For the first time in Malaysia, Japanese free jazz saxophone legend Akira Sakata will debut with his group Big Foot at the Percussion Store on July 4, 2024. Big Foot is a free jazz group that combines the best musicians from Japan and Southeast Asia, including Akira Sakata on saxophone from the legendary Yosuke Yamashita Trio, Tokyo’s Takashi Seo on bass, Kuala Lumpur’s Yong Yandsen on saxophone, and Australia’s Darren Moore on drums. This unique quartet, with its lineup of two saxophones, bass, and drums, captures the spirit of freedom and fire of classic 60s and 70s free jazz while venturing into new realms of improvised music. This is a once-in-a-lifetime performance not to be missed!
This concert is co-presented by KLEX Festival, LaoBan Records and Percussion Store.
Date: Thursday, 4th July 2024
Time: Doors open, 8pm
Venue: Percussion Store
Add: A-01-03 LG Floor, Dataran Cascades, No. 13A, Jalan PJU 5/1, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Admission by donation: RM50
For Reservation, WhatsApp: 012 919 8031
FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/388167833692250/
Big Foot
Akira Sakata – Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Vocals and Percussion
Yong Yandsen – Tenor Saxophone
Takashi Seo – Contrabass
Darren Moore – Drums
Artist Profiles
Akira Sakata
A representative Japanese free jazz saxophonist and composer, he has been active since 1970, composing across jazz, rock, and free improvisation. He has collaborated with many legendary jazz and improvisation musicians. He began his career with the Yosuke Yamashita Trio, forming the “Wha ha ha” and “Sakata Trio” in 1980, the “Flying Mijinko Band” in 1996, and his solo label “Daphnia” in 2004. Akira Sakata has recorded over 100 albums and has been active in recent years, touring Japan and Europe. He has collaborated with many masters of free jazz and improvisation, including Peter Brotzmann, Peter Kowald, Han Bennink, John Zorn, Jim O’Rourke, and many others. He is truly a legend in the Japanese music industry. http://www.akira-sakata.com/english/
Yong Yandsen
Yong Yandsen is a free jazz and improvised saxophonist from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Yandsen has released albums through LaoBan Records, XingWu and Herbal Records in Malaysia, Utech Records (USA), Dream Sheep (Italy), and his solo debut on vinyl through Doubtful Sound (France). Yandsen, Darren Moore, and Brian O’Reilly formed the improvised trio called Game of Patience. he joined another trio with Christian Meaas Svendsen and Paal Nilssen-Love. Yandsen has also done several solo tours to Japan and Taiwan. He co-founded a Malaysian record label, LaoBan Records, to release contemporary improvised music.
Takashi Seo
Born in Sapporo in 1979, Takashi Seo is one of the most active and in-demand bass players on the Tokyo Jazz scene. He performs regularly with Fumio Itabashi Trio (FIT) and Orchestra and Big Foot with Akira Sakata, Darren Moore, and Yong Yandsen. Takashi has also performed with Tristan Honginger (cello) in “House of Wasps,” Takaoka Daisuke (tuba) in Dead Man’s Liquor, Watanabe Takao (tp) in Overflow 4, and Hosoi Tokutaro in the group DNA. In addition he has collaborated with Achim Kaufmann (pf), Simon Nabatov (pf), Yoshiyuki Harada (pf), Aki Takase (pf), Shohiro Ito (pf), Shuichi Chino (pf), Eiichi Hayashi (as), Akira Sakata ( as), Toru Saito (cb), Atsuta Oyama (ds) and duo with tap Dancer Reona. With a unique approach and inquiring mind, Takashi aims to play beyond genres.
http://www.seotakashi.com/
Darren Moore
Darren Moore is a drummer and improviser who plays jazz, free jazz, and experimental music. He is mainly active in Southeast Asia, Japan, and Australia, performing regularly throughout the region with leading improvisers. Darren is the cellF project’s musical director, a multi-disciplinary collaboration to create the world’s first neural synthesizer. Darren lives in Singapore where he co-runs experimental music label LaoBan Records and works at Lasalle College of the Arts as a Senior Lecturer in Popular Music.