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I’m back again and it feels absolutely invigorating! I arrived just a few hours ago in Tokyo, one of my favorite places in the world. Tomorrow night, I’ll be performing music from my forthcoming album Evoke. There will be two concerts at Vanilla Mood, 8pm and 9:30. Doors open at 7:30. Check out that amazing poster by Casey Sussman on the Vanilla Mood web page
Now here’s the trailer for the tour. The video shows a few spots from last year’s Unified tour of Asia 2012. The opening scene is from a huge intersection in Shibuya http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya,_Tokyo . I was smitten by the immensity of the area and in particular, the penchant for high fashion of locals. There are also clips from the Meiji Shrine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Shrine where I wrote a prayer for the world on a wooden note card. I later walked over to Yoyogi Park and practiced for a bit. This is where we encountered the dancing girl. There’s a clip from outside of Ken Amagai’s Vanilla Mood, where we jammed on my father’s favorite tune “All the Things You Are”. There are also a few photos from Insadong in Seoul Korea. I’ll add Seoul to the tour next time for sure!
Tomorrow night’s rhythm section will be Yuichi Nariata piano, Daisuke Toi Bass, and Makoto Kitazawa Drums. I’ve played with Daisuke Toi and Makoto before, and they are excellent young players with a lot of energy. I haven’t played with Yuichi, but have a feeling he’ll be great too. Here’s a clip from last year’s concert with Yusuke Kono on keys. The song is “Eternal Return” from Unified Sunnyside 2011