Black Elephants Second Line Band
Someday
January 28, 2025
Koichi Yoshida忍田耕一 trombone, leader
Yuto Komatsu 小松悠人 trumpet
Shigeru Terauchi 寺内茂 trumpet
Nobuhiro Nakane中根信博 trombone
Yutaka Handa伴田裕 tenor sax
Jinya Kimura 木村仁哉 sousaphone
Gosuke Tsubone 坪根剛介 percussion
Special guest: Nao Takeuchi 竹内直 tenor sax
A high-energy New Orleans second-line band is rare in Tokyo, though you find them walking the streets of New Orleans every day. They are just what Tokyo needs, though! They deliver high-energy, opened-up music that’s instinctive yet polished, practiced, and funky.
Kicking off with “The Saints Go Marching In,” a song that’s usually the encore, was a good move. It got everyone in the club moving right away. That segued into “Iko Iko,” a uniquely rhythmical classic of New Orleans. What’s so pleasing about the band is the rhythms from Kimura on sousaphone and percussion from Tsubone that go back and forth with the tight horns. Kimura put down deep, thumping bass lines, and Tsubone kept a complex set of rhythms.
Second line at heart, but not tied only to New Orleans music, the Elephants marched into Latin and jazz. “Oyo Como Va” was delivered with a great clave to which everyone clapped along. In fact, it was hard to stop clapping as Tsubone danced through the audience with just a tambourine. That was enough as his hands worked magic with just the tambourine’s skin and jingles.
“Stardust,” a jazz classic, was taken slowly and sweetly. It didn’t sound like a calm Hoagy Carmichael, though. It sounded like the front line of a big band was dancing while they played. The first set rounded out with a great cover of Chick Corea’s “La Fiesta” featuring Terauchi on trumpet. He’s the kind of trumpeter who can hit the highest notes (high G!) but knows he doesn’t need to do that but once and play beautifully the rest of the time.
What’s interesting about the seven-member band is how full they sound, and yet how spacious. They didn’t crowd each other but gave each other room, not just for soloing but for the overall harmony of horns. The band is very funky, a mode that sounds loose but, in fact, is incredibly tight. Everyone hits notes just in the right place to make the music move.
The second set led off with the classic “Mambo Inn,” played with appropriate fervor. That was followed by several upbeat Latin tunes that kept the good-time vibe going. When Latin wasn’t enough, they moved to “I Feel Good” from James Brown, the funkiest of all. Their great cover showed how close Latin, second line, and funk are and how versatile and accomplished everyone in the Black Elephants is.
A very Cuban version of “Besame Much” closed out the second set with a great sax battle between guest tenor sax Takeuchi and regular member Handa. They had a great time playing off each other with a great spirit of musical fun. They saved space for great solos from everyone, no matter the rhythm.
The usually somber “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” often played by brass bands marching in a funeral parade, was taken at a quick clip, and after a march through the aisles, the band retook the stage for the final solos. Like in New Orleans, the Black Elephants know how to mix great music into their own approach.
