Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2012

From a collection of Japan’s most eccentric musicians to a one-meter-square jazz club made from Japanese screens, Jazz Art Sengawa is the antithesis of a traditional jazz festival. Now in its fifth incarnation, the event is the brainchild of leftfield vocalist Koichi Makigami, avant-garde cellist Hiromichi Sakamoto and jazz bassist Kiyoto Fujiwara. Three days of performances explode out of the Tadao Ando-designed Sengawa Theater in suburban Chofu, culminating in a staging of John Zorn’s notorious piece Cobra.

Sengawa Theater, July 20-22 (listing).