Sadao Watanabe has wanted to play jazz for almost as long as he can remember. "From the first time I heard US service radio when I was a boy," he says, a gleam in his eye and a cigarette in hand.
Before World War II, he explains, "We couldn't listen to western music and when it suddenly became available pops, jazz, the whole nine it was like an amazing discovery. I ran home every day after school to listen. I was hooked."
The rest is modern Japanese jazz history. Considered Japan's number one alto and soprano sax player since the mid-'50s, Watanabe has proven himself as a true visionary, known around the world as one of the most progressive players. Born in 1933 in Utsunomiya City, Japan, Watanabe moved to Tokyo at age 18 to begin his career as a musician. He moved to Boston in 1962 to study at the renowned Berklee College of Music and while abroad, he enriched his musical prowess by performing with big acts such as Chico Hamilton and Gary McFarland.
Known for blending African and Latin sounds and beats into his ever evolving vision, Watanabe has become a mainstay on the international jazz festival circuit, doing shows from Monterey to Montreaux.
During the interview, the chronically busy Watanabe is sitting still in a Taipei hotel room for just long enough to reflect on his remarkable career. Sitting back in an armchair, a sweater draped over his shoulders and a Mild Seven cigarette burning constantly in his hand, Watanabe exudes a blend of raw energy and mellow warmth. As if he could pop up and direct a ten movement symphony just as easily as he could sit there smoking and smiling and talking about his tireless travels around the globe.
"In Zambia one night," he muses, a broad smile on his face, "I visited a small village where the people were getting together for a young girl's wedding. They were playing marimbas and drums." He goes on to describe how he joined in for a couple of hours while they played one song on-and-on into the night. "The next morning I went back and they were all still there playing the same song and dancing and singing with energy and joy. That kind of experience teaches me a lot about how I approach music," he says. "And it has definitely had an influence on my sound."
Other influences on his sound include Charlie Parker and Charlie Marino, the latter being a personal friend of Watanabe. The saxophonist says that, of all the genres and different sounds, as a sax player, he still loves playing straight up bee-bop because, as he puts it, "With bop, I can play on and on, as much as I like."
As a world traveler of the first order Watanabe has, over the years, become fond of a few special venues. "I love going to Brazil and South America and Africa," he says, "but the logistics of performing in these places can sometimes be difficult." He enjoys playing in Asian countries because the audiences are warm, but he says that, when playing to different audiences he rarely tailors the music to the crowd's perceived tastes. "Whatever I play," he says. "I give it all I have."
Again, it's Watanabe's travels that have infused him with such an enduring enthusiasm. "During my first visit to Kenya in 1972 I played with a local band," he says. "A member of the group was playing some type of reed horn sax, just blowing away making a crazy sound." He laughs. "At first I thought it was a truly awful sound, but when I saw his face I could see that he was really happy and so were the others and I just realized, it's all relative. It was a huge lesson that I felt fortunate to have learned."
Taipei and Kaohsiung audiences can expect a best-of sampling of Watanabe's last few albums and a good dose of straight ahead, hard-charging jazz standards. Audiences should also expect a sprinkling of African and Latin beats thrown in to spice things up.
Just talking about playing seems make Watanabe anxious. It's because playing the sax is his favorite thing to do - even in his off time. "I love practicing the sax," he says. "Especially, since I'm planning a classical performance for this fall. It's really a challenge to play classical on the sax, but I love trying to do it." No other hobbies? "I used to play golf, but I gave it up to spend more time practicing the sax."
On April 26, The Lancet published a letter from two doctors at Taichung-based China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) warning that “Taiwan’s Health Care System is on the Brink of Collapse.” The authors said that “Years of policy inaction and mismanagement of resources have led to the National Health Insurance system operating under unsustainable conditions.” The pushback was immediate. Errors in the paper were quickly identified and publicized, to discredit the authors (the hospital apologized). CNA reported that CMUH said the letter described Taiwan in 2021 as having 62 nurses per 10,000 people, when the correct number was 78 nurses per 10,000
As we live longer, our risk of cognitive impairment is increasing. How can we delay the onset of symptoms? Do we have to give up every indulgence or can small changes make a difference? We asked neurologists for tips on how to keep our brains healthy for life. TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH “All of the sensible things that apply to bodily health apply to brain health,” says Suzanne O’Sullivan, a consultant in neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and the author of The Age of Diagnosis. “When you’re 20, you can get away with absolute
When the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces 50 years ago this week, it prompted a mass exodus of some 2 million people — hundreds of thousands fleeing perilously on small boats across open water to escape the communist regime. Many ultimately settled in Southern California’s Orange County in an area now known as “Little Saigon,” not far from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where the first refugees were airlifted upon reaching the US. The diaspora now also has significant populations in Virginia, Texas and Washington state, as well as in countries including France and Australia.
May 5 to May 11 What started out as friction between Taiwanese students at Taichung First High School and a Japanese head cook escalated dramatically over the first two weeks of May 1927. It began on April 30 when the cook’s wife knew that lotus starch used in that night’s dinner had rat feces in it, but failed to inform staff until the meal was already prepared. The students believed that her silence was intentional, and filed a complaint. The school’s Japanese administrators sided with the cook’s family, dismissing the students as troublemakers and clamping down on their freedoms — with
RSS