Julien enjoying some Hoji-Cha at a Tengooz practice

Emotional Times for The TenGooz

Hello all you Tengoophiles out there.
Its been a while that I have written for our blog.
as you can gather from Michael's recent post, we have suffered a terrible loss- that of our friend and one-time Tengooz guitarist
Kin-Chan. The sudden loss of this until so recently dynamic presence has left me shaken.
Amazingly, as thing always seem to be with Michael Frei, just a few days before Kin-chan's passing Michael just happened to be in Japan for business.
They were able to meet one last time. Unfortunately for me, I REALLY believed that I would be able to see a healthy Kin-chan again and I DIDNT go to the hospital.
I had to say my last goodbyes at the funeral hall.

Having Michael with us was, it goes without saying, an elixir, and he happened to be here for a small gig that we did ( he came to the venue almost straight from the airport) and for a great party that we had at Thomas's place which had a truly international jam session.

Any plans for a big reunion gig at Nalu's were put on hold however because of the funeral.

At the same time, and not comparable of course to the loss of Kin-Chan, my dog of many, many years, Tickles, suddenly collapsed and has been unable to move for several weeks. We have been giving her the best possible care but....... things dont look good.

Then, as I had long been feeling UNDER THE WEATHER, and everyone had been urging me to go to the doctor, I finally went to get things checked out. As it was my throat that had been bothering me I went to an ENT.

When he put a scope down my throat to have a look he exclaimed ( in Japanese)- This is not good. Youve got to go to a bigger hospital as soon as possible!
He asked if I had family that I could consult with, etc, all with an expression and air that spelled my doom.

Since that was a Friday I would have to wait until Monday to get further testing and I had the whole weekend to contemplate my fate.

Hypochondriac that I am, I was convinced of the worst and resigned myself to the fact that I would not be around in this world much longer.

It was an dizzyingly emotional couple of days, full of reflections and memories flashing back.

I realized that so many of the lyrics that I had written perfectly expressed what I was feeling. I am talking specifically about The Chills, Almost Out Of Time, Autophobia, etc.....

Anyway, to make a long story short- when I finally did get to the hospital for tests, the doctor gave me a thorough looking over and declared that I was fine!

That means I might be around, making a racket for little while longer.

Listen to The Chills here:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/12850

Gotta go now

will write more later

Avi Landau

Goodbye Kin-Chan

R.I.P.

Last week our good friend Kin-chan (Kanastuka Hirotaka) passed away after battling a serious illness. He was one of the greatest guitar players of the Tokyo area, if not of all Japan, and The TenGooz are honored to have had him play several gigs ( and even more jam seesions) with us.
We will never forget his unique feeling for music, his charismatic performance on the stage, and his enchanting character. We will sorely miss this outstanding artist, who LIVED FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC.

Michael Frei

Michael Frei of The TenGooz

Emmanuel keeping us IN THE GROOVE

Julien,Mario, and Michael jamming al fresco

Michael Frei back with the TenGooz

TenGooz Live

The TenGooz @ TERRA EARTH YA in Tsuchiura

Lyrics to You Know, a Tengooz song from the Facing The Music album

This is another song which gradually generated out of one of Hase G`s bass lines.

Over the months which passed between first conceiving of what the melody line should be,
the idea of what the lyrics should be about germinated in my mind. What eventually emerged
are these words. I am very satisfied with them because everyone I know who hears the song thinks its about THEM.

You Know

You know

but you dont want to think about it

You know

But you dont to have to care

You know

but seems like you`d much rather doubt it

Yes, you know

but you steer clear of the affair

You`ve got lots of other things to occupy your mind

there`s breakfast, lunch, there`s dinner parties

You`ve got good reasons to let your eyes stay blind

so why should you have anything to agitate your mind

repeat

Dont Leave Us Hangin` There !

You`ve got lots of other things to occupy your time

your front lawn needs its weekly mowing

you`ve got lots of other things to occupy your mind

there`s that old blockbuster that the cable TV`s showing

You Know

You Know

Dont leave us hangin` there......

words by

Avi Landau

And to hear the inspiration for all this go to this utube link of Hase G ( Nodoka Hasegawa) playing the bass line solo!

Its here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJeznOiX1dE&feature=related

Mario @ a session with The Tengooz

Thomas Mayers of The TenGooz

Hase G of The Tengooz

Julien @ a TenGooz Session

Lyrics to The Tengooz` new song Calm Before The Storm

This piece also generated out of one of Thomas` chord progressions.
At the last minute, while recording, we decided to add the rap, with words which were written
by the TenGooz ( and Xenophonia`s) original bass player Tom Debor ( AKA Dom Dober)

Here are the lyrics

Calm Before The Storm

Sun comes up
an early autmn day
the temperature`s the norm
breakfast on a bagel, lox n` eggs
and flakes made out of corn

Its the calm before the storm

(No time for small talk
small minds waste my time
Get caught up in the bull....
next thing you know the ball drops

Gotta stay focused
keep your eyes open
Think I give a .... about your problems
huh, you must be joking)

Pick the paper up outside the door
my teams in team-top form
Elevator takes me to the street
where the people and cars swarm

Calm before the storm

Hail a cab and start headin downtown
the driver honks his horn
Grab a coffee after I get out
near Tower Number 1

Its the calm before the storm

By Avi Landau
rap lyrics by Tom Debor

Thomas laying down background vocals on The Tengooz Babylon

Tengooz new album Facing The Music gets noticed in Germany

Just hours after uploading our new collection of songs Facing The Music,
there was a small yet kindly favorable review of it to appear in Germany ( and in German)
Check it out here, and send a message to the site!

http://wasser-prawda.de/new2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=962:the-tengooz-facing-the-music&catid=24:jazz&Itemid=61

Tengooz flashback: A show at The Narita Barge Inn- Avi Landau and Jon Hicks

Lyrics to Babylon ( a song by the Tengooz)

Tengoophiles where`r ye might be! List, list, ooooh list!
Our long awaited new cd, FACING THE MUSIC, has finally been uploaded to
Jamendo. Id like to post the lrics to the new songs, a song at a time over the next
ten days.
Lets begin with our latest reggae style piece Babylon. Inspired by the riffs and chord progression of Thomas Mayers,
our guitarist I came up with these words-

Babylon

Well, you thought you were in Zion
but one day you realized you were in Babylon

Where money is the measure
and all around the talking heads just babble on

First you think of running and of going far off somewhere
but you realize before you start
That there`s no escaping and there`s never real forgetting
so you`ve got to face what`s in your heart

Yes, you thought you were in Zion
but soon you realized you were in Babylon
where money is the motive
and the white gloved smiling faces egg the rabble on

Your initial instict is to imitate an ostrich
and go bury your head in the sand
and though real life dont always go like in the movies
you know you`ve got to take a stand

Everybody join your hands together
and sing with all your might
Everybody raise your voice together
and we`re bound to win the fight

Words by
Avi Landau

Have a listen at:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/565724

Enjoy!