22nd Jozenji StreetJazz Festival

When I first came to Japan, I saw posters for the upcoming annual Jozenji StreetJazz Festival in Sendai.  It happens every September, and vowed I would return to be a part of it, whether as an audience member, performer, volunteer, or otherwise.  Now two years later, I can say I've made that vow come true.

Unfortunately, the event itself was not the super awesome event I dreamed it would be, but admittedly that was mostly due to extraneous issues.  Issues like getting lost and missing my train by half an hour, my phone's mail program imploding upon itself while I tried to contact a friend, and pushing myself beyond the point of exhaustion after having my school's sports festival and ensuing party the day prior.  I also wasn't prepared for just how crowded it would be (somehow, the fact that this took place on 48 stages throughout all of Sendai didn't quite get the message across) and I found myself amongst an overwhelming crowd.  But one good thing did happen: I met a new friend there who is also a fan of my favorite composer, and is going to share information with me about her upcoming projects and events!  As far as the troublesome parts go, I'm sure next year I will be better prepared to have a less stressful visit to one of the largest music festivals I've ever been to.

This event started as a jazz festival 22 years ago, but today it has grown to incorporate music from many different genres, ranging from rock to folk, acoustic to fully-miced.  A more accurate name for the festival as it is today would be "Sendai Music Festival," but they do pay homage to their origins, and if one walks along Jozenji street, you'll find all the jazz venues you could ask for.  Go beyond Jozenji street, and that's when you start to find all sorts of other genres, categorized by stage and listed in the program.  This festival holds something for everyone with their eclectic mix of performances and venues.  The StreetJazz Festival was quite superb beyond my personal problems, and now I want to share the pictures I got to give readers an idea of the venues.

This is a view of Jozenji Street.  This is the street where all the jazz can be found.  It's famous for being lined with these beautiful trees.

At some point in the year, these trees get decorated with lights like Christmas trees to celebrate events in Sendai.

This was our view upon arriving from our train in Sendai station: on the second level above the clock, they had performers singing vocal jazz, usually in groups of about 4-5 people with piano accompaniment.

This is what many of the venues look like: just a person on the street, hence the thesis of the StreetJazz Festival. This guy recruited a bunch of kids to sing along with his pop tunes.

This was fun to see as we approached the end of the street.  The performers are above the street way at the end.  They had an area in the middle of the street for people to stand and observe without obstructing other pedestrians.

Here's a closer view.  This was an acapella group singing jazz tunes.

This was one of the bigger stages, and the event we caught was a time-slot for high schoolers to perform. Most of the songs were rock band covers.  Each group of kids, mostly girls, performed one or two songs, and the talent varied from awesome (these girls probably didn't have good academic grades, but wrote their own original songs) to mediocre (probably students who joined music club at their school, but don't plan on becoming rock stars).

This was the main stage, Stage Number 1 at the whole festival, and had big bands playing most of the day, then held the night performances for both days as well.  

This is the view from further back.  I actually saw a big band perform at this very spot two years ago when I was out and about in Sendai on my last visit.  Although not part of the jazz fest then, they seemed to be a part of another festival happening in June.  I believe it was a handicapped awareness event, something essentially unheard of in Japan.  Seeing this brought back good memories of visiting Japan for the first time and memories of the cooler months.

This was my favorite stage, hands down.  It was in the Sendai Media building, a famous building that also happens to have amazing acoustic properties.  This stage was set up for jazz combos, and each combo we stayed to hear was solid.  At this point, we grabbed seats and drinks at the indoor cafe right next to this stage, and sat down at the table to enjoy some jazz combos.

This was another of the smaller stages with a pretty view.  It saw mostly folk performers, and here is a group playing folk tunes with a couple stringed instruments including guitar and an Okinawan shamisen.

At the end of the day, all stages shut down, and the crowd came back to the main stage for the night event.  I wasn't able to get a good picture as we weren't in the actual venue, but out on the sidewalk past the fenced-in crowd.  The stage was well-lit, and the acts varied from almost-jazz to some interesting world music to some strange thing that I wasn't entirely sure what to categorize it as.  I took the opportunity to leave early and catch my train before the crowd flooded the train station, and my new friend went with me on the subway to help make sure I got the right ticket and got on the right train.  

Overall, I was impressed with the Jozenji StreetJazz Festival, and I look forward to going next year in the hopes that it won't conflict with my school's annual sports day festival.  I also plan on buying a t-shirt before they sell out.