Deems the Author

The Cyclops

By Deems Tsutakawa / For The North American Post • Thu, April 26, 2012

Good singers are often times good to find. Great singers are hard to find and many vocalists can be a hassle to work with. Having had the pleasure of working with some of the finest divas on the West Coast and Hawaii, there are several that stick out in my memory mostly for good reasons.

Dee Daniels comes to mind for her soulfulness and beauty. Korla Wygal was always fun and easy to work with. Both of these women are quite powerful to the point where the musicians can comfortably kick out the grooves and are usually required to do so.

On the male front there was Donald Woody Woodhouse. Coincidentally all three of these singers were not originally from Seattle but they all spent considerable time here. Dee is from San Francisco and currently resides in Vancouver, B.C., Korla moved back to her home town Los Angeles, and Woody Woodhouse who was originally from Detroit passed away in 2006.

From 1980 to 1988 I gigged quite extensively around town with Woody. Parties, concerts, TV shows and especially nightclubs. I would put together various rhythm sections and we would play at smoky bars like The Heritage House, The Silver Dragon, Thompson's Point of View and The New Orleans Creole Restaurant.

In the winter of 1984, Woody and I booked The Top of the Hilton in downtown Seattle. The gig was six nights a week 9 pm-1:30 am and lasted for about five months. We hired the late great Michael McClellan on acoustic guitar and Tim Horiuchi on drums. It was easy and super fun.

Woodhouse and I had a “serious competition” of who could tell the newest joke and get the band to crack up. Tim had some good ones too.

In the middle of February on a Monday night around closing time, Woody had just gotten on the elevator to go down to the car garage. Just as the elevator doors are sliding shut I yell at him “see ya’ later Cyclops.” The doors close and Woody didn’t get a chance to toss any verbal barbs my way.

All you could hear coming up the elevator shaft was a loud cackling of laughter, he loved being dogged out by his buddies. Michael, Tim and I were rolling on the ground next to the bar laughing our heads off.

In October some six months later we played a Halloween gig. Woody walks into the gig, walks right up to me and stares me in the face. He was wearing a huge eyeball on the middle of his forehead. The singer had obviously been thinking about the Cyclops barb for over six months.

Be Cool

By Deems Tsutakawa / For The North American Post • Wed, Mar 28, 2012

In the 50's and 60's there was an important era of improvisational music that thrived in cities across the United States; it was called “Cool Jazz.” Rock & Roll and Blues also thrived during these decades; all of these musical forms are very intrinsically linked to American culture and history. Rhythm & Blues-my personal favorite also came on the scene about this time and added a funky flavor to the mix; a somewhat more cosmopolitan and urban flavor to the popular music styles.

As a person of Japanese American upbringing and culture I was always drawn towards these musical genres. I've always loved being on stage and in the mid-sixties at Asa Mercer Jr. High School in Seattle on Beacon Hill, I would dance solo for the entire student body at assemblies to cool Soul Music. It usually made the girls scream and was about as much fun as a teenager could possibly have.

But back to The Cool Jazz; what was the function of being cool? I believe that there are situations that inevitably always arise-when we must “Be Cool” in order to survive. The obvious case in point is clearly seen during the years after World War II when many Americans hated anybody that was Japanese. I have seen many photographs of large signs stating “NO JAPS ALLOWED” or just plain “NO JAPS,” not to mention the so called “relocation camps” of the 40's.

I have also seen pictures of Chinese Americans holding signs from that era that read “WE ARE CHINESE” so as not to be the target of irrational hatred.

Consequently the logic obviously dictates that in order to survive and not cause any amount of tension, a Japanese American should “Be Cool.” I also remember getting dirty looks from various Japanese American Nisei who thought I was too flamboyant and should get off of the stage saying, "Don't bring any attention to yourself and others like you; we don’t like that." But in the end, we all have to do what we have to do. I just would not have made a good accountant, gardener, graphics artist or chef, even though I have the utmost respect for those professions.

Finding Heaven

By Deems Tsutakawa / For The North American Post • Wed, Mar 14, 2012

Back in the 60's and 70's, there was an excellent Japanese Restaurant in Seattle’s International District called The Mikado. It was on Jackson Street and owned by the Yoshimura brothers, Irwin and Bruce.

We would often have family dinners there in one of the many tatami rooms. They had the best tempura, king crab batayaki, and grilled teriyaki in town. On many occasions there were cousins or family friends in attendance, it was a cozy private way to hang out and get loose, especially for the grownups.

One night I remember my mom, Ayame, very happily leaning over and preaching to me “Deems, you know a person could find God in a bottle of Scotch.” The adults were actually consuming Sake but the spirit of the party was fabulous indeed. I was only about ten years old at the time and had never been inebriated before, her words stuck to me so good that I can still hear them as if she had just said it last night.

Some years later while attending Franklin High School which is down in Rainier Valley towards the south part of town, I had the wonderful opportunity to sing and tour with the award winning Bel Canto Choir. Our director, Dr. Richard Koehler, demanded and got the best out of us. We performed over one hundred concerts per year and toured Europe with the entire group. We also recorded a record album and were voted the top high school choir in the state of Washington.

During our trip overseas, I enjoyed a sweet home stay in Scotland with a family named the Jacksons. Brian Jackson, the son of our host family (who also stayed with our family on his reciprocal trip to Seattle) was a typical fun, loving young Scotsman and could toss them down with the best of them.

He and his friends had the greatest stout lager that I have ever drank, and after knocking back several tall cans of the six percent beverage, he let me drive the family car on the wrong side of the road. I did not fare well but made it home in one piece.

Back at the Jackson's house while relieving myself of some beer and laughing my head off, I could hear mom’s words reverberating around in my head “a person could find God in a bottle of Scotch.”

It was a moment of total clarity and I understood for the first time what she had said to me in that tatami room many moons ago. In other words, a person can find happiness where ever they look for it.

Does Groove Exist?

By Deems Tsutakawa / For The North American Post • Wed, Feb 29, 2012

When asked whether math is invented or discovered most people (especially engineers) say it is discovered as if it is the law of the universe. This is debatable especially now that scientists worldwide agree that most of the universe is made up of “dark energy and dark matter,” which our math cannot quantify, but when you question the typical response some people get upset and do not want to listen. Of course the next question I toss out there is “how about religion or music?”

It is this writer's opinion that the origin of all these endeavors could be debated till the end of time and beyond, however, there is something undisputable about the application of these various “languages and institutions.” Math is a unique form of communication that is proven to work.

Most people that believe in God will never change their minds and although they may not have what scientists call empirical evidence their beliefs work for them. As an artist I find many musical selections to be beautiful. Some of my compositions groove real hard and although I do not have any empirical evidence to prove the song has a groove, I will go to my grave with the belief that it is, in fact, grooving real good.

This works for me.

The Dead Turntable

By Deems Tsutakawa / For The North American Post • Wed, Feb 15, 2012

The music business, like many other capital ventures is one of giving in that you have to have a certain amount of product set aside for promotional purposes. In 1978, I released a 45 RPM vinyl record with two original compositions (one per side), both strong keyboard instrumentals as is my particular style. Side A was a tune called “Strolling Along” and side B was titled “Okashii Na,” which of course means “peculiar isn’t it?”

The record was co-produced by my good friend Y.K. Kuniyuki who also played drums on both tracks. We did not make any money on the project as we ended up giving away all the records, I only have one copy left in my possession that I saved for posterity. I need to transfer it to a digital format someday indeed.

So one fine Sunday afternoon while playing background jazz for a convention at the Museum of Flight, I gave an album to this drop dead gorgeous event planner whose name escapes me but as I recall, she looked like Cheryl Ladd from Charlie’s Angels (so who would not give her an album?).

When I ran into her a week later, she told me that although her record player had not worked for several years, she decided to try playing my LP anyway. When she put my album on her broken down machine, she said it miraculously started turning and the magical sounds of my music began wafting across her living room.

Her line, which I still love was, “Deems, from now on you can tell people that your albums have been known to revive dead turntables.”

Of course nobody uses them anymore but the story still makes me smile.

Tough Tofu

By Deems Tsutakawa / For The North American Post • Fri, Jan 20, 2012

Looking back on the last 40 something years of playing music professionally, I often get the distinct feeling that many Japanese Americans must have viewed my endeavors as a lifetime Jazz Musician something akin to The Jamaican Bobsled Team in the 1993 flick “Cool Runnings.” It has quite frankly been a tenuous row to hoe indeed, but I can unequivocally say that most Sanseis do have or have had the freedom to pursue the field of their choice, and although there were many Asian American musicians of my generation, I did from time to time notice that the vast majority (99.9 percent) of national recording acts, concerts, club bands, etc. were not of Japanese descent.

Growing up in Seattle during the 50’s-70’s the general rule for going out to listen to funky jazz, soul music and playing gigs was to “have fun and be creative.” When I think about what the Nisei generation lived through, I’ve come to realize what a luxury the ride has been. Music of course is a distinct language that cuts across all boundaries and over the next few months I will have the pleasure of sharing some of my greatest memories, friendships, and tragedies from the first time I touched a piano, through the new millennium, and beyond. My column will also focus on many of the top notch professional JA musicians across the country & in the Pacific Northwest, as well as some of the excellent venues and events that I have had the pleasure of experiencing.

Deems Tsutakawa

North American Post Staff • Wed, Jan 11, 2012

Starting next week, readers can look forward to a new music column by Seattle jazz native Deems Tsutakawa.

These exclusive articles will bring a soulful flavor to his experiences and insights in the music industry.

Tsutakawa, has released multiple albums of original score and most currently released his latest CD recording On Irving Street.

www.deemsmusic.com

www.deemsmusic.com

www.deemsmusic.com