfully frenetic Cecil Taylor . And early Ornette. :-) That was the big surprise /slash/ reminder for me. I forgot how good Jun was especially in the area of keepin it loose but not cerebral! :-) cool! what was that tune? oh yeah Beatrice! Nice ensemble work here. The head lends itself to tight ensemble work and loose thematic development. The other surprise of the evening came as I was heading home to do my taxes.... "Kenwood come on up and play" "Well it's up to the bandleader" I said (Jun gave me the impression this was a side man gig for him) come on up said Dan lol so there I was sitting on the metarhythmic portal between Earth and Heaven what followed was something like this: space... (kd thinks hmmm no one seems to be interested in keeping the momentum of this concert from falling) kd gets ready to improvise Dan: "What do you want to play?" KD: (unwilling to stop the momentum ) how about: (starts right away with the meta-rhythmic feel of the moment .. a straight eights colorful jazz bossa. sol do do te do rah me te..... sol do do te do rah me te..... Keala picks up on the groove nicely 12.+./..++4+/ (Maiden Voyage) Dan comes in with Cousin Mary. Nice very nice he picked the "wrong tune but that's what I asked for by not announcing it. Very nice then the bridge demanded we swing hard! Nice then back to straight eighths. we had a delightful improv including a metarhythmic drumsolo. on the head out it was Maiden Voyage all the way. I had been hoping for Cousin Mary into Maiden Voyage like we did during the head. but it was close enough for jazz. I had loads of fun. Played a soulful extended drumsolo using 6th gear to outline the haunting spirit of the melody sometimes treating the audience to full brunt of my emotions ah the sound ...ah the fury... haha well in the middle of my solo the my cab driver came in ... lol what a riot. I am so glad I stayed. I announced my appreciation to my "lifetime friend Jun Saito" and he took the helm again. wow. I wonder if Hidemi got that wonderful concert on her MD player. Well Jun and the band played wonderfully tonight and I'm hoping Jun comes back soon to treat Boston to the KFC of tasteful swinging loose artistic and emotionally fulfilling drumming! :-) Peace groovagritzilizers! :-) Peace in the Middle East.
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