Aki Takase Plays Fats Waller @ Babylon, Berlin 9/22/09

I saw in the NY AAJ that there was this festival I would like in Berlin when I was going to be there. For the time I would be there, the Don Cherry tribute was a must see show. I bought on-line in advance, just to be sure. There was no will call option, but there was a "pick up at their company" option that I thought was probably will call, it just got lost in the translation. I had my order #, and the door guy let me in, but I was the only one to do that.

I made it in time to catch the last few from the first band. It was awesome. It was "avant-gard cartoon music". There was also some great Nola . The piano player was the leader and excellent. Eugene Chadborn was awesome on guitar and vocals.

They had a bass clarinet and trombone as the horns. I love that combination! They were all very talented musicians.

The venue is in the Mitte part of the city. It's a small theater with comfy seats. There is a balcony, but no one was up there. I found the sound to be great up front, and I stood to the side and danced. I liked it.

Kino Babylon:Mitte Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, 10178 Berlin

Aki Takase plays Fats Waller:

Aki Takase, piano
Eugene Chadbourne, guitar
Nils Wogram, trombone
Rudi Mahall, bass clarinet
Paul Lovens, drums

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Aki Takase, born in Japan, already had piano lessons when she was three years old. Her first celebrated performance was in 1981 at the Jazz festival with the Berlin Philarmony. Played a key role in numerous duos and trios, she has released several solo albums focused on key figures of jazz history like Ellington, Monk, Dolphy, W.C. Handy, Fats Waller and O. Coleman. Her work “Plays Fats Waller” in 2004, has been voted as the best jazz album in Germany.

http://www.myspace.com/akitakase