I think the drummer was a robot. OK, so maybe not a robot, but he had this way of playing where only his arms moved. Literally only his arms, the wrists at the end of them seemed welded on, and his upper body and shoulders barely twitched. He moved almost in the hyper-stylized way a classical Japanese performer would move. Namba ugoki for the jazz hipster set. Yet Shinnosuke Takahashi's playing was undeniably genius, and I found myself getting tired just watching him, trying to figure out how he moved like he did. Tonite he was backing Fumio Karashima, one of Japan's best pianists. MatsuMiki had brought me here, to Kyoto's Rag, after having one of G Love's oven-baked Quattro Formaggios, eaten out on the balcony, overlooking Kiyamachi's creek reflecting the parting rain clouds and the full moon coming through.
No birthday is complete without sweets. We bought some combini ice cream and walked into the quiet grounds of Kinkakuji in order to see the moon through the trees. Literally within seconds of crossing the barrier, a flashlight began bouncing toward us. We turned quickly then, hurrying toward the safety of my nearby house, me still pretty spry for 39.
On the turntable: Shuichi Hidano/Keisuke Doi, "Trust"
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