Shiro Sasaki and Caoba Big Band

July 22 at Blues Alley Japan

Shiro Sasaki--trumpet and leader

It was standing room only for Shiro Sasaki and his Caoba Big Band. And with good reason. The unusual crowd mix of jazz loving salarymen, fashionably dressed young women, club-going hipsters, a few college students and a sprinkling of older big band fans were all there to have a good time, and the band delivered one. The Caoba Big Band has great audience rapport. With a nice sense of humor, and an easy-going approach in between songs, the evening was a pleasure. The band members are all young and their energy pours out into their solos and the upbeat drive. They have a practiced sound that is at its tightest with the unison choruses and lead lines.

Solos flew along at fast paces, as if they were too excited to slow down. The audience wasn’t there for ballads or soothing melodies anyway, so that worked out just fine. Guest vocals from soulman Mark Inoue took the band’s direction further into R&B, with tunes from Sam and Dave and Eddie Floyd among others. Inoue traded scat vocal lines with the horns and rhythm section, and got everyone in the band, and in the audience, singing along as well. The audience also received a lesson in hand whistling, which had everyone doubled over in laughter as much as whistling. After all, laughter, of which there was a lot during the evening, is a kind of music itself.

The rhythm section stayed tight on every tune, with solo time spread evenly all around. The horn section never seemed to run out of ideas even while they stayed inside a funkier rhythmic style. A couple of horn duels livened up the soloing, and were so good-natured the competitive feel of other big bands was swept away into the sense of fun. The band’s tight, energetic sound was no surprise given Sasaki’s other great, funky bands, but it was wonderful to see a big band fill up a large venue like Blues Alley with young fans who clearly enjoyed hearing the big band sound.