The Blogazine

The First Note On The Horn – Ichigo-Ichie

Welcome to the second part of The First Note On The Horn series from the sizzling music scene of Tokyo. Ai Mitsuda takes us to the backstage with Kuni, the talented trumpetist of Sly Mongoose. Read the first part of the story Tokyo Burning here and the second part The Misty Urban Rain here

Ichigo-Ichie is a Japanese old saying derived from Zen Buddhism, which literary means One time, one encounter; Cherish this very moment, for the same stream will never cross again, may the encounter be fulfilled with the wholehearted gratitude, for it will never happen the same again.

“A vast amount of human energy and soul has lost in a moment.”

Kuni recalled the 3.11 disaster in Japan. “I’ve always believed in Ichigo-Ichie, but that day was an intense moment to realize it. Maybe we meet again and spend more time together, but maybe not, this time could be really the last time.” Kuni told that he has a lot to be thankful for in his life, and meeting different people is the most important one of them all.

For him, Terence Blanchard has always been a wonderful source of inspiration and a precious presence as a person. To begin his new life in New York after graduation, Kuni went to see Terence Blanchard Quintet at Village Vanguard one night.

“How you gonna survive?” Terence had asked him. “Well, I’ve just arrived in the city, I don’t know yet…” He couldn’t provide a better answer.

Two weeks later, when Kuni came back home, his roommate handed him a phone slip. “Do you know a lady, named Robin?” “Of course,” Kuni had answered. “Robin, she is the manager of Terence!” What a beautiful surprise it had been, a warm welcome to join Terence’s team as his assistant. “I was deeply moved, surprised and got a little nervous to be honest, you know.” Kuni continued, “Everyone knows how hard time Terence would spend to evolve into a new stage of creation, I deeply respect Terence as an artist, most important thing is, I learned so much about life itself while being with him. I remember, once we were at The Manhattan Center recording a film score, Terence was making sure that he saw various kind of nationalities in the ensemble. He’s always mindful about these things, always open to listen to people. He makes his statements simple and direct but you can feel his warm and profound heart right there. His music really reflects his way of being, I just love the way his harmony goes.”

‘Be Who You Are’ : it was a simple but a strong message from Terence. Since the question of doing Jazz as a Japanese started smoldering in his mind, consciously or unconsciously, Kuni has been on the road. “Before being a Japanese, I am Kuni myself. It’s quite simple but important for me. I was brought up in circumstances where Jazz was very close. I had a warm and close feeling about its culture, and it was quite natural for me to step into it. But first, there’s Jazz as a cultural heritage and I wanted to learn and pay full respect to its history as much as possible. In general, I have always believed in the trees standing on their roots, leaves are not just accessories.”

“Now, I feel like doing simply music, through my one and only eyes.”

And it seems it doesn’t have to be categorized into one specific genre of music. In Kuni’s gorgeous nomadic piece called nebula (from the album of Sly Mongoose, Mystic Daddy, 2009), as the first note on the horn echoes, every instrument starts playing with its different meter, some goes in three-four, some in two-four, some in five-four, shaping an unformed cloud of dust, diffusing haunting refrain in the air, moment after moment.

Why not getting lost in this floating cloud for a while.