Très chic.
Those two words just about summed up JCCI’s Jazz Night, held on August 28. The event featured a wealth of entertainment, from bento box services provided by Nippon Club Executive Chef Hideki Yasuoka, to a silent auction, to a sublime jazz performance you couldn’t resist but to bob your head and tap your foot to.
In lieu of the Music & Dinner Cruise, JCCI hosted Jazz Night virtually, featuring jazz musicians Fukushi Tainaka (Drums), Lucy Yeghiazaryan (vocals), Stefan Vasnier (Piano), and David Wong (Bass). Previously, they have neither played together nor rehearsed prior to the event, yet they graced the stage as a quartet right off the bat, performing standards as “The Very Thought of You,” “Oh! Look At Me Now,” to name a few, and an encore.
“That’s jazz,” Tainaka said.
Proceeds from Jazz Night will benefit P.S. 147 Brooklyn, New York’s unique public school providing Japanese bilingual curriculum to children in Brooklyn’s community. The school teaches Japanese-American students from around NYC, together with American students from the surrounding community of Bushwick/East Williamsburg. Additionally, a portion of the proceeds will go toward COVID-19 relief.
“While we are now gradually becoming used to working from home, we planned this event for our members so they can cultivate the energy for tomorrow, and forget the feeling of online fatigue and loneliness from lack of physical interaction,” Mr. Masaki Nakajima, President of JCCI, said.
The virtual event was also joined by Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi, Consulate General of Japan in New York.
“Thank you for such a great meal, sake, and above all, the music,” he said. “I think implementing such projects in the age of corona is very good and vital. The Consulate General of Japan would like to continue supporting [JCCI].”
JCCI would like to thank all sponsors, silent auction donors, and participants for their support.
Parts of the jazz performance will be broadcasted on CATV “Spectrum 1993” and “MNN 5 – HD Channel” on Saturday, September 19th, 6:00-6:58pm.
