Bix & Marki　Summer 2018 Tour Report

The tour started on the 19th of July. Before we left, we recorded our new CD called ‘Un hasard bizarre des arts’ : a strange coincidence of the arts… which includes some new tunes and all the songs of CD 1 and CD 2 filled with the experience of having played them in various places. Selling our CDs on the tour helps us finance the trip. This time we went from Hakodate in the north all the way to Shimane in the west.

Friday 20 July 2018 2pm 　Asahigaoka Senior Residence
Hakodate-shi asahigaoka-cho 78　Tel 0138-50-2121
http://www.asahigaoka.jp/

We had lunch together with Mr.Wakayama,the president of the senior residence Asahigaoka, then went there to play some tunes. Some of the people at Asahigaoka told us stories about when they travelled to France many years ago. Our tunes in French made some of them who had been to France revive memories from their trips. They told us their stories. It was so touching.

Friday 20 July 2018 6pm 　Gotouken
Hakodate-shi Suehiro-cho 4-5 　Tel 0138-23-1106
http://www.gotoken.hakodate.jp/

After giving a concert at the senior residence Asahigaoka, we went with the members of the French-Japanese Association to the yearly official ceremony on the grave of the first Frenchmen in Hakodate who were saved by people in Hakodate during the Indochina war and to the monument for French and Japanese interreligious friendship monument raised by the French missionary Philippe Gourrod, We then did a dinner-concert for the Association at the restaurant Gotoken. We love coming here every year, thanks to Mr. Wakayama and his association! A thing happened just before we left. On the last day of a class at Bix'University in Tokyo a student showed Bix and the class the very old French book he used to study with in the French class at his high school. The author was father Philippe Gourrod. What a strange coincidence !

Saturday 21 July 2018 　Heart Lighting Station
Aomori-ken Hirosaki-shi Dotemachi133 Nishitani bld 1F
http://hls-hirosaki.com/
Hirosaki x France project  http://human.cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp/french/
Big thanks to Ms. Kumano from Hirosaki University, for giving us the opportunity to do this cultural exchange, workshop and concert and thank you to her students!


Bix gave a French lesson before the concert.


"Role Play" in the lesson which gives you some practical ideas to use phrases !


We all, both players and audience, concentrated on the music and try to distinguish subtle feelings in the sounds. A wonderful time we shared ! Among the audience, an illustrator nicknamed Dokuhebi (poisonous snake) made a lovely drawing of us playing, and put it on her blog, the dokuhebi.net.

Relaxing time. Marki plays his mini-guitar in the local train between Hirosaki and Akita.

Sunday 22 July 2018 　Yuki's hookah bar
Akita-shi Minami-dori Kameno-cho 1-5 2F　Tel 050-1257-7948
https://www.facebook.com/hookahbarakita/

The owner Yuki has lived in the States for a long time. Michael helped him behind the counter. An American basketball player came to listen to us. This was the American part of the audience, the other part was Japanese, but all with the same kind of spirit, beyond borders. Music and philosophy of life walk heartwarmingly hand in hand in Yuki’s Hookah bar.

Monday 23 July 2018 　Café Patina
Sendai-shi Aoba-ku Kasugamachi 7-33　HER'S Bansui-dori 1F  
Tel 022-395-4028
https://patinacompany.shopinfo.jp/

We played in the afternoon and in the evening. A gourmet and music lover in the audience listened to us and came back again in the evening. The owner’s wife has a music school on the second floor of Patina Café. We felt that people who came to the coffee shop didn’t seem surprised seeing us playing, although it was a rather new thing to do there.

Sunday 29 July 2018 　Cafe TAC
Nagano-ken Shimosuwa-cho Mita-machi 3158


Shimo-Suwa is a beautiful little town and it is trying to revive again. Tac’s owner is an artist and a musician, and he was very kind to us. The audience too ! We were very thankful and loved to play with all the doors open to the street ! (the neighbors came to listen to us too)


We went to the Harmo Museum at the Suwako lakeside the next morning.


Very nice view from the balcony of the museum. They have good collection of works of Dali, Chagall, Matisse, le Douanier Rousseau etc..

Monday 30 July 2018 　3 Trois rojiura
Nagano-ken Matsumoto-shi Cyuou 2-10-10   Tel 0263-41-0385
https://www.facebook.com/trois3rojiura/

A member of the audience had come to listen to us 2 years ago in Trois, which made us feel a musical time line... The evening was lovely as it always is in Trois. We noticed that Trois’ neighbourhood is developing and growing larger !

Tuesday 31 July 2018 　Au Crieur de vin
Nagano-ken Matsumoto-shi Fukasi 1-2-11   Tel 02 63 37 19 66
http://crieur-japon.com/

Thanks to the French-Japanese Association of Nagano, which kindly gave out the information about our concert, we had people coming to see us in addition to the Crieur’s clients. It was wonderful to meet everybody and to play again at Le Crieur. It is such a relaxing space reminding us of everyday France.

Wednesday 1 August 2018 　Hiyori cafe
Nagano-shi Higashi-machi 131  Tel 026 -237ー6636
https://www.facebook.com/HiyoriCafe/


Kanna of the café Hiyori plays a wooden ocarina, made by her father, which has a heart-warming sound. She joined us and played some folk songs with us without rehearsal and it was an interesting collaboration. A baby was sleeping peacefully in the front row during the concert. The place received and gave back our sound in a beautiful way and the food was delicious.


Kanna and Mr.Ishikawa, the chef of Hiyori cafe with Bix&Marki

Thursday 2 August 2018 　Hirami Pan
Kanazawa-shi Naga-machi 1-6-11   Tel 076-221-7831
http://www.hiramipan.com/

These days in Japan it is difficult to recruit staff in restaurants and cafés. We saw that the owner was very tired, his face and hands were full of flour when we met him. We felt we maybe were able to give him and his place some positive musical energy. To give energy around is so important. Like breathing, taking in and giving out.

Friday 3 August 2018 　Grill AOI
Fukui-shi Oote 3-6-3　 Tel 0776-24-1176
Association Franco-Japonaise de Fukui
http://fukui-france.seesaa.net/

This was a wine party with French cuisine, and our second time in the Grill, thanks to Mr. Tsubota. Most of the people were the same people who came last year, which made it easy to speak together and to play. We got even more connected!

Saturday 4 August 2018 energy cafe OPEN SESAME
Gifu-shi Oritate 785-1   Tel 058-234-3505
https://opensesame-gifu.jimdo.com/

We played for clients and two families of friends of which one child has Down’s syndrome. We were happy to play for him like for every body else. He loves music and interacted with it. Another thing is that Open Sesame has too little staff too. We understood the difficulty of running such a place: there is a balance between creating a space, offering something to people, and having enough people to help.

Sunday 5 August 2018 　Cafe Dufi
Nagoya-shi Naka-ku Shin-sakae 3-17-11   Tel 052 263 6511
http://cafedufi.com

We met again our Nagoyan wonderful friends and after the concert had a big discussion all together about life in the future and the growing importance of art and philosophy in society, in a world of growing technology. Ms. Dufi showed us replica of old posters made for Air France before the war (one is on the wall at Dufi). Old airplanes flying over equatorial landscapes of Africa. The past, the present and the future.

Tuesday 7 August 2018 　Bistrot Café de Paris
Kobe-shi Cyuou-ku Yamamoto-dori 1-7-21   Tel 078-241-9448
http://cafe-de-paris.jp/
https://www.facebook.com/bistrotcafedeparis/

We performed in the welcoming and happy atmosphere of Café de Paris! It was such a lovely surprise to see a person who works in a restaurant near Marki’s father’s place in Kyoto. We sometimes go to have a light dinner at his place and he came all the way to see us!

Thursday 9 August 2018 　Unshu-do
Osaka-shi Kita-ku Sugawara-cho 7-2   Tel 06-6361-3903
http://www.iori-unshudo.com/

We shared the evening and the stage with another duo, Fuigodza: a great accordionist player and a magnificent Irish and Celtic flute and bagpipe player. Ms Kotani of Unshudo, takes very good care of the musicians. She does the PA (amplification and sound balance) and administrates the place. We felt that we all play for life, that music is our life and that we all survive through music.

Friday 10 August 2018 　Geijutsu-do Art mousikē
Shimane-ken Izumo-shi Hirata-cho 1336


Mr. Ohashi had organized a big event for us in this music and cultural hall. There were college students who play flute in a brass band, primary school children who learn English, French learners, a group of artists with and without disabilities. After the concert, we answered questions, also from a journalist filming us for the local tv. The children had prepared some questions in English. The audience was not used to hearing acoustic music and to hearing and speaking other languages, which made us happy to be there !


After the concert, in the evening, Bix gave a French class at the Communal Education Volunteer Center of Izumo. We also played a couple of tunes having some drinks and light meal with the people in the class. It was a relaxing time.

Saturday 11 August 2018 　Cheriver Hall
Shimane-ken Unnan-shi Kisuki-cho Satogata 55   Tel 0854-42-1155
NPO Esperanza Tel 090-9733-0910

The NGO Esperanza and its founder Esumi san work for the integration of foreigners , people with disabilities and different people who live in Shimane. It was the first Festival for diversity and music in the city of Unnan, organized by Esperanza. Bix&Marki gave a French lesson in the morning then a concert in the afternoon together with 3 other bands. Nature, birds singing, sign language, songs in Portuguese, Japanese, French, instrumental music, all came beautifully together in this festival of music, language and humanity.

Saturday 11 August 2018 　In front of Palmate bld
Shimane-ken Izumo-shi Imaichi-cho 2065
NPO Esperanza Tel 090-9733-0910

We also played at another festival for cultural exchange and diversity organized by the NGO Esperanza in Izumo. There was music and food from different countries, mixing and enjoying each other to know and to feel about cultures.

There were no people except us in the wagon of the express train we took for 3 hours from Izumo to Okayama.

Monday 13 August 2018 　nora café
Shiga-ken Koga-shi Minakuchi-cho Sakoudo 292-2
Tel 0748-62-1157  https://www.facebook.com/noracafe.noracafe

Our last concert of the tour was at the Nora Café, a place of relaxation, creativity and music, run by Mr. Ooga. He played some standard tunes with us on the guitar. The café is like an island in the middle of rice fields and we played on this island. There was a baby on this island of music.


Mr.Ooga of the Nora café with Bix&Marki

This tour brought us closer to the idea of diversity and that music makes different people and people who are different (put in a corner by the society) come closer together. By a strange coincidence (un hasard bizarre des arts) we got to meet various worlds that actually seemed connected to each other. We all live in the same world at the same time ! We get a feeling of that when we travel around and play our music.Thank you to you all !

21. Summer Tour 2018