Musicians: Farfisa Organ: Rudy Tenio; Bass: Hiroyuki Shido; Drums: Kenny Endo & Eddie Moore; Guitar: Makoto Horiuchi; Trumpet: Bruce Loke; Trumpet & Flugel Horn Eddie Henderson; Tenor Sax: William Murphy.
Jigoku was a small club run by Glenn & Warren that was situated in the basement at the corner of Buchanan and Post in San Francisco’s Japantown (JTown). Jigoku means hell in Japanese. I also played in a club up on the 3rd floor which was called Nishiki or Heaven in Japanese. I was playing in heaven and hell!
Jigoku was a meeting place for Sansei artists and musicians as well as the community. Many great musicians played in the club. On weekends Flip Nunez & Eddie Marshall held court. Flip was the Godfather of Asian musicians. He played with Dinah Washington, Jon Hendricks, and many more. He was in the house band at the famous club called Bop City also in JTown. Along with Flip, a who’s who of musicians came through to join in jam sessions or just sit in. Eddie Henderson the great trumpet master would come down every week to sit in. Doc Henderson adds his fire to these tunes along with Eddie Moore. Eddie Marshall, and Gabe Baltazar, just to name a few would drop by and play a few tunes. It was an exciting time for music.
These Jigoku cassette tapes give us a glimpse into the past where live music prevaled. The atmosphere was great. It was alive with music bubbling up into the air. So close your eyes, open your ears and you can join us at the Jigoku in the 70s!
Again for the Audiogeeks
I converted the files to 24bit 44.1 audio files, but the software used for the internet is only compatible with the 16bit mp3 format so the sound is a little compressed. This session was transferred from a tape cassette that luckily hadn’t crumbled. It was recorded on a Sony Cassette Recorder TC-D5M. Amazing recording for a cassette recorder! If you would like a 24bit copy send me an email. I felt that the performance needed to be heard by those who would be interested. For myself even given all these limitations the spirit of the performance and the aura of the times comes through the recording. I hope you enjoy it.