Musicians Union in Hollywood!!

Hello,

The weather is great as always! LA has been almost 90F lately! Well, I’ve heard the weather in Boston and New York haven't been so bad either so there is no point of being sarcastic about it. Sigh. Not fun. I have to find other topics that I can be sarcastic.

I had fun at the Musicians Union in Hollywood yesterday! The time working with professional musicians putting our heart and soul is priceless!

All Saints Church in Pasadena!

I'm about to play at All Saints Church in Pasadena! Look at the cool robe! 😄👍

La La Land!

It's stormy weather in LA today!😆 Ha-ha.☂️

I had to come to the town right next to where I live before the storm hits, and since I'm really close to a cheap movie theater in the town, what the heck, I decided to watch a movie to cheer myself up in this gloomy weather! 🎥 I'm finally watching La La Land!

Good weather in LA as always! ☀️

Hello, did you guys get suntanned today?
The weather was so perfect to drive to the beach with a convertible or something! 🏝⛱ You all need to get out and take in lots of sunlight. ☀️

Wh-wh-what!? New York and Boston were hit by a huge snowstorm and didn't get any of this beautiful sunlight!? Oh, boy, you all should move to LA. Today's highest temperature was 80F (26C).

Let's live cheerfully.😆 I'm being more cheerful than usual today. After I enjoyed sunbathing, I saw "Hacksaw Ridge" by Mel Gibson at my favorite second-run movie theater with just two bucks! I watched "Silence" on the other day, which is another movie Andrew Garfield was on. He is a good actor.

The 23rd anniversary of quitting alcohol!! 🎉🎈🎊

My quitting-drink anniversary! Cheers with non-alcoholic beer! With a little Japanese sushi roll!

I have not fallen off the wagon for 23 years. In those days, my life was so messed up. The self-destructing young & stupid luny that I was, I don’t even know how I even allowed some of the things to happen and I really do want to apologize to everybody if I think back. Then I quitted alcohol when I was 20, lived through this tough music business and I think I have cleaned up a bit and straightened up a bit. Although it took me 23 years…..

The most miraculous thing that happened to me in this long period of time without alcohol is that somehow I kept myself being a musician. I have loved and hated music so much. Well, if you have been a musician so long, you have more reasons to quit than to continue. It’s just hard to keep believing in a bright future being an artist. In the last few years, my mind became much clearer and I made some big moves. Now I think, even if I fail in this music world, I’ll find a part time job and continue doing my music in some local pubs. Even if I became a homeless or something, I’ll just spend the rest of my life going to library and read good books. I don’t have to worry about the future. I won’t die. So I’ll do the music I love. I’ll keep playing and dancing on the stage. It’s called self-confidence. For the first time in my life, I’m not repressing my feelings. I’m free.

I want to thank my friends that I met in the last 23 years. I am leading a happy life that I cannot even compare to the life when I was still drinking. Because of you guys, I’m here and I can continue to be a musician. Thank you!!

Martin Scorsese's Silence

I just finished reading the novel "Silence" by Shusaku Endo. After about 30 pages in, I realized that I’ve read it when I was in high school, but what the heck, I read through all 300 pages anyway.

Of course I read the original novel to watch Martin Scorsese’s movie. I was surprised that the evil lord was played by Issei Ogata who is actually a famous comedian! I guess because of the fact that I know how funny he is, so his funniness amplified that role’s craziness and scariness in me. I think I could feel that more than other audiences in the theater. Good to be born and raised in Japan. It was a good movie. It was a super heavy movie but good.

(This is not a spoiler but a little behind-the-scene story about the original novel for the fellow bookworms: When Shusaku Endo was writing this novel, he was projecting himself not in Rodorigo, the main character, but in Kichijiro, the traitor. I thought that was very interesting)

Done with the tour!

There wasn't a snowstorm ❄️ We didn't hit any deer 🦌 Therefore it was a very very good tour! 😄👍

We drove ten hours back to Seattle from Great Falls, Montana last night and I'm about to jet to LA.

It was a short tour but definitely was a productive, connected me to lots of great people and sure is leading me to future. The funny thing is that I kind of decided to retire from this touring business a while ago but I realized on this tour that I'm still in love with touring.

I am going to seek the way to somehow do both touring and recording. I just enjoy standing on the stage in front of audience.

Mid-West Tour!

The first tour of the year!

I'm trying to slowly change my career from touring musician to studio musician, and I'm still on the process! This tour is a one-week long short one!

At a clinic.....

Brrrrr 😨😨😨

It's been cold in LA. Well, if LA is this cold, Boston and New York must be like -300 degrees. Hey, friends in over there, are you guys still alive?

Though I'm usually healthy as a horse, I've been going to a clinic for a month now 🏥 It is not until you lose your health that you realize the value of it. Oh well 😔

Friends, take good care of yourselves. 😊 Stay healthy!

The first performance of the year!

First job this year at musicians union in Hollywood!

I don't think I am a loud bass player but I have been told to play quietly all the time. 🤐and, to be honest, I've been a bit stressed out about that. This band, however, is critically different from any other bands I've been a member of; this is a jazz big band! The bass needs to be louder! I tell ya, with the requests from the fellow band members, I went quite loud. Behemoth loud. And they liked it. And I liked it.

Aaaww, I felt so good and I was dancing all the way to home.

Happy new year!! 🎉🎈😄

Happy new year, friends!! 😆👍

I just made instant sweet red bean soup with rice cake which we Japanese usually eat on Kagami Biraki (January 11th) but I just had a head start! 😆 Carbs taste sooooo good! Sugar tastes even better!!!

This year’s resolution: I won’t eat sweet stuff. Well, I couldn’t keep it for a day! Ha-ha. 🤣🤣🤣

Wishing everyone great health and good luck on the new year! 😄

Christmas Eve! 🎄🎂🎅🎉

Happy Holidays, friends.

Since I’m on diet, I really resisted against this beautiful limited time only Peppermint Bark Sundae from Häagen-Dazs. Resistance was futile.

Well, this is the time to celebrate. This is the right time of the year to feast away. Better to over-pig-out than under-pig-out, I say. I’ll continue my diet from the new year. I burnt some calories at the gym earlier, so I can go overboard a bit.

Have good holidays, everyone! 😆👍 Well, what should I eat tomorrow?🤣

Making promotion materials at the Musicians Union in Hollywood! (Day 2)

I come to the musicians union in Hollywood every Wednesday. Yesterday was the second day that we recorded a promo. Well, I was handed the charts that I have almost never seen or never seen, then the bandleader said "let's do a take" without rehearsing. Wow 😳 I think this is the real Hollywood style. I've heard that, especially in the old days, musicians had to do overwhelming amount of recordings, so composers, arrangers, orchestrators and copyists were writing furiously round the clock till half an hour before the recording, toss the music to the players, then the players just did the takes one after another because they didn’t have a time to rehearse. Well, the one we did last night was just for promo and wasn’t so dramatic or full-on but I certainly had a taste of it, the taste of the real world, the taste of the real La La Land which is not so happy dreamy place as everyone thinks.

I feel like I got a lot of homework. This place is kicking my butt which is a good thing! 😆👍

Star Wars: Rogue One!

Star Wars: Rogue One! IMAX 3D!!
😆😆😆

I've waited long time for this! Ha-ha-ha!! This is the story about right before Episode 4!! In the very beginning of Episode 4, the opening crawl says “The Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR,” and this is the story about stealing the blueprint of Death Star risking their lives!

Christmas Party!!

🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅

Happy holidays, friends!

😆🍰🎉😆🍰🎉😆🍰🎉

It's about that time of the year. I played for a Christmas party on the other day. I think Los Angeles is the warmest place I have ever played so-called Christmas standards. Now I wonder how Angelenos are taking the Christmas songs like "White Christmas," "Sleigh Ride," "Let It Snow," etc. which associate with snow or coldness, which pretty much all the Christmas songs are. How about Aussies? They must be having over 100F (40C) weather in there right now, and Frosty the snowman wouldn't survive for 10 minutes. ⛄️ Hmm, I wonder. 🤔

Recording Sanshin!

Just put the sanshin track down with my brother Adrien! 😆 That was a fun recording session! I'll bring shamisen next time!

Musicians Union in Hollywood!!

Hello, I got fat.

I ate like no tomorrow a few days ago on my birthday and now all the abs are gone. Six pack became one pack. It's amazing that human bodies can transform like this just in one day.

Anyway I went to the Musicians Union in Hollywood again. Today we were taking some stills while we were playing. Now everyone can see our pretty faces. We are hoping to get more gigs with this. Crossing fingers.

My birthday!!! 😆🎂🎉🎊

Thank you everyone for the sweetest and kindest birthday messages! I just turned twenty. Yes, I turned twenty 23 times and I have no problem with that.

Well, since I'm in a new place and started over a new life, I thought of doing something I've never done. I have never been good at partying so I thought maybe throwing a birthday party was a good idea...... well, maybe next year. Instead, and as every birthday, I just went everywhere and ate like the earth explodes tomorrow. Oh, I was so literally ballooned.

I'm in the middle of turning my life and my music career around in LA. It's a total change. I'm giving a 180 degrees turn. In this age, I finally learnt the importance of never giving up, so I'm pulling a Rocky Balboa in me.

Friends, thanks again!

The biggest birthday gift to myself was to go to my favorite Japanese used book store, Book Off! They happened to do the bargain sale till my birthday!

Sprited Away: 15th Anniversary Celebration!

Spirited Away: 15th Anniversary Celebration!🎉 Special screenings for just three days, and I was able to catch the last screening! I think that was the first time for me to watch the English dubbed version!

Aaaaaaa, that was sooooo really good! This kind of good movies make all the stresses in real life blow away to somewhere. Japanese animations are the best! 😆👍🇯🇵

Screenings of Princess Mononoke are coming up next month!

Of course I'm going to come back next week for the spin-off of Star Wars!