Grand Beginning

Instead of a Grand Finale, this last month will be the Grand Beginning.  I will be returning to Japan…eventually. Although future dates are not set yet, I am certain that the seeds I’ve planted will be nourished and with time, the threads will pull me back to this wonderful country and it’s stunning people…  For now, I have many updates since my trip to Wakayama. First I seemed to have accidently neglected to upload my beautiful trip to Hiroshima’s Itsukushima Shrine, which I took before arriving to Wakayama.  This small island, only about 15 minutes by boat off the coast of Hirohsima, was so breathtaking, I spent several hours roaming around.  The huge bright orange O-Torii sits in the water, and the shrine itself is surrounded by water during high tide.  I arrived during low tide, which gave me an opportunity to put a 5-yen coin in the pillars of the Torii as well as watch many people hunt for clams.   I was thoroughly entertained by watching the people and the animals (many hawks were also hunting clams) than almost anything else.  I’m sorry all the photos are not separated.  I can’t seem to figure out how to format the photos in a different way… but below are Itsukushima, the Chef d’Oeuvre and Cypher Cafe gigs…

After Hiroshima and Wakayama, I headed off to Kyoto. As you can see in the previous posts, the  Daigoji temple is breathtaking.  That same weekend, I visited the lovely Shinnyo-en Yuon Sanctuary, and the Toji Temple where I had a conversation with one of Kukai’s Buddha statues (ask me about it sometime…).  Later that week, after celebrating a memorable birthday at the Byodoin Temple with Kumi, I went to Osaka to perform with several wonderful improvising musicians.  We all had a great time, and I look forward to keeping in touch with the Osaka free improvising scene…

All the Chef d’oeuvre photos were taken by Jerry Gordon, who played the following night at Cypher Cafe.  Those photos were taken by my lovely new friends Pier Gajewski and Carole Sionnet.  It was a memorably cozy and extremely diverse evening!  And the food was 100% organic and vegetarian…a very unusual find here in Japan and much appreciated…

more photos and soon some audio clips from my Yokohama performance with Marcos Fernandez and mori-shige coming up…as well as SAKURA blossoms in Tokyo… there’s just so much to share with you…