Shingo Katori -- Tokyo SNG（東京SNG）

 

Yesterday, I was talking about the sprinkle of snow that had alighted on the streets of Toronto. Well, about that...it turned out to become much more of a major snowfall by this morning. It's definitely one of our earliest first snows in recent memory so it was a tad slippery going out, but if it all stays for the weekend, it will make for a great environment for the return of the Santa Claus Parade this Sunday. Then, my city's unofficial Xmas season can begin (although on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", that will be from the 25th).

It is quite cold outside so let's try something hot and jazzy. The last time I saw former SMAP member Shingo Katori（香取慎吾）, it was on "Uta Con"（うたコン）a few months ago as he went on a new swing direction. It was such that I soon followed up with "Kon'ya Saikou ne"（今夜最高ね）on the blog; it's a track on his recent April 2022 album "Tokyo SNG".

Well, this time, I have the title track here and I gather that the SNG stands for "swing". And this tune surely does swing. "Kon'ya Saikou ne" has some City Pop mixed in, but "Tokyo SNG" is something straight out of the 1940s with the jazz orchestra going all out on instruments while Katori has opted for a Duke Ellington-like performance. Written and composed by Katori, Shuutoku Mukai（向井秀徳）and Hiroaki Yamashita（山下宏明）, the whole thing about "Tokyo SNG" is forgetting all about the tearful past and just tear through an amazing present in Japan's capital. Looks like Kagurazaka, the Bayside Expressway and Odaiba are the places to be.