明日８月１１日のマザームーンカフェ六甲店http://www.mothermoon.co.jp/rokko/のキャンドルナイトライヴに出演する山田ネオ君（演奏時間が抜けていますが１st;19:30 2nd;21:00の２ステージです）
の前回のマザームーンカフェのライブを見た神戸在住のジャズジャーナリストRandyさんがアメリカのジャズ雑誌Cadence Magajineの自分のコラムにこんな記事を書いています。
Kansai Jazz Short Takes, 5/12
Just when you think you’ve experienced everything in jazz, along comes someone like Neo Yamada as a reminder of how surprising and life-affirming this music can be. From watching Neo on YouTube, I knew this 11-year-old Hammond organ prodigy from Osaka could play, but his trio performance at Alo Aro Café in downtown Kobe on 4/4—my first chance to hear him live—exceeded all expectations. The youngster began the evening with a crisply-played “Confirmation” and proceeded to sail through two spirited sets of standards, blues, ballads and funk beats in tight partnership with his adult bandmates, featuring the fine Osaka guitarist Yutaka Hashimoto, and Neo’s regular drummer, Tadatsugu Mune. So when I saw that Neo would play a new venue (Mother Moon Café) in Kobe on 5/11, I reserved a table right away. This time another facet of Neo’s professionalism was on display when the Hammond X-5 (same organ as at Alo Aro) proved unplayable. A replacement (a new SK2 model) was secured as quickly as possible, and the first set got underway an hour late, allowing Neo no time to rehearse with a guitarist (Kenichiro Tanaka) he had not worked with before. The first set had some shaky moments, but the band swung mightily as the 2nd set kicked off. By the end of the evening, Neo was clearly in charge, calling tunes, setting tempos, delegating solos, and evening handling the announcing. Neo plays with amazing authority for someone so young. His blues have a genuine sanctified feeling, while on ballads he coaxes a wondrous array of sultry textures and colors from his keyboard. His solos already contain musical ideas, not the facilely contrived licks one might expect. He values pacing, too, taking his time to build solo statements into great crescendos of sound. As an interesting aside, Neo’s first name means “sound” in English, so naturally I assumed his family had entertained high hopes for his future in music. But neither of his parents is particularly musical, and his father insists they never expected him to become a musician. The word “destiny” comes to mind as those who have heard him simply shake their heads in wonderment as to where such talent comes from. Through it all, sixth-grader Neo, unperturbed, continues to practice (4 hours a day) and to play gigs in many of Kansai’s top jazz venues. His next scheduled performance on 6/19 is an organ battle with fellow Hammondier Shuichi Numazawa at Osaka’s Jazz on Top. Plans are also afoot for Neo’s first visit to the United States this coming summer, though dates have not been set. Watch this column for details as they unfold.
日本人は出る杭は打たれると言う諺があるように、なかなか新しい才能を認めようとしませんが、その点外国人はいいものはいいと正直です（共演したトニー・モナコもネオ君の事をamazingと驚嘆していました！）Randyさんはyoutubeでネオ君の存在を知り、４月４日の神戸アロアロで初めてネオ君のライヴを見てこれが１１歳の少年の演奏と驚き再び５月１１日のマザームーンカフェ六甲で演奏を聴きこれは記事にしないと思ったようです。記事は正直で適格な内容です。
この記事を読んだ方は明日のネオ君のマザームーンカフェのライヴ聴きたくなったと思います
チャージフリーのカンパ制ですので、お食事がてら気楽に聴きに来て下さい