Organ Jazz Club

OJC オルガンジャズクラブ Abecafe

Numabukuro 1-34-4 B1F, Nakano-ku. (03)3388-2040.

〒165-0025東京都中野区沼袋1-34-4 B1F

The live starts around 19:30 to 20:00. Cover charge is from 2,000 to 3,000 yen, occasionally more or a bit less for jam sessions.

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@沼袋Organ Jazz Club

 From Numabukuro station's north exit, veer to the right, though not the sharp right. About 100 meters down on the right hand side, you will see a sign and a closed circuit TV broadcasting from inside. Alternatively, Numabukuro is only a short taxi ride from Nakano station. Hop in a taxi and take it to Numabukuro station, only about one tick.

The passion for the Hammond B3 organ sound has somehow seized many Japanese jazz fans. The famed organ company whose transforming of the Hammond from respectable church accompaniment to the funkiest jazz instrument around is maybe the best example of popular music's revenge, now makes its home in Japan! Every year a B3 organ festival brings together the Japanese masters for an all-day jam session (see the article in "Other Views"), so it is only natural that a B3 club would at long last be opened. Get your dose of vitamin B3 right here!

Organ Jazz club is one of the most recent clubs to open in Tokyo (in 2006), and the owner did everything right. The club is small-ish, but comfortable, with a fantastic sound system, great acoustics and a huge mirror set up behind the organ so you can watch the magic hands work the two layers of keyboards and fiddle with the stops. The old joke goes that Bach had so many children because his organ had no stops, but the connection between fertility, improvisation and musical expression is no exaggeration, be it classical or funk.

Not every night at Organ Jazz club features organists, but most do, and more and more. Build it and they will come. A surprisingly large number of organ players do the dirt in Japan, and fans abound. Knowing that, Organ Jazz Club has a vintage B3 installed (try carrying one down the stairs!) with just the right Leslie rotating speaker to get the perfect sound. All the other amps and equipment are also done just right, and musicians seem to respond, not just treating the gear with respect, but the music, too. On non-organ nights, other jazz musicians perform, having to stand a bit awkwardly away from the organ, which takes up about half the front of the club. A grand piano fills the other half.

For fans of the Hammond B3-based funky soul jazz, this club is heaven. For those who just like great, fun music, it's pretty close!