Blue Note Tokyo
ブルーノート東京
Ryka Biru, 6-3-16 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku. (03)5485-0088
〒107-0062 東京都港区南青山 6-3-16
6,500 to 9,000 yen for one set. Separate sets at 18:30 and 21:00 (different times on holidays, Sundays and just some days, though, so check closely).
https://www.facebook.com/BLUE.NOTE.TOKYO.official/
From Omotesando station, exit B3, turn left down Aoyama Dori toward Shibuya. At the large T intersection, turn left at the big Max Mara store. Walk down Kotto Dori Street until you see Papa's Café on the right. Turn left there and you will see a large banner 100 meters down on the right.
The Blue Note Corporation is one of the largest companies handling jazz in the world. Originally, a recording label, Blue Note Records, a still thriving one, their name became synonymous with great jazz recording many of the hard bop and post bop masters in the 50s. Those records, many remastered with added tracks, still stand the test of time, and sound fresh even now. Their track record of great recordings covers a couple decades of the best jazz, and launched and sustained the careers of many legends. Even their record covers have become exemplars of a certain visual style of representing the music.
With all that history, it seems a bit unusual to note that the clubs of the same name started only in the early 1980s in New York. Spreading quickly around the world, to Korea, Italy, Indonesia and Japan, with many unaffiliated clubs using the name in slightly altered forms for its respect. Blue Note is a major player in jazz, and yet, the club always feels a bit as if designed by an MBA. That means efficiency, of course, and good business strategies, but music does not always fit those confines as easily as one might hope. As with many large-ish corporations, there are plenty of quibbles. Ticket prices are too high and sets are too short. Food and drinks are good but pricey. There is a seat-you and see-you-out pushiness to everything from ordering (on mini-computers) to paying the bill (with neat little plastic numbers for everyone). You usually have to wait in the lovely wood décor of the lobby perusing info on upcoming gigs, but you can’t even get a drink. What’s a jazz club lobby without that? It rankles a bit to see great music packaged as a consumer product.
That said, you don't go to the Blue Note for a massage or a friendly chat; you go for the incredible artists they bring in. And, that said, really only Blue Note can afford to bring in a lot of the masters to an expensive city like Tokyo without trying to sell out a large hall or rock-size stadium. The quality of music is never in doubt, so that while you could show up at the Blue Note on any given night and possibly not like that particular style of music, but can rest assured that the music will be top class in its genre. You also can see and hear well from anywhere. The entrance fee, typically in the 8,000 yen range gets you one set, which are often unbearably short, usually 80 minutes, coincidentally about the length of a CD. The Blue Note really is a concert hall dressed up as a club.
As for myself, I’d rather be packed in double crowded and hear two full sets, but maybe a lot of people wouldn’t. You can eat, drink, relax, get excellent bilingual service, see and be seen, and most of all, hear superb, top-class music. The sound system is great and you can see from any seat. The second sets tend to be better after the musicians are warmed up, and later in their set of shows lets them get over the inevitable jetlag, too. Like a lot of things in life, it's not perfect. But go anyway.
P.S. If you want photos, they have a million of them on their homepage!