Salt Peanuts

そるとぴーなつ

Gracy Mansion 43-B1F, 4-3, Sakae-cho, Nerima-ku, Tokyo. (03)3993-3400

〒176-0006 東京都練馬区栄町 4-3 グレーシーマンション43-B1F

Cover charge is 1,500 yen. 2 sets from 8:30, earlier on Sunday. Lives are not on every week on weekdays.

http://salt-peanuts.music.coocan.jp/

3 minutes walk from Ekoda Station (Seibu Ikebukuro Line), or 9 minutes walk from Shinekoda Station (Oedo Line). Head out the south exit, cut right, up to the main road and look for the small, very small, sign. A short train ride from Ikebukuro takes you to the lively, small station of Ekoda, which is quickly becoming a hub for music and food and good times far from the rush and over-building of Ikebukuro. Salt Peanuts is one of the best additions to Ekoda’s vibe. Presenting the best of up and coming jazz musicians, the club focuses on music, pure and simple.

That doesn’t mean, it ignores everything else. Salt Peanuts is still a great place to be inside for the atmosphere, too. Drink choices have a wider range than most clubs, and the free snacks, including the club’s namesake, on every table are a welcome freebie. The club keeps prices reasonable, so customers never feel overcharged, and feel free to keep coming back to hear groups they may not be sure about yet. In a city where quality is usually priced accordingly, Salt Peanuts is a joyous bargain.

That sense of experimenting is a large part of the club’s atmosphere. The club helps promote younger players who have not quite yet cracked into the ranks of established players. The club is a club, instead of a performance hall, a place where musicians still have the freedom to try things out, push their limits and gauge the reaction of the audience. The atmosphere is generally younger, friendlier and more switched on to the music itself, rather than feeling like the entertainment stage of some business negotiation for a large company.

Salt Peanuts, of course, is the perfect name for a club. It comes from the fast-paced, amusing song made famous by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. That sense of intense devotion to jazz and a light-handed awareness infuses the club, too. It’s a comfortable place, a bit bigger than most clubs, where you can go for the music and linger to unwind.