Hello From Tokyo


	Hello! from Tokyo! By: Forrest Robinson HELLO FROM TOKYO! A big hello from Tokyo, Japan! The rehearsals with Utada Hikaru are going well, and the folks here are no less than INCREDIBLE. So many wonderful places to experience and an endless amount of things to do here! Matt Rohde, Sam Sims, Taku Hirano, and one of our ProTools engineers, Pat Woodward are great to work with and wonderful to hang with! They are thoroughly enjoying making fun of my nerdiness. Yeah - have fun guys... FOR NOW!! Matt, Sam and I were a part of the Atlanta music scene together in the mid to late 90s. So this is a great reunion for me. The last time I worked with Sam Sims was with the late great jazz saxophonist George Howard (some very fond memories there). This is my first time working with Taku. Talk about the truth on percussion! I am truly blessed to work here in Japan with an assembly of the kindest folks. I am still learning the names of everyone here, but I do want to mention several of the great spirits I am so blessed to work with: Tsuyoshi Kon "The Fox" (a wicked guitar player!), Yuzuru Tomita "Tomi" (keyboards/guitar - a killer player!), Tomoo Onuma (engineer), Motoshita Shiraishi "Moto!!!!" (Programmer - also a great producer, engineer and arranger in his own right), and Noboru Kato "Kato!!!!" (Instrument Technician and Engineer – my right hand man). I work directly with Kato and Moto. They are true Godsends to work with. Kato is always tweaking the drums and making sure they sound great (GRETSCH!!). Honestly, I am not used to having anyone constantly tune the drums for me. I am so used to doing it myself. It is quite a different experience for me – and a blessing I shall not take for granted! And both Kato and Moto are always on top of the samples I need the Roland V-Drums to translate. I must say a big “THANK YOU!” to Ichiro Nagao for not giving up and for caring to get Gretsch Drums for me to use on this tour since my drums couldn't be flown over this time. The Gretsch distributor here in Japan really prioritized making the drums available, and whoever you are, I THANK YOU!! A big THANK YOU to ROLAND as well, for being so awesome and providing the V-Drums for me. I must also mention that Toshie Onishi (Kyodo Tokyo) has been COMPLETELY helpful in all areas. She is a true professional who gets things done and she is so cool! I really want to list every soul involved in helping to make the UTADA UNITED 2006 tour come together. The crew is quite sizable and there are way too many names to mention! I am so honored and humbled to be a part of such a wonderful organization of great people!! One of the things I love SO MUCH about Japan is how they truly maintain a real appreciation for legitimate Funk, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues (NOT R&B!!!!), and Soul. At an underground cafe here in Tokyo, I heard some music just tonight that I grew up listening to when my stepdad would unleash funktified treasures from his priceless wax collection. Oh yes - I was blessed to hear the goods since before kindergarten. Oh, how I miss hearing bands lay it down like that! Geez - I sound like someone's grandfather! Pardon me!! Forrest Robinson June, 16, 2006