Seiji Tada

One of Tokyo's most consistent and hardworking jazzmen, Seiji Tada has been a mainstay in the jazz scene for nearly two decades. Besides being the sax player of choice for Terumasa Hino, perhaps Japan's best-known jazz musician, he has worked with nearly all the leading players in the scene in one group or another. Besides gracing many great recordings, he leads his own group, The Most. This quartet, which he calls his lifework, has just released their fourth recording,  "re:mark." This CD is potent contemporary jazz (see CD review).     

The complexity and quality of their work has reached another new high point on one of the best releases of the year.

In addition to recording, writing and producing his group's music and playing nearly every night establishing himself as a constant feature of Tokyo's jazz clubs, Tada also spends time teaching, an activity that he clearly enjoys and finds meaningful in many ways, as he explains below. He also runs jam sessions in the city, giving back to the jazz community a bit of his experience and wisdom. He took time last spring to talk in between saxophone classes in the Ginza, just before going into the studio to record the "re:mark." In this interview, he explains the connections between the various facets of his jazz experience and tells what jazz means to him from his own broad perspective.

Which CD are you most satisfied with?

Ah, well, "Because of You." Maybe because it's the latest CD from the Most, the third one, actually. I think the band's sound is extremely good, so it's the one that really gets me the most. We'll be going into the studio to record a new on this March.

Is that because everyone is really playing together?

Yes, I think so. On the first and second CDs, in the recording studio, what we had were all new tunes. We just rehearsed there in the studio. So, everyone was not completely used to the new songs yet. On this third CD, we really prepared ahead of time. We had a long tour, so we could really get all the new songs down. Then, after that, we went into the recording studio. So, then, it was very smooth and easy to record. We'll do that again with the upcoming CD, too.

The compositions come from everyone, too, don’t they?

I had three songs, but everyone wrote something for the CD. That made a big difference, too.

Also, everyone in the band has been playing together a long time.

Yes, I played on [Masahiko] Osaka's first album, as a guest, so we've been together about 15 years or so.

When you play live, what kinds of conditions do you like the best?

First, the sound of the jazz club is really important. Of course, the sound system has to be really good, but it's really the total sound of the whole club. When the sound really bounces back with power, that's the best. Also, the atmosphere of the club is really important, a good audience, and a lot of other factors, too, can make a difference.

What about in your mind, what kind of conditions or preparations do you do?

I don't think I do anything like preparation at all really. It's just when you get to the club, the band is there, the people are there, and then the atmosphere and feeling at that time can be something like the "force" of the place. Then, when I get that force, I can have the feeling of really being there, right in the energy of the place. The fans know I'm coming and then I feel that, too.

In America, jazz musicians have more of a feeling of just playing, regardless of the atmosphere.

Hmmm, maybe, but compared to a large concert hall or a big place of some sort, at a jazz club, you can really get the feeling of the place directly. It's very direct. I like being so close, because you get the feeling right away. It's totally different in a club from a concert hall.

When you first started playing jazz, it was in college. When did you decide to turn pro?

I always played since college, but in 1988, I came to Tokyo. Before that time, I had been a banker. I quit after five years. I went to an economics university and after graduation, worked at one bank for the whole time. During that time, as an amateur, I played once a week or so, at live houses, but not professionally.

It was difficult to quit, I'd guess.

It was extremely difficult to quit a good, respectable job. My parents were totally opposed to it. And we fought about it. Fiercely. But I had decided, so I was determined to leave. It was a challenge.

So, when you came to Tokyo, you had friends here?

No, not really! In my hometown, I knew that I could always go sit in with friends after hours for a song or two at live houses. They said, OK, usually, and we became friends. They were already professionals and at a very high level. I knew that a few musicians had come to Tokyo from my hometown, so when I met up with them at a live house and told them I had come to Tokyo, they said, "There's no work here!" And they were right, and at first, I it was very hard to find work. So for a time, I went to the clubs and handed out my business card and said, "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." I did that for about a year. Of course, I went to jam sessions and things, too.

So, you had your own group as a leader, when? After another year?

Not that early!

And your first CD?

Much, much later, in '97. That was with the pianist Junko Onishi, who I often performed with then. She produced the CD for me. It was EMI, a major label, so that was great for a debut album.

When did Club Toko start up then?

That was Toko's [Motohiko Hino] band and started about '98 or so. Sadly, he passed away in '99 from cancer, so it was only about two or three years. So, it was just one album that was left from then. After he died, we made two more CDs, but everyone in the band was following their own careers in different directions.

You must have had some help from people after you came to Tokyo?

Toko-san and Hino-san [Terumasa Hino], of course, but really that time I can hardly remember now. It's a lot of water under the bridge. At that time, I had the will to play jazz, but just drive was not really quite enough somehow. Jazz is essentially a kind of music that fundamentally requires you to have not just the will, but a real jazz way of thinking.     

Those two guys really influenced me about jazz thinking. From that time, then, my sound, and everything about my playing, really changed.

But, you still have this constant sense of moving up and up levels. At a high level, it's harder to move up to the next level. It's not just practice.

Of course, practicing may be important, but I'm not so sure it's just that. Hino-san said he never practices just to practice. If you just say, well, I practiced today so I'm ready for the live show tonight, that's a kind of beginning level of understanding. If you just practice like that with the intention of just playing, it's not enough. When you stand up on the stage, you have to be almost fresh, maybe nearly blank, and kind of innocent, in order to play more beautifully and cleanly. Then, you just have to sort of wait, and it comes.

Practicing only gets you part of the way, then?

At a certain point, imagination is more important. You have to be able to do many things. If you don’t have your point of view, then, you can't really play. For example, you have to be able to imagine beautiful scenery, or a beautiful painting. If you see it, then you will really feel it.  You will say, "Oh, that's beautiful." That kind of sensibility plus a richness of feeling always comes first. I'd say that's the most important. As much as possible, I try to think like that.

So, you have many influences from outside music as well?

Yes, very much. Of course, in order to become good, you really have to make the saxophone your own. You have to first make the sax a part of your body. And to do that, of course you have to really practice hard. But, it's not just that. You really have to have image training. You have to be able to conceptualize and picture the shape of things, and really that kind of training is now what I do most. It's the most useful, I find.

It is difficult to just wait. Do you give your students some image training?

It depends on the level of the students. Some of them are not yet at the level of being able to imagine yet. Their conceptual ability is not yet high enough. When imagining, you have to have an abundant set of rich ideas. Many beginning students do not have ideas yet. You can teach the material, but you can not really teach the idea.

You must learn a lot from teaching them, though, too, right?

I learn a lot. It is hard to really explain fuzzy concepts. To teach, then, you really have to search your mind to be sure and make things clear, then you can get them across. Some students are amazed about using their imagination,

so if you mention a certain conception or way of thinking, they will get some paper and make a note of it!

When you go to help at jam sessions, do the other younger musicians often ask you questions?

Well, they always say, "Can you please give me some advice." That's really hard, but the thing I usually say is to just relax more. They often ask me about their sound, too. "How was my tone?" is a common question. Or, they ask, "Was I swinging?" At the jam sessions there are some pros, but you also have students, amateurs and all levels of musician. You have really skilled people and some who have not developed so far yet. Every different level of playing has its own problems and its own set of worries. So, really, that's why I almost always say, "Just relax."

What is your interest in going to these jam sessions now?

Well, I quit going for a long time. I really hated them. There were so many musicians and everyone took very, very long solos. But, now that I'm 46, I'm more of a veteran, so somehow I felt like there was something I could give to everyone there. That's one thing, but also I do not want to become an old-timer. I want to keep myself fresh by being in touch with the young people's essence and energy. But also, it is always just very enjoyable.

What future plans do you have?

I want to work more with my own band and the recording coming up. This band, the Most, is really what I think of as my own real lifework. Then, there are many musicians that I have not even really met, or played with, so this year I really want to positively engage with those people and do something together. I want to meet musicians I haven't meet, and make music that I haven't heard before. I really want to take in what they have to offer. It is easy to get too set with the friends you already have. Friends are great of course, but with friends the risk is high to get into a kind of conspiracy where everyone says, "OK." That's too easy.

You need that freshness or the challenge of it?

I really always want to have a challenge. If you don't challenge yourself, then, of course it's not very interesting, but also if you don't challenge yourself, you might as well just quit jazz.

It's not jazz if it's not a challenge.

It's not jazz at all. So, within jazz, there's always a challenge. If I lose my spirit, or become afraid of things, then, I might as well retire. It would have no meaning to continue.

You always seem to have a strong sense of jazz history, rare tunes from the 50s and unusual, for Japan, pieces of music.

Really? I don't think so. I listen to a lot of records and I just think, "Oh, that's great!" I always think I want to play that, so I track down the written music and it just sort of piles up naturally. That's also a kind of challenge. My originals are a challenge, too, and playing difficult music is another kind of challenge. I often write songs to be difficult, because I don't want to play easy or simple songs. Maybe that's a little strange, but much more interesting. Actually, it's thrilling.

Originally published in Jazznin, November 2, 2007