THOUGHTS INSPIRED BY "CLASS JAZZ"

The 2007 concert in a class room of Japan's Katsushika Higashi Senior School for The Shinjuku Traditional Jazz Festival (18/11/2007) Illustrates how dedication and application even as a hobby can inspire so many into achievements others would deem impossible. All over Japan the youth are introduced to all types of music and encouraged to play it and do so to a high standard and in depth not seen in such as the UK. The effect can lead to so much for not only those taking part but for future generations around the world be in taking part or through the enjoyment of watching and listening. Many are primed to 'easy music' by push button technology that relies more on the skills of an electrician than the musicians. Music helps develop our personalities and the skills involved our confidence and teamwork (especially jazz). The 'Class Jazz' video commemorates the 10th year since the concert it presents. 'Class Jazz - 2017 To-Day' - those that were involved that furthered their musical interest since then. It is a memory that might have been lost had Ken Aoki and I not contacted each other. Only two videos from the concert remained but 'locked' into a defunct site and deteriorated. I was able to download and restore them. Ken mentioned what they came from and sent me the whole concert which I re-mastered with delightful results.

Ken had been asked by the group to help them...he had attended the college himself and willingly did so on a voluntary basis. He was already making a name for himself as a professional musician. Although not playing but part of the group Trombonist Haruka Kikuchi has since become known Worldwide and now New Orleans based....and the growing reputation of the clarinetist, Makiko Tamura is another heart-warming development. She too has just been to New Orleans (Oct 2017) but is now running her own jazz band in Japan. The playlist (2nd video title) is a storyboard for those that took part who were Inspired in later life into a type of music which not just relies on team work but on individual inspiration within the frame-work of that team work. And maybe it has helped them in later life in whatever employment they turned to. I would be only too pleased to hear from them if they feel they have anything they would like to share of what the concert meant to them or how their life developed. It was not, of course, their only concert but it is there for us to see and hear and, if nothing else, to look back on with affection for a time shared. Jazz by definition is easy to play...but to play it well is not easy. That Ken Aoki did and does was the springboard from which so much that has developed for those involved. The value of a good teacher is immeasurable. That he / she can do what they teach in inspiring others to follow is a plus not always enjoyed by those taught. NB I will try to have this translated into Japanese in due course but I hope this will suffice for now. The 'playlist' video will be up-dated from time to time.

Godfrey King - Director AJSW (November 2017)