Aketa no Mise

アケタの店

Yoshino Biru B101, Nishi Ogi Kita 3-21-13, Suginami-ku. (03)3395-9507.
〒167-0042 東京都杉並区西荻北 3-21-13 吉野ビルB101

Daytime Live is 15:00-18:00, from 1,500 yen. Nighttime Live is 20:00-23:00, from 2,800 yen. Midnight Live is 24:00-25:30, 1,200 yen. Live schedule depends on the day. Checking their schedule is necessary.

http://www.aketa.org/mise.html

 Nishi-Ogikubo Station (Chuo Line). From Nishi-Ogikubo Station, go out the north exit and cross over the small-ish bus and taxi area to a winding street lined with noodle shops, yakitori places and various restaurants. Walk down this street until you get to the first large cross-street. Turn right and it is a couple buildings down on the right hand side.

Aketa no Mise is more of a converted college dorm room than a club. The furniture was rescued from big trash day, light bulbs dangle by thinning wires, the carpet is frayed and plastic beer crates hold up the speakers. The back wall is covered in a primitivist mural painting done by some artist not following all the substance control laws in the country.

The first time I went, I was a little surprised as the place was packed, but then, around 8, everyone in the audience got up and went onstage! They were the musicians. Left behind basically was me and the band's girlfriends. That never deters from the music, as it sometimes does in fancier places. Instead, the musicians here seem to really be playing to satisfy themselves. Because they are pushing various boundaries, that approach never seems to result in self-indulgence, though, but rather intriguing, beguiling music.

But don't let the funkiness fool you. Aketa's showcases some of the most cutting edge music in town. The intensity of performances here stays up at levels in inverse proportion to the casualness of the interior. This is a serious jazz studio--with plenty of edges. Aketa no Mise is a space for the avant-garde, offbeat, and unpredictable, along with straight-ahead, no-nonsense jamming.

Musicians come here because they know they can play in their own way, and have an interested audience that knows at least what they are attempting to do. Experimental approaches and full-on jams are the mainstay here, but on many nights, sheer solid musical weight is the main course. Aketa's is home to what might be called "Chuo Line Jazz" if the musicians could in any way be grouped. But resisting categorization is the way they play instead, and if ever any place in Tokyo could exemplify creativity and sincerity in music, it's Aketa's.

Very much off the beaten path, Nishi-Ogi is a very cool place, too. Check out the hundreds of eateries on the north side (and again on the south) on the way to the club. Most evenings start around 8 or so. Aketa also puts out their own CD label, many of them recorded live, so ask to see others than on display. Standard drinks and some snacks, but you don't go to Aketa's for the clean crystal. Be sure to sign up for ocarina lessons, too, if you get the urge, the owner runs an ocarina school, when not traveling to Europe to record his avant-garde big band music.