Akira Sakata, Sabu Toyozumi, and Takashi Seo China Tour Concluded!

I have returned to Japan after finishing the Shanghai and Beijing BLUE NOTE tour with Akira Sakata and Sabu Toyozumi.

Many people came to see us, and I could feel them listening to our music with great sincerity. There was an exchange of incredibly enthusiastic energy.

The first live performance of this trio was organized by Kunimitsu Tsuburai. It was on May 18, 2024, at CANDY in Inage. I had experienced Akira Sakata's overwhelming performance many times through our collaborations, but with Sabu-san's unique drumming, I felt a strange sensation—'What is this feeling!?'—that I couldn't quite process, and I wanted to play with his drums more.

In the midst of that, SATORI, the organizer of this tour, approached us about whether this trio could do a tour in China. It's amazing that just one performance led to this tour! (Can you believe that happened!?)

Tsuburai-san couldn't make it to the tour due to work, so Takahashi-san, who runs kaitai records and creates archives for Sabu Toyozumi, accompanied us. I talked a lot with Takahashi-san, who is also a fellow smoker, during the trip, and I feel like we deepened our friendship by a quarter-century in just four days. I have a feeling that new creations will begin. I will write about that and our off days later.

Sabu-san's free-form drumming, backed by an unbelievably intense experience. Sakata-san's sound, overflowing with musicality yet filled with a murderous intensity. There are so many things I still can't put into words, but it was an incredibly stimulating China tour. I am writing this while the excitement is still fresh.

To everyone at SATORI who made this tour possible, and to everyone who came to the shows, thank you so much!!

2025
Saturday, March 1st: Blue Note Beijing [Beijing]
Akira Sakata (as, cl, vo), Takashi Seo (cb), Sabu Toyozumi (ds)
Tour accompaniment: Yoshihiro Takahashi (kaitai records)
Organizer: SATORI