Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals

Jun 7

Californian born Ben Harper grew up listening to funk, rock, blues, soul and reggae and these genres all figure in the music he plays. As a teenager he took up the acoustic slide guitar, which was to become his signature instrument.
His debut album Welcome to the Cruel World was released through Virgin Records in 1994 and as this title and others suggest, much of his music is politically laced. To add boot to this position of using music as a tool, Harper performed at the 1997 and 1999 Tibetan Freedom Concerts and the 2004 Vote For a Change concert. His latest release, a double CD, Both Sides Of The Gun is nothing new in musical direction, which will please his cult-like fan base, and he is currently working his way around the world in promotion.

In between this busy schedule Harper managed to find time to get married last year to his long time girlfriend Laura Dern (of Jurassic Park fame).

Interestingly Ben Harper was responsible for starting the musical career of Jack Johnson. Johnson passed a demo to Harper at a concert; he liked it and subseq-uently put his producer in touch with Johnson.

Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals will be playing Namba Hatch as part of seven-date Japanese tour.

Namba Hatch, Osaka
Entry:¥6,500 • Time: 7pm
Tel: 06-6535-5569 • Genre: Rock

The European Jazz Trio

Jun 19-20

The European Jazz Trio made their debut in 1995 with an album of Beatles songs presented in jazz arrangements Memories of Liverpool. The band comprising of Marc von Roon on piano, Frans van der Hoeven on bass and Roy Dackus on drums say that their speciality is to find unusual material-unusual in a jazz setting and to arrange it to fit a jazz setting. Sounds like a recipe for disaster especially when you hear that some of the songs they've chosen have been Abba's Dancing Queen and Message in a Bottle by the Police, but in fact their arrangements bring out the fact that these songs hold their own no matter what the back-drop.

The trio has a new DVD out which they are promoting. An Afternoon In Amsterdam includes such diversity as Scarborough Fair and Ave Maria.

Blue Note, Osaka
Entry: ¥5,000-¥7,000 • Time: 6.30pm/9.30pm
Tel: 06-6233-8888 • Genre: Jazz

Boom Boom Satellites

Jun 25

The rock/electric duo of Nakano Masayuki and Kawashima Michiyuki first surfaced in Europe in 1997 and a year later released their debut single to rave reviews. UK music paper Melody Maker likened them to Prodigy and The Chemical Bro-thers, in fact only recently Boom Boom Satellites toured with Prodigy. Quickly building on their debut they appeared at six major Rock Festivals in 98 and then returned to Japan to release their first album Outloud.

No sooner had they made a triumphant return then they were on the move again as they reloca- ted their base to the US and went on the road supporting Moby. Their music has been described as being a fine combination of the roughness of rock and meticulously calculated programming. They have also caught the eye of the film industry, their services being procured by Luc Besson for his film Yamakashi.

Their latest album was released in May and they've quickly set out on an extensive Japanese tour to promote it. Boom Boom Satellites will be at the Big Cat, Osaka on the 25th June.

Big Cat, Osaka
Entry: ¥4,200 • Time: 8pm
Tel: 0570-08-9999 • Genre: Rock

Jia Peng Fang

Jun 30-Jul 1

The road to fulfilling his dream of becoming a professional Erhu player has been far from an easy one for Jia Peng Fang. Born in the Helong Jiang province of China close to the Russian border in 1958 Jia Peng Fang recei- ved his first erhu at the age of eight. At six-teen he travelled to Beijing to study with professional musicians but was eventually forced back to his homeland due to the Cultural Revolution Policies to labor on farm- land. In time he was able to return to Beijing once the revolution had blown over and against stiff opposition he entered the Central Music Academy.

Realising that his horizons were limited in his home country Jia packed his suitcase and set out for Japan in 1988. From here he finally seemed to get some luck and found his break in the form of an invitation from renowned composer Katsuhisa Hattori to record and perform live. This opened numerous doors to Jia and he finally released an album in his own right in 1994. On top of his album releases his music has appeared on movie soundtracks and tele- vision commercials (everything from Nissan to Mr. Doughnut).

Jia Peng Fang has been hailed as bringing the traditional Chinese erhu into the mainstream of modern music carefully mixing his music with other genres such as classical and jazz. On the live circuit he's graced stages across the globe even performing at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York. Jia Peng Fang, a master of this instrument, will be playing three nights at Osaka Blue Note.

Blue Note, Osaka
Entry: ¥5,000-¥7,000 • Time: 6.30pm/9.30pm
Tel: 06-6233-8888 • Genre: World Music/Erhu

Live Listings June

6/1

Ah Wootrapp @ Club Quattro, Osaka 6.30pm ¥3,800
Tel: 06-6213-5079
J-Rock/Punk

6/1

Belle & Sebastian @ Namba Hatch, Osaka 7pm ¥6,500 Tel: 06-6535-5569 Rock

6/2-3

Ryota Komatsu & Orquesta Tipica @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm/9.30pm ¥6,000-¥8,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 World/Bandoneon

6/2-5

Soul'd Out @ Namba Hatch, Osaka 7pm ¥4,700 Tel: 06-6233-8888 J-Pop vocal group

6/5-7

Joe @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm/ 9.30pm ¥10,600-¥12,600 Tel: 06-6342-7722 R&B

6/6

John Miller @ Taku Taku, Kyoto 7pm ¥5,000-¥6,000
Tel: 075-351-1231 Blues Guitar

6/6

Keiko Lee @ Zepp, Osaka 7pm ¥6,000 Tel: 06-6882-1224 Female Vocal

6/7

Ben Harper @ Namba Hatch, Osaka 7pm ¥6,500 Tel: 06-6535-5569 Blues Rock

6/8-9

Asian Kung Fu Generation @ Zepp, Osaka 7pm ¥3,800 Tel: 06-6233-8888 J-Pop

6/10

Jamie Cullum @ Club Quattro, Osaka 7pm ¥5,800 Tel: 06-6535-5569 Jazz Vocal Piano

6/14-17

Manhatten Transfer @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm/9.30pm ¥10,000-¥12,600 Tel: 06-6342-7722 Jazz Chorus Group

6/15-16

Crazy Ken Band @ Namba Hatch, Osaka 7pm ¥6,300-¥6,800 Tel: 06-6882-1224 J-Pop Group

6/17

T-Square @ Namba Hatch, Osaka 6pm ¥6,300 Tel: 06-6233-8888 Jazz

6/19-20

European Jazz Trio @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm/9.30pm ¥5,000-¥7,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 Jazz

6/21

Eliane @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm/ 9.30pm ¥5,400-¥7,400 06-6342-7722 Jazz Bossa-nova/ Vocals Piano

6/22

Dragon Ash @ Namba Hatch, Osaka 6.30pm ¥3,800 06-6233-8888 J-Pop

6/23-24

Baby Boo @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm/9.30pm ¥4,800-¥6,300
Tel: 06-6342-7722
J-pop vocal group

6/25

Boom Boom Satelites @ Big Cat, Osaka 8pm ¥4,200 Tel: 0570-08-9999 Rock

6/26-27

Jane Monheit @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm/9.30pm ¥6,000-¥8,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 Jazz Vocals

6/27

AAA @ Namba Hatch, Osaka 7pm ¥4,200 Tel: 06-6341-3525

6/28-29

Kiyotaka Sugiyama @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm/9.30pm ¥5,400-¥7,4000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 Female Vocal

6/29

The Beaches @ Club Quattro, Osaka 7pm ¥3,000 Tel: 06-6213-5079 J-Pop

6/30-7/1

Jia Peng Fang @ Blue Note, Osaka 6.30pm /9.30pm ¥5,000-¥7,000 Tel: 06-6342-7722 World Music Chinese Erhu

6/30

Earthshaker @ Taku Taku, Kyoto 6.30pm ¥4,500 Tel: 075-351-1231 J-Rock

Compiled by Phillip Jackson