Ko-Ko
（渋谷ココ）
Himawari Building 2F, 2-26-5 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0043. (03)3463-8226.
〒150-0043 東京都渋谷区道玄坂2-26-5 ひまわりビル2階
Two sets from 8. Every night except Monday. Sundays and Tuesdays are jam sessions. Regular charge is 2,800 yen, but more for special lives. 2,900 for jam session charge.
Shibuya station. From Hachiko Square, go across the huge intersection towards the Shibuya 109 building. Veer to the left up the large street, going uphill to the second street on the right. Go under the overhead sign with a huge yellow ramen shop on the corner. Ahead, you’ll see a Lawson convenience store. Walk to the Lawson and turn right. From there, you can see the orange-yellow Ko-Ko sign on a building about 50 meters ahead. The club is on the second floor. Ko-Ko is right smack in the middle of the love hotel section of Shibuya, if that helps you locate it more easily.
An intense dynamo of a club, Ko-Ko has expanded from its long-ago spot, Sonoka, in Meguro and the smaller-sized first space, upgrading, enlarging and nice-ning things up bit by bit to the just-right form it is in today. That makes Ko-Ko an easy place to like. The name, of course, has multiple meanings, coming from a Charlie Parker song title and the name of a cartoon clown. It’s also the name of a gorilla who can do sign language and of course is also the Japanese word for “Here!” The club draws a bit from each of those allusions, but the intensity of Parker is at the center.
Most of the groups playing at Ko-Ko dig into quick-tempo-ed, long-soloing jazz. They come here to really let fly. The space is just right for being close enough to feel part of the proceedings, but still being large enough to relax. Many nights offer vocals and not every band jams long and loud, but the exciting bebop vibe, no doubt also influenced by the love hotels and cheap bars in the area, is the predominant one.
Ko-Ko is a place for music. Part of the appeal of Ko-Ko is that the musicians like to interact and drive each other to better, faster or more interesting playing. Musicians like to try out old songs, dig into standards with a new attitude, and interact on the bandstand in truly improvised fashion. That makes for earthy, serious music with the right degree of spontaneity. The sense is not so much of having to really worry what the audience would think, but neither do the musicians kick into jam session mode, either. Except when it actually is a jam session, and then the evening is great fun of another sort, with musicians jumping in for in-the-moment arrangements and lots of supportive interacting.
If Shibuya did not have a club like Ko-Ko amid all its other offerings, it would have to be invented. Food and drink are right to the point here, but certainly with no fancy frills of any kind. That’s fine in the middle of Shibuya where you can find whatever you like to eat or drink ahead of time or after the show. Fortunately, Ko-Ko is always a short walk up the hill from all else that goes on there, easy to make the ‘nijikai,’ as many people do. Its location, ironically, is fitting, since jazz was a music born in the pleasure quarters of New Orleans. Now, Ko-Ko’s jazz fits perfectly into the lively evening hills of Shibuya.