JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

Happy Labor Day. Here on the rock we are in TC-1C. It looks like we are going to luck out on this one. So far not much damage, just a few knocked-over plants and rearranged bushes. Because this is such a large system, we’ll probably end up spending the day indoors. But for those people who are not going to let this blowhard ruin the holiday, it means Typhoon Party. So have a good one!

Well true to form, it’s September and the blowhards (typhoons) are wasting no time this year. Right now we are in TC-1. Luckily the brunt of this particualr storm is suppose to go above us. But the year isn’t over yet. The way things with Mom Nature have been going this year, I expect t least one good duel with the blowhards by November.

Here’s another pic of my boys. From left to right: Jaco, Taki, and Kato.

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I read that Fats Domino, who lives in New Orleans, is missing about an hour ago. I keep waiting to hear the news that he has been found. Even on a small Pacific island like Okinawa, Fats is well known for his numerous contibutions to the world through music. As a member of the local music community, I want Fats, his family, and his friends to know where ever you may be our hearts and prayers are with you.

How can you believe in the brotherhood of mankind through music and not peace?

Simple, for those of us who were around in the ’60s, many of the followers of the cliche’s “peace” and “love” focused their energies in movements that culminated in what they were supposedly against, further conflict. However, those persons in the Okinawan rock scene, as with most musicians, chose to focus their energies in the creation of music as a means to express themselves, irregardless of their cultural and background differences.

I just returned from Koza 2005, an enjoyable theatrical performance by a troupe visiting from Nagoya. The play was created by a mainland Japanese artist who was inspired by the history of rock ‘n’ roll music on Okinawa and the how it affected the lives of everyday people who were part of the scene. The story, loosely set in a Gate 2 Street-style backdrop, was of one fictitious family and the overwhelming role rock played in the lives of the grandfather and his family. Unfortunately the slide clips that followed the performance brought on an atmosphere of anti-war propaganda. The cliché themes of “love”, “peace”, and “make love not war” of the ‘60s demonstrated a failure to comprehend that the underlying force behind the rock music scene on Okinawa was the desire of individuals of varying cultures, thrown together due to tragedies of history beyond their control, to express their belief in the unity of the brotherhood of humankind through the universal language of music. The finale was a rallying performance by the troupe where the artists demonstrated their prowess in the acquired skills of the local art of Eisa drumming.

Why would heads of other artists’ productions companies insist on spending time at our club? I don’t know about you, but I find this odd. Why aren’t they at the club of the artists they represent? Live Music Bar JET has been open for over eleven years. Now that JET is in the production stage of the new CD and the Music Town project is on its way, all of these seldomly seen people start showing-up at the club regularly. Why?

Although rain is a frequent part of life on Okinawa, this size of rainbow rarely occurs. It was so large it wouldn’t fit into one picture, even from a distance.

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For those of you who keep up with the local music scene, you may soon be seeing Live Music Bar JET in a promotional video. Live Music Bar JET is a possible shooting location for an upcoming video involving former Bar JET bartender Shota, a transplanted mainland Japanese artist and lead singer of the jazzy J-pop rock band B-Trippers. (Some of you may be familiar with their music from an awamori TV commercial.) I’m not exactly sure what the promotional video is for, since the promoter for B-Trippers, also a transplanted mainland Japanese and celebrity, is the wife of another transplanted mainland Japanese and this year’s spokesperson for the local awamori company. And, at the same time, B-Trippers have a CD that is receiving some acknowledgement due to the TV commercial. I also don’t know why they haven’t chosen to use Shota’s own club for the video. (Taki was busy in a recording session when the call came through and didn’t have a chance to ask questions or get all the info.) Anyway, we wish Shota the best of luck with this new promotional video.