Improvised Music from Japan / IMJ

Meeting at Off Site Vol. 2

(Improvised Music from Japan, IMJ-506)
Released in May 2003
Purchase price in Japan: 2,000 yen (tax not included)
(For purchase outside of Japan, prices vary.)


Tetuzi Akiyama plays amplified acoustic guitar on all tracks except #2 (turntable and air duster), and #7 (electric bass).

Toshimaru Nakamura plays no-input mixing board on all tracks except #7 (tabletop guitar).

  1. (15:23) Sean Meehan (percussion), Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura. December 5, 2001
  2. (13:01) Mark Wastell (cello), Taku Sugimoto (guitar), Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura. January 19, 2002
  3. (10:50) Aki Onda (cassette recorder), Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura. February 16, 2002
  4. (7:11) Aki Onda (cassette recorder), Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura. February 16, 2002
  5. (8:14) Kaffe Matthews (computer), Andrea Neumann (inside piano), Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura. March 16, 2002
  6. (7:56) Tim Barnes (percussion), Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura. April 6, 2002
  7. (9:55) DJ Peaky (turntables), Tetuzi Akiyama, Toshimaru Nakamura. May 3, 2002

Gallery Off Site in Yoyogi, Tokyo--one of the world's most well known venues for performance of the new improvised music. Off Site's core event is the monthly improvisation series Meeting at Off Site, established and still hosted by Tetuzi Akiyama and Toshimaru Nakamura. Following the critical success (both domestic and international) of Vol. 1, released 2002, this second CD of live recordings documents the period between December 2001 and May 2002. Like the first volume, it consists of excerpts from concerts by the two Meeting hosts, plus one or two guest musicians. The difference is that here, the excerpts are fewer and longer, allowing the listener to better appreciate each musician's unique style. This CD documents the musical evolution--which one might even call the Off Site sound--characterized by extreme quietness and sparsity of sound. This is an indispensable record of the improvised music avant-garde currently gaining worldwide attention.


Last updated: July 20, 2003

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