{"id":1702,"date":"2021-02-01T19:21:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T10:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/songharvest-net-560616.hostingersite.com\/?p=1702"},"modified":"2025-12-19T12:02:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T03:02:03","slug":"sirius-contemplation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/2021\/02\/01\/sirius-contemplation\/","title":{"rendered":"Sirius Contemplation"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought it would be nice to introduce two live versions of the Nobuyuki Mizuoka<\/strong><\/span> original melody \u201cSirius\u201d \u2014 performed solo by the composer himself \u2014 since each has its individual\u00a0style. As I\u2019ve noted before, this musician seems intrinsically unable to play any song the same way twice. And that\u2019s a key aspect of Mizuoka\u2019s music-making: it is a cosmically creative force, unbridled, abundant and free<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

You\u2019ll notice in both videos the several kinds of\u00a0Cereus<\/a><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0genus cactus plants \u2014 a family of some 33 flowering species<\/a> that are native to South America. Among the most captivating images are those of the night-blooming variety<\/a>.\u00a0Such exotic flowers serve well as filler segments, I think, since they and the title of this melody sound alike.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Clearly unalike are these two live recordings that were performed at separate venues. You\u2019ll hear the first \u201cSirius\u201d version played on an upright piano in a smaller room and the second version played on a baby grand in a larger room \u2014 which is why the two videos also differ in their image progressions. Both do embark from and arrive at the same points, though, reflecting the central themes expressed in the music and my interpretations surrounding them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Speaking of themes and interpretations<\/a>, there is no doubt in my mind that this clever composer had purposefully titled his original song to convey \u2014 among a number of connotations \u2014 his serious intent<\/em><\/span>\u00a0to challenge and advance his artistic gifts. His loyal fans will always\u00a0support him on that, I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\r\n


4.17.2012 | Okubo Dolce Vita Caf\u00e9, Tokyo<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\r\n

This performance is, I believe, the very first instrumental of \u201cSirius\u201d I\u2019d ever heard. I was surprised to recognize it among the non-stop string of Mizuoka melodies the pianist was playing from memory at his lunchtime gig that day. There\u2019d been just the vocal version<\/a> of the song making the rounds at the time, and that one had gained a great deal of notice. Played as an instrumental melody on this afternoon, \u201cSirius\u201d flowed forth just as nuanced and full-bodied as ever, wordlessly expressing itself once more.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Fond are my memories of the Caf\u00e9 Dolce Vita. Near the piano was a mishmash of ready-to-go box speakers, microphones, music stands and cables, along with a fully assembled Gretsch<\/a> drum kit. The caf\u00e9 aimed to host amateur bands in the evening, and its room acoustics were pretty good. At lunchtime, having secured the maestro\u2019s permission, I could set my Zoom recorder on any available surface to try for the best result.<\/p>\r\n

\"\"I found the lunches at the Caf\u00e9 Dolce Vita to be delicious and reasonably priced as well.\u00a0The menu was based on an assortment of retort-pouch curries<\/a>\u00a0and pastas<\/a>, served with a small fresh salad plus a cappuccino and dessert. Whenever I was there around noon, the place was nearly empty, being quite a long walk from Shin-Okubo Station. Such a lucky scenario (for me, not for the owner) reduced the intrusion of pesky background noises to some clicks or clacks from the kitchen, and a clank or three from my own fork and plate\u2026. \ud83c\udf5d \ud83d\ude05<\/p>\r\n\r\n

During those Dolce Vita afternoon outings, I was given the chance to hone my ability to record live music and to silently eat my lunch.\ud83c\udf74\ud83d\udc4c\u00a0\u00a0But there was little hope of practicing my\u00a0Nihongo (<\/em>Japanese language) \u2014 unless I grabbed a cab from Shinjuku Station to that location, which would entail something of a chat with the driver.\u00a0\ud83d\ude95\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n

9.17.2013 | Ikebukuro Dope Lounge, Tokyo<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

The name \u201cDope Lounge\u201d was naturally intriguing to me as a native English speaker. I\u2019d followed a simple map to get there the first time, and the Manager happened to be standing at the entrance when I did. We exchanged the customary evening\u00a0Konban wa\u2019s<\/em> \u2014 then I thought to try asking what the \u201cdope\u201d of Dope Lounge might be…. \ud83e\udd14\u2753\"\"<\/p>\r\n

\u201cEhhhhh-tohhhhh….\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he breathed through a tight grin as he took to squinting at a street lamp. After a suitably polite pause, I commenced to confide that this word \u201cdope\u201d could actually be said concerning\u00a0Anything On Earth That Is Truly Fantastic (Subarashii<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>) Or Beautiful (Utsukushii<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>) Or Unique (Yoo-nee-koo da<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/span>~!\u00a0And from that point forward, the Dope Lounge Manager was in the know about the true history of the name of his business establishment \u2014 A Thing Of Pride Indeed!<\/span> \ud83d\ude0e\ud83d\udc4f<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n


\"\"I enjoyed this place for its fruit-juice cocktails in a tulip glass and the savory salmon roe on rice. Seated against a wall at the front, I could place my Zoom recorder on the farthest right edge of my table. That setup worked well for the most part, although here and there in this video you\u2019re likely to hear a little of the activity at the bar.
<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Dope Lounge Manager and his staff were very nice folks. They even seemed to be curious about new media options: on more than one occasion, they had allowed me to use their DVD player, sound system and wall-mounted flat-screen TV to show them my own music videos! It was by no means a packed house at those times, but I really appreciate that they were so dope<\/span>\u00a0about it. \ud83d\ude18\ud83c\udf40<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

With a fun hobby like this, I\u2019ve been pretty lucky to go out on multiple musical meal missions that have taught me quite a lot. It might mean traveling tens of kilometers across town and back, but gigs like these were well worth the roundtrip fare.\ud83d\udc4c\ud83c\udfb6<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>
<\/figure>\r\n
\r\n
\"\"<\/a>The unique melodies<\/a> of Composer-Pianist Nobuyuki Mizuoka are routinely featured in the background music of the TV-Asahi Channel\u2019s\u00a0\u79d8\u6e6f\u30ed\u30de\u30f3 (\u201cHitou Roman\u201d\u2014 Hidden Hot Spring Romance)<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>program in Japan. \u201cHitou Roman\u201d was profiled in Yahoo News Japan in October 2018, the program\u2019s 20th Anniversary Year:\u00a0 https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yb6xpa52<\/strong><\/a><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n
\"\"<\/a>More on YouTube<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s enjoy two solo live-house performances of the original melody \u201cSirius.\u201d Composer-pianist Nobuyuki Mizuoka does not play even his own songs the same way twice \u2014 his music-making is a cosmically creative force, unbridled, abundant and free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26,24,15,25],"class_list":["post-1702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-cereus","tag-original","tag-piano","tag-sirius"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1702"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3280,"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions\/3280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/songharvest.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}